Profile
Virginia “Ginny” Braun
Birth:
1972
Training Location(s):
PhD, Loughborough University (2001)
MA, University of Auckland (1997)
BA, University of Auckland (1995)
Primary Affiliation(s):
Waipapa Taumata Rau The University of Auckland (2001–present)
Co-Editor-in-Chief of Feminism & Psychology (2007–2012)
Psychology’s Feminist Voices Oral History Interview:
Career Focus:
Critical health/social psychology; sexuality and gender studies; qualitative research methods; thematic and discourse analysis
Biography
Born in Hamilton, New Zealand, Virginia Braun grew up in a time and place that was saturated with the idea that one can and should change the world. She recalls a general ethos that girls could do anything and a “strong motto of opportunity, and that gender is not something that can or should hold you back.”
Braun’s interests in feminism and gender grew through university. After not being admitted into art school for photography, Braun was unsure of what area of study she wanted to pursue. Despite some initial challenges, she entered into the BA program in psychology at the University of Auckland (U of A) in 1992 where she was first introduced to the vast world of psychology. She traces the roots of her feminist interests in psychology back to a first-year general psychology class taught by feminist psychologist Nicola Gavey.
Upon completing her degree, Braun was offered a scholarship to complete an MA in psychology at the U of A where she conducted research into cervical cancer prevention policy in New Zealand. Having developed a keen interest in research, Braun’s interests shifted from clinical psychology to research that critically examined subjects that had received little attention at the time, such as HPV and its role in cervical cancer prevention policy. Fully convinced of the importance of a critical feminist perspective by the end of her MA, she committed to working from within feminist frameworks, enthusiastically and deliberately seeking out feminist psychologist supervisors, staunchly rejecting positivist psychology, and devoting herself to qualitative research methodologies.
Following her MA, Braun was awarded the Commonwealth Doctoral Scholarship in 1997 to conduct her PhD at The Loughborough University in the United Kingdom. Here her work focused on heteronormative ideas about sexed and gendered bodies, and the sociocultural means around the vagina. Under the supervision of feminist psychologist Sue Wilkinson, Braun completed her PhD research over only three years in an environment she found initially “intellectually overwhelming”, while at the same time completely aligned with her interests in qualitative methodologies and critical research.
Qualitative inquiry and methods have over time become an area of specialization for Braun. Her first work on using thematic analysis with Victoria Clarke, published in Qualitative Research in Psychology in 2006, has been cited over 170,000 times in peer-reviewed journals and translated into Turkish and Portuguese. She has since made significant contributions to publications such as the APA Handbook of Research Methods in Psychology (2012; 2023), The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Research in Psychology (2017), and the 6th edition of Denzin & Lincoln’s SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Research (2023). She and Victoria Clarke have written two award-winning qualitative methodology texts – ¬Successful Qualitative Research: A Practical Guide for Beginners (SAGE, 2013) and Thematic Analysis: A Practical Guide (SAGE, 2013), and edited (with Debra Gray) Collecting Qualitative Data: A Practical Guide to Textual, Media, and Virtual Techniques (Cambridge, 2017).
Braun identifies her work on thematic analysis as the work she is most proud of in her career, because it has resonated with so many. Braun and Clarke breathed life into the concept, providing an in-depth articulation of what the method is and how to work with it in psychological research. This important contribution helped give shape to how qualitative research is conducted and conceptualized in the context of “methodological curiosity.” Braun’s specialization in the area of qualitative research has grown in the direction of resource and knowledge creation since 2006, providing a wide range of ways for students, scholars and teachers/supervisors to engage with innovative qualitative techniques.
Despite the success and important influence of her work with Clarke on thematic analysis, Braun’s has made many contributions to several areas of feminist psychology. Her research has addressed how normative and societal ideas shift and shape what people can do and how they enact themselves. An interest in how people construct meaning in their lives has guided her work in the areas of gendered bodies, genital cosmetic surgery, and body hair/hair removal. Braun’s work has developed alongside what she identifies as the dissolution of the rigid ideals of gendered bodies—epistemological transformations that were incubated during her early years of study.
Though she has published over 85 peer-reviewed journal articles and over 45 books and chapters, Braun’s influence extends beyond her publications. She has been a visiting scholar at numerous universities including the University of the West of England (2005), Columbia University in New York City (U.S., 2008–2009), the Graduate Center at CUNY in New York City (2012), and the City University in London (2019-2020). She has also taken up numerous editorial roles, including associate editor for the Encyclopedia of Human Sexuality (2009–2014) and the International Encyclopedia of Critical Psychology (2011–2013). Indeed, Braun has also made significant contributions to the journal Feminism & Psychology; first participating as an editorial assistant for a stint during her PhD, then as a guest editor in 2001 and again in 2006. She continued her work as co-editor alongside Nicola Gavey from 2007 until 2012, during which time she had been instrumental in shaping the field and trajectory of the field of feminist psychology. This role for Braun was steeped both in opportunity and a sense of responsibility, reflected in the thoughtful decisions she and Gavey made to focus on research and authors who engaged critical and qualitative approaches in their work.
Amongst her many accolades, Braun has received the Distinguished Leadership Award from the American Psychological Association’s Committee on Women in Psychology in 2013 for her work on the journal. And in 2015, Braun was awarded the Citation for Excellence by the British Psychological Society (BPS) Qualitative Methods in Psychology Section. In 2021, she was awarded The New Zealand Association of Scientists Marsden Medal for a lifetime contribution to science in the broadest sense. In 2023, she was elected as a Fellow/Ahurei of the Royal Society of New Zealand Te Apārangi.
Her involvement with the Psychology of Women and Equality Section (POWES) of the BPS was catalyzed by an “awe-inspiring” introduction to the community at her first conference. As the post-grad rep for the POWES committee, Braun found a sense of identification, validation for her early work and research, community connection, and an intellectual home. Acknowledging the changing tides in context and language POWES has seen through the years of her involvement, Braun highlights the importance of the organizational commitment to a history of activism, social change, and social justice. For Braun, this is an ongoing practice of “turning the lens on ourselves” to create inclusive and transformative environments.
Today, Braun’s perception of feminist psychology is characterized by a sense of openness. She suggests there is a continued need to allow spaces for different epistemologies and ways of thinking. She notes that there are important conversations for feminists to have about how to teach and mentor future generations, and in particular, to challenge the way psychology is (still, predominantly) taught from an Anglo-positivist standpoint.
Virginia Braun’s keen curiosity and sense of humility has and continues to be an important influence in the community of critical and feminist psychologists. Indeed, her fierce commitment guides her advice to future generations of feminists entering into psychology today: “If anybody questions feminism as relevant or central to what you want to do […] don’t take their word. Go and find someone else, because that is an archaic view that nobody should be expressing anymore. Find the right people to talk to because there are people out there who will support what it is that you want to do, as a feminist, a psychologist, and someone using and exploring psychology through a feminist framework. There will be people, there are people. Find those communities, and find those scholars.”
by Desirée Salis (2022)
To cite this article, see Credits
Selected Works
By Virginia Braun
Braun, V. (2022). But can you ever win? Genital cosmetic procedures, the promise of vulval perfection, and the production of vulval distress. In N. Fischer, & L. Westbrook (Eds.) Introducing the New Sexuality Studies (pp. 107-117). Routledge
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2022). Conceptual and design thinking for thematic analysis. Qualitative Psychology, 9(1), 3-26.
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2020). Can I use TA? Should I use TA? Should I not use TA? Comparing reflexive thematic analysis and other pattern-based qualitative analytic approaches. Counselling Psychotherapy, 21 37-47.
Li, A., & Braun, V. (2017). Pubic hair and its removal: A practice beyond the personal. Feminism & Psychology, 27(3), 336-356.
Braun, V. (2013). ‘Proper sex without annoying things’: Anti-condom discourse and the nature of (hetero)sex. Sexualities, 16(3-4), 361-382.
Braun, V. (2012). Female genital cutting. In J. C. Chrisler (Ed.) Reproductive Justice: A Global Concern (pp. 29-55). Praeger.
Braun, V. (2010). Female genital cosmetic surgery: a critical review of current knowledge and contemporary debates. Journal of Women’s Health, 19(7), 1393-1407
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3, 77-101.
Braun, V. (2005). In search of (better) sexual pleasure: Female genital ‘cosmetic’ surgery. Sexualities, 8(4), 407-424.
Braun, V., Gavey, N., & McPhillips, K. (2003). The "fair deal"? Unpacking accounts of reciprocity in heterosex. Sexualities,
6(2), 237-261.
Virginia “Ginny” Braun
Birth:
1972
Training Location(s):
PhD, Loughborough University (2001)
MA, University of Auckland (1997)
BA, University of Auckland (1995)
Primary Affiliation(s):
Waipapa Taumata Rau The University of Auckland (2001–present)
Co-Editor-in-Chief of Feminism & Psychology (2007–2012)
Psychology’s Feminist Voices Oral History Interview:
Career Focus:
Critical health/social psychology; sexuality and gender studies; qualitative research methods; thematic and discourse analysis
Biography
Born in Hamilton, New Zealand, Virginia Braun grew up in a time and place that was saturated with the idea that one can and should change the world. She recalls a general ethos that girls could do anything and a “strong motto of opportunity, and that gender is not something that can or should hold you back.”
Braun’s interests in feminism and gender grew through university. After not being admitted into art school for photography, Braun was unsure of what area of study she wanted to pursue. Despite some initial challenges, she entered into the BA program in psychology at the University of Auckland (U of A) in 1992 where she was first introduced to the vast world of psychology. She traces the roots of her feminist interests in psychology back to a first-year general psychology class taught by feminist psychologist Nicola Gavey.
Upon completing her degree, Braun was offered a scholarship to complete an MA in psychology at the U of A where she conducted research into cervical cancer prevention policy in New Zealand. Having developed a keen interest in research, Braun’s interests shifted from clinical psychology to research that critically examined subjects that had received little attention at the time, such as HPV and its role in cervical cancer prevention policy. Fully convinced of the importance of a critical feminist perspective by the end of her MA, she committed to working from within feminist frameworks, enthusiastically and deliberately seeking out feminist psychologist supervisors, staunchly rejecting positivist psychology, and devoting herself to qualitative research methodologies.
Following her MA, Braun was awarded the Commonwealth Doctoral Scholarship in 1997 to conduct her PhD at The Loughborough University in the United Kingdom. Here her work focused on heteronormative ideas about sexed and gendered bodies, and the sociocultural means around the vagina. Under the supervision of feminist psychologist Sue Wilkinson, Braun completed her PhD research over only three years in an environment she found initially “intellectually overwhelming”, while at the same time completely aligned with her interests in qualitative methodologies and critical research.
Qualitative inquiry and methods have over time become an area of specialization for Braun. Her first work on using thematic analysis with Victoria Clarke, published in Qualitative Research in Psychology in 2006, has been cited over 170,000 times in peer-reviewed journals and translated into Turkish and Portuguese. She has since made significant contributions to publications such as the APA Handbook of Research Methods in Psychology (2012; 2023), The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Research in Psychology (2017), and the 6th edition of Denzin & Lincoln’s SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Research (2023). She and Victoria Clarke have written two award-winning qualitative methodology texts – ¬Successful Qualitative Research: A Practical Guide for Beginners (SAGE, 2013) and Thematic Analysis: A Practical Guide (SAGE, 2013), and edited (with Debra Gray) Collecting Qualitative Data: A Practical Guide to Textual, Media, and Virtual Techniques (Cambridge, 2017).
Braun identifies her work on thematic analysis as the work she is most proud of in her career, because it has resonated with so many. Braun and Clarke breathed life into the concept, providing an in-depth articulation of what the method is and how to work with it in psychological research. This important contribution helped give shape to how qualitative research is conducted and conceptualized in the context of “methodological curiosity.” Braun’s specialization in the area of qualitative research has grown in the direction of resource and knowledge creation since 2006, providing a wide range of ways for students, scholars and teachers/supervisors to engage with innovative qualitative techniques.
Despite the success and important influence of her work with Clarke on thematic analysis, Braun’s has made many contributions to several areas of feminist psychology. Her research has addressed how normative and societal ideas shift and shape what people can do and how they enact themselves. An interest in how people construct meaning in their lives has guided her work in the areas of gendered bodies, genital cosmetic surgery, and body hair/hair removal. Braun’s work has developed alongside what she identifies as the dissolution of the rigid ideals of gendered bodies—epistemological transformations that were incubated during her early years of study.
Though she has published over 85 peer-reviewed journal articles and over 45 books and chapters, Braun’s influence extends beyond her publications. She has been a visiting scholar at numerous universities including the University of the West of England (2005), Columbia University in New York City (U.S., 2008–2009), the Graduate Center at CUNY in New York City (2012), and the City University in London (2019-2020). She has also taken up numerous editorial roles, including associate editor for the Encyclopedia of Human Sexuality (2009–2014) and the International Encyclopedia of Critical Psychology (2011–2013). Indeed, Braun has also made significant contributions to the journal Feminism & Psychology; first participating as an editorial assistant for a stint during her PhD, then as a guest editor in 2001 and again in 2006. She continued her work as co-editor alongside Nicola Gavey from 2007 until 2012, during which time she had been instrumental in shaping the field and trajectory of the field of feminist psychology. This role for Braun was steeped both in opportunity and a sense of responsibility, reflected in the thoughtful decisions she and Gavey made to focus on research and authors who engaged critical and qualitative approaches in their work.
Amongst her many accolades, Braun has received the Distinguished Leadership Award from the American Psychological Association’s Committee on Women in Psychology in 2013 for her work on the journal. And in 2015, Braun was awarded the Citation for Excellence by the British Psychological Society (BPS) Qualitative Methods in Psychology Section. In 2021, she was awarded The New Zealand Association of Scientists Marsden Medal for a lifetime contribution to science in the broadest sense. In 2023, she was elected as a Fellow/Ahurei of the Royal Society of New Zealand Te Apārangi.
Her involvement with the Psychology of Women and Equality Section (POWES) of the BPS was catalyzed by an “awe-inspiring” introduction to the community at her first conference. As the post-grad rep for the POWES committee, Braun found a sense of identification, validation for her early work and research, community connection, and an intellectual home. Acknowledging the changing tides in context and language POWES has seen through the years of her involvement, Braun highlights the importance of the organizational commitment to a history of activism, social change, and social justice. For Braun, this is an ongoing practice of “turning the lens on ourselves” to create inclusive and transformative environments.
Today, Braun’s perception of feminist psychology is characterized by a sense of openness. She suggests there is a continued need to allow spaces for different epistemologies and ways of thinking. She notes that there are important conversations for feminists to have about how to teach and mentor future generations, and in particular, to challenge the way psychology is (still, predominantly) taught from an Anglo-positivist standpoint.
Virginia Braun’s keen curiosity and sense of humility has and continues to be an important influence in the community of critical and feminist psychologists. Indeed, her fierce commitment guides her advice to future generations of feminists entering into psychology today: “If anybody questions feminism as relevant or central to what you want to do […] don’t take their word. Go and find someone else, because that is an archaic view that nobody should be expressing anymore. Find the right people to talk to because there are people out there who will support what it is that you want to do, as a feminist, a psychologist, and someone using and exploring psychology through a feminist framework. There will be people, there are people. Find those communities, and find those scholars.”
by Desirée Salis (2022)
To cite this article, see Credits
Selected Works
By Virginia Braun
Braun, V. (2022). But can you ever win? Genital cosmetic procedures, the promise of vulval perfection, and the production of vulval distress. In N. Fischer, & L. Westbrook (Eds.) Introducing the New Sexuality Studies (pp. 107-117). Routledge
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2022). Conceptual and design thinking for thematic analysis. Qualitative Psychology, 9(1), 3-26.
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2020). Can I use TA? Should I use TA? Should I not use TA? Comparing reflexive thematic analysis and other pattern-based qualitative analytic approaches. Counselling Psychotherapy, 21 37-47.
Li, A., & Braun, V. (2017). Pubic hair and its removal: A practice beyond the personal. Feminism & Psychology, 27(3), 336-356.
Braun, V. (2013). ‘Proper sex without annoying things’: Anti-condom discourse and the nature of (hetero)sex. Sexualities, 16(3-4), 361-382.
Braun, V. (2012). Female genital cutting. In J. C. Chrisler (Ed.) Reproductive Justice: A Global Concern (pp. 29-55). Praeger.
Braun, V. (2010). Female genital cosmetic surgery: a critical review of current knowledge and contemporary debates. Journal of Women’s Health, 19(7), 1393-1407
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3, 77-101.
Braun, V. (2005). In search of (better) sexual pleasure: Female genital ‘cosmetic’ surgery. Sexualities, 8(4), 407-424.
Braun, V., Gavey, N., & McPhillips, K. (2003). The "fair deal"? Unpacking accounts of reciprocity in heterosex. Sexualities,
6(2), 237-261.