Postgraduate researcher, Clare Matysova (University of Leeds), is interviewed by Emily Humphreys (London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine), as part of the Business School’s Research and Innovation podcast series for International Women’s Day 2023. In this episode, Emily and Clare discuss how the gender pay gap is linked with parental leave, the difference between inequalities and inequities within parental leave, and what practical solutions the government and employers should be considering to make parental leave more equitable. 

This podcast episode was recorded remotely in March 2023. If you would like to get in touch regarding this podcast, please contact research.lubs@leeds.ac.uk. A transcript of this episode is available.    

About the speakers: Clare Matysova is a postgraduate researcher in the Centre for Employment Relations, Innovation and Change at the University of Leeds, focusing on gender equality and exploring the impact of the UK’s shared parental leave policy from the perspective of couples’ decision-making. Clare also currently works as a Senior Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Partner at the University of Aberdeen. She has been working in EDI-related roles within HE for the past 15 years. Previously, she worked at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, the University of East London and the University for the Creative Arts.   

Emily Humphreys is a part-time PhD student in social epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. She also works part time in public health, with experience in policy development and interests in mental health, wellbeing and health inequalities. She is particularly interested in how local or national government policies can affect health outcomes. She joined LSHTM as a research student in September 2021. Her research is investigating how changes to maternity, paternity and parental leave policies in the UK might have affected mental health for parents.