In September the OU will welcome three lucky new students. They are the winners of recent competition run in the 'Work' section of 'The Guardian', the prize, a chance to study with on an Open University course.

6,000 people applied, but the prize is no mean feat. Two winners will study for an undergraduate degree and one for a postgraduate degree which will take a huge amount of commitment, time and self-motivation. This opportunity reflects the work/study balance faced by many OU students.

The three winners are: Sophie Tease, Brian Magorrian and Steve Lawson will commence their studies in September 2012.

Platform caught up with them to find out more about what they hope to achieve from their degrees.

How does it feel to have won the competition?
I was very surprised when I found out that I had won! I had been browsing OU courses before the competition was announced but there was no way I could justify or afford to do another degree at this time. I entered the competition on a complete off-chance and couldn't believe it when I won. But I am really excited about the chance to study a new subject. I love learning and I am very interested in economics, my chosen subject

Are you studying for career or personal development?
I want to work in policy and would like to understand economic theory in much more detail, especially in light of the global financial crisis. The more I have studied law, the more it seems that I need a proper grasp of economics in order to engage in the debates. Plus I have always enjoyed maths and regret giving it up at school so this is a chance to refresh my skills and learn how to interpret empirical social science research.

I studied Law at Bristol University and am currently completely a Masters in Law at Harvard. I am focusing on policy areas such as education, climate, energy, financial regulation and poverty.

My reasons for studying further are pretty much evenly split between personal enjoyment and career goals. I also really like the model of studying part-time while working.

What are your future aspirations once you have completed the course?
My career goals are to work in policy formation or implementation, either for government or NGOs.
 

How does it feel to have won the competition?
It felt great to win the competition. I was delighted to have the opportunity to study with The Open University (an institution I have held in high regard). I look forward to having fun learning and grabbing this opportunity which I am fortunate enough to get.

Why are you studying Psychology?
It’s an interesting subject. I wanted to do something that I am really interested in as I feel one will be more inclined to put more effort in if one is interested in the subject.

What studying have you done in the past?
Mental health nurse training. ‘O’ levels, ‘A’ levels (including Film studies which was very enjoyable), diplomas in health care, teaching and assessing courses in nursing, a C.B.T course and several others in the health care field.
What are you reasons for wanting to study: career, personal development?
I want to enhance my knowledge and understanding of a subject which is very relevant to my work. With the future of healthcare somewhat uncertain in some ways I am keen to bolster my credentials so I can do my current job even better and allow myself to include knowledge and skills acquired in possible job applications in the future.

What are your future aspirations once you have completed the course?
Well...I don't know for sure but I hope to continue to help people with mental health problems. I might be able to work in a different area of mental health to my current one. Time will tell. Of course i have to continue to pay the bills as well!

How does it feel to have won the competition?
It is amazing to have won, I was so surprised when I found out! Very lucky.

Why have you chosen this subject area?
I have been working in this area for a few years and intend to continue to, so this course will improve my skills and knowledge.

What are you reasons for wanting to study: career, personal development?
Since graduating I have considered further study, it would need to be part-time to fit in with working full-time. When I saw this competition I thought it would be the perfect opportunity
.
What was your first degree in and where did you study?
I graduated with a BSc Mathematics from Imperial College in 2002.

What are your future aspirations once you have completed the course?
I plan to continue working in software development. There are always new technologies to learn and work with which is something that I enjoy.

Find out more:

• Study with the OU
   
• The Guardian: Work & careers

Using the inspiring lens of Simone de Beauvoir's writing, Meg Barker reminds us of the risks we take if we enforce gender identity onto children and limit what they are able to become. 

On International Women’s Day, with the theme ‘Connecting Girls, Inspiring Futures’, I would like to take the opportunity here to celebrate my own favourite feminist, Simone de Beauvoir (1908-1986). I will look back to the past to see if what she had to say about gender still holds today, and what her theories and key quotes might mean for the kinds of futures that we want to inspire – for girls and for everyone. 

'One is not born, but rather one becomes, a woman'

Perhaps the most famous quote from de Beauvoir's writing on gender, The Second Sex, is this one. Here she is arguing, from autobiographical experience and from the available evidence at the time, that the things associated with womenhood (such as being passive, concerned with appearance, childlike and in need of protection, and wanting to care for others) are imposed upon women by society rather than being innate characteristics they are born with. 

Current understandings of gender view it – like so much of human behaviour – as a complex biopsychosocial interweaving rather than something that can be simplistically put down to 'nature' or 'nurture'. Gender theory alerts us to the diversity of possible gendered identities and roles available, whilst emphasising the limited patterns of masculinity and femininity which we are pushed to repeat and repeat until they feel 'natural'. Biological findings on neuroplasticity reveal that the likely underlying brain processes are neural pathways which are strengthened by such repetitions. So we could say that gendered identity is a process of narrowing down from the possibilities which are available at birth. 

There are, of course, some biological limits on what is possible from the start, which differ from person to person, but de Beauvoir emphasises the social limits which constrain these. Her focus here is on freedom, the fact of humanity that her partner, Jean-Paul Sartre, emphasised in his work. Sartre highlighted the importance in life of becoming aware of the meanings which are imposed upon us by others (societal assumptions about what people like us should be like, or family expectations about what we are going to do) and breaking free of these. De Beauvoir pointed out that such breaking through of 'the ceiling which is stretched over their heads' is easier for some than for others. Embracing one's freedom may be virtually impossible for those who are enslaved, and may be easier for some than others even in times and places where everyone is regarded as 'free'. 

'The lie to which the adolescent girl is condemned is that she must pretend to be an object, and a fascinating one, when she senses herself as an uncertain, dissociated being, well aware of her blemishes.' 

Focusing on this aspect of 'being an object' in particular, we can see that women are still regarded very much in terms of their appearance, although these days they are encouraged to beautify themselves for their own pleasure and 'fun' rather than explicitly for the pleasure of others. However, it is often difficult to disentangle the pleasure derived from feeling one looks good from the pleasure derived because someone else thinks you look good. Appearance is a key focus of women's magazines, and the ideals of feminine beauty are so narrow that many are excluded from it, and even minor deviations from it are considered remarkable (as in the recent Guardian article about models who 'break the mould'). 

The other focus in women's magazines, and in movies and TV shows aimed at women, are relationships with men. De Beauvoir comments that 'a great many adolescent girls when asked about their plans for the future, reply . . . “I want to get married”. But no young man considers marriage as his fundamental project'. Miranda on Sex and The City echoed this concern several decades later when she stormed out of a café complaining that all that her (very successful) friends talked about was men, but it is revealed later in the episode that she was only upset because she wasn't really over her ex-boyfriend. 

'The less she exercises her freedom to understand, to grasp and discover the world about her, the less resources will she find within herself, the less will she dare to affirm herself as a subject.' 

De Beauvoir argues that, in such ways, women are encouraged into 'being for others' rather than 'being for themselves'. Many women struggle to tune into their own desires and needs due to seeing pleasure as something to be gained from pleasing others, and put themselves through unhappiness or pain feeling that this is what they are supposed to do. 

Responsibility can be scary
Of course we can question the benefits of both the 'for others' and 'for themselves' sides of the binary. It is problematic to feel that our only identity is in the role that we have in other people's lives (as many women find when they lose such roles), and troubling to have to constantly monitor their body and self to ensure that they are pleasing to others. On the other hand, as de Beauvoir pointed out, there are benefits to such a position: not having to feel responsible for your actions because you don't believe that you have power to affect the world, and real pleasure when you are approved of or desired. Being 'for themselves' (as men are encouraged to be) involves the weight of responsibility which comes from being called upon to make autonomous choices and to be self-sufficient and protective of others, when we may well actually feel scared, incapable and vulnerable ourselves. Also, as de Beauvoir suggested, mutual relationships are very difficult indeed if one person needs to be constantly affirmed as a beautiful object, or one person is constantly denying the other the freedom and responsibility that they have themselves. 

De Beauvoir further (and perhaps controversially) highlights the role of women in limiting other women. She points out what a threat it can be for a mother to see a daughter breaking through and embracing their freedom and resisting the roles being thrust upon them in ways they were unable to do themselves. Perhaps we can relate this to the women-produced magazines that still welcome women in to a self-scrutinising, appearance- and relationship- obsessed world; as well as the tendency to point to the lack of freedom of women in 'other' places as a way of obscuring our own situation. 

Inspiring futures 
If people become their gender rather than being born into them, and if we regard freedom to become, without limitations, as a vital part of the picture, perhaps the important thing to do is open up possibilities for becoming as much as we can. 

We could link this to recent pressures from intersex activists who have argued for intersex people (the 1-2% of people who are born with anatomy or physiology which differs from contemporary ideals of 'normal' male and female) to be able to make their own choices about the gendering (or not) of their bodies later in life, rather than having this imposed upon them with surgeries in childhood which often have no medical necessity, as has previously been the case. 

There has been a furore in the media recently about families who have made similar decisions  about apparently non-intersex children, demanding their right to decide upon their own gender later on in life rather than having it imposed upon them from birth. Many commentators have seen this as deeply problematic or even abusive.  However, we could – from de Beauvoir's perspective – view it in another way: locating the problem in a society that enforces particular ideals of gender onto children; thus limiting what they are able to become. 

Find out more

The following, more recent, books all raise interesting issues in these ongoing discussions:

• Caitlin Moran: How to be a woman 
• Norah Vincent: Self made man 
• Kate Bornstein: My gender workbook 
• Cordelia Fine: Delusions of gender  

Meg Barker 8 March 2012

Meg Barker is an Open University lecturer teaching mainly on counselling courses, and is also a therapist specialising in relationships and a blogger.

Cartoon by Catherine Pain

What is it? Psychology in the Pub is an open event held in Sheffield. Psychologists, therapists and other experts from around the country bring you the latest psychological insights into everyday life. A short presentation will be given followed by interactive discussion in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere.

Topics include popular aspects of psychology such as happiness, social networking, parapsychology, pornography, deception, and mindfulness.

Everyone welcome, no background in psychology necessary, but A level and undergraduate students are also encouraged.

When is it?
Date: 29th February 2011
Time: 7.30pm
Location: The Showroom café/bar opposite Sheffield Train Station

What’s it about?
Moral Minds: In this session we explore the various facets of human morality. From where our judgments come from to the emotions we feel, this talk explores the psychology of morality.

Mary Langridge is an Associate Lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University, co-­‐founder of Psychology in the Pub Sheffield and a PhD student at the University of Nottingham. Her research aims to unify theories across economics, biology and psychology in order to understand cooperation, punishment and how our moral and religious values influence our decisions.


When is it?
Date: Thursday 15 March 2012
Time: 7.30pm
Location: The Showroom café/bar opposite Sheffield Train Station

Whatʼs it about?
Thinking Meat: Understanding brain and mind Your brain weighs the same as half a brick and has the consistency of warm butter. Yet such a mundane object allows you to have every thought you've ever had, every feeling, dream or hope. This talk will be an introduction to what I view as the central puzzle of psychology: how the brain creates the mind. I'll discuss fundamental insights from the study of perception and action and suggest how these provide important clues for understanding all of human psychology. The talk will feature: Lego Robots! 'Subliminal messages'! Britney Spears! Pirates! And a no-holds-bared personal revelation from the speaker!

Tom Stafford is a lecturer in Psychology and Cognitive Science at the University of Sheffield. He is the author of Mind Hacks (2004) a book of tips and tricks for understanding your brain, and The Rough Guide to Brain Training (2010). He contributes to the award winning psychology blog http://mindhacks.com and can be followed on twitter as @tomstafford.


Find out more

• www. pubpsych.co.uk

The Bisexuality Report, the first of its kind in the UK and the product of research led by Dr Meg Barker, senior lecturer in Psychology at the OU, looks at bisexual inclusion and equality issues.

The report was launched on February 15 at 2012 BiUK in collaboration with the Centre for Citizenship, Identities and Governance and the Faculty of Health and Social Care at The Open University. It summarises national and international evidence and draws out recommendations for future bisexual inclusion in many different settings.

The report is part of Meg Barker's research on the bisexual community, particularly in the UK. She said: “Government policy and equalities agendas generally consider lesbian, gay and bisexual issues together.

“However, bisexual people often face prejudice from within lesbian and gay groups as well as heterosexual communities. They are invisible – not represented in mainstream media, policy, and legislation or within lesbian and gay communities.

“Government and communities need to single out bisexual people as a separate group in order to address this equality gap.”

The Bisexuality Report: Bisexual inclusion in LGBT equality and diversity was written by Meg Barker; Rebecca Jones, Lecturer, Health & Social Care at the OU; Christina Richards; Helen Bowes-Catton, PhD student in the Psychology Department at The Open University; and Tracy Plowman – all of BiUK, with Jen Yockney, of Bi Community News; and Marcus Morgan, of The Bisexual Index.

Listen to Dr Meg Barker and Rebecca Jones, both lecturers at the OU, talk about the topics covered in The Bisexuality Report in this podcast.

And in this two-minute video Meg sums up the key findings of the report…

Find out more:

• Read The Bisexuality Report
• Study with the OU – Psychology
• More about Dr Meg Barker
• BiUK, national organisation for bisexual research and activism

Anyone who has ever used the services of Samaritans at any time, whether just once or a number of times is invited to take part in a piece of confidential online survey research. The survey is only intended for those who have used the services. More information and contact details are available on the home page of the survey.

The survey can be found at:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/usersams2012