Alex Fry

Dr Alex Fry

  • 01202 968732
  • afry at bournemouth dot ac dot uk
  • Senior Lecturer in the Sociology of Health and Illness
UN SDGs:
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Biography

I am an impact-oriented social scientist with interdisciplinary research interests in (non)religious beliefs and practices relating to health and wellbeing, gender, and AI.

My PhD explored the social factors that shape the beliefs about gender held by male clergy in the Church of England. It utilised work on prejudice, intersectionality and social capital to explore the role that self-esteem and the historical development of different religious traditions play in shaping their attitudes towards gender roles in church, family and wider society. In doing so, it identified social factors that have led to gender inequality within the Church of England and provided a series of recommendations to address them.

I secured a grant from the William Leech Research Fund for my first postdoctoral project. It examined how religiosity shapes experiences of wellbeing in socioeconomically deprived ex-mining communities. It demonstrated that local churches offer a unique psychological and social resource pool for fostering wellbeing...

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Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person's work contributes towards the following SDGs:

Good health and well-being

"Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages"

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Gender equality

"Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls"

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Reduced inequalities

"Reduce inequality within and among countries"

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Journal Articles

  • Fry, A., 2024. Being human in a post-human world: Actor-network theory for meaning-making in the existential shadow of AI. Implicit Religion.
  • Fry, A.D.J. and Jagger, S., 2024. Where does ambivalence towards ‘feminism’ come from? Comparing the gender attitudes of ordained women and theologically conservative ordained men in the Church of England. Religion and Gender.
  • Fry, A.D.J., 2024. Wellbeing and religious community participation: Exploring resources for wellbeing in areas of socio-economic deprivation in the United Kingdom. Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology, 34 (3).
  • Fry, A.D.J., 2024. Religiosity and wellbeing in areas of socio-economic deprivation: The role of social capital and spiritual capital in enabling resources for subjective wellbeing. Journal of Spirituality in Mental Health, 26 (4), 441-460.
  • Fry, A.D.J., 2021. Clergy, capital, and gender inequality: An assessment of how social and spiritual capital are denied to women priests in the Church of England. Gender, Work and Organization, 28 (6), 2091-2113.
  • Fry, A., 2021. Postfeminist, engaged and resistant: Evangelical male clergy attitudes towards gender and women’s ordination in the Church of England. Critical Research on Religion, 9 (1), 65-83.
  • Fry, A.D.J., 2019. JUSTIFYING GENDER INEQUALITY IN THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND: AN EXAMINATION OF THEOLOGICALLY CONSERVATIVE MALE CLERGY ATTITUDES TOWARDS WOMEN'S ORDINATION. FIELDWORK IN RELIGION, 14 (1), 8-32.

Books

  • Fry, A.D.J., 2023. Gender Inequality in the Ordained Ministry of the Church of England: Examining Conservative Male Clergy Responses to Women Priests and Bishops.

Chapters

  • Jagger, S. and Fry, A.D.J., 2025. Hospitality and Wellbeing: The Making of Class Distinctions in the Church of England. In: Eade, J. and Tremlett, P.-F., eds. The Bloomsbury Handbook on Religion, Space and Place. Bloomsbury.
  • Fry, A.D.J. and Jagger, S., 2024. Healing the wounds of structural violence through increased wellbeing: Amplifying the culture, experiences and solutions of working-class clergy in the Church of England. In: Powell, A., Slominski, K. and Cook, C.C.H., eds. The Routledge Handbook of Spirituality, Religion, and Medical Humanities. Routledge.
  • Fry, A., 2023. Science as telos in the pursuit of Beruf: Why the Church of England agreed to lockdown at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. In: Creemers, J. and Kopaleishvili, T., eds. Religious freedom and COVID-19: A European perspective. Routledge.

Reports

Internet Publications

Theses

  • Fry, A., 2019. Gender attitudes amongst Anglo-Catholic and evangelical clergy in the Church of England: A qualitative examination of how male priests respond to women’s ordination as priests and their consecration as bishops. PhD Thesis. Durham University, Department of Theology and Religion.

Others

  • Fry, A., 2023. Review of Spirituality and Wellbeing Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Study of Religious Experience and Health. BASR. Submitted.
  • Fry, A., 2018. Review of Evangelicalism in America, by R. Balmer. BASR. Published.
  • Fry, A., 2018. Review of Evangelical Christian Baptists of Georgia: The history and transformation of a Free Church tradition, by M. Songulashvili. BASR. Published.
  • Fry, A., 2017. Review of Women in the story of Jesus: The Gospels through the eyes of nineteenth-century female biblical interpreters, by M. A. Taylor and H. E. Weir (eds.). SAGE. Published.
  • Fry, A., 2017. Review of The faith lives of women and girls, by N. Slee, F. Porter and A. Phillips (eds.). Wiley. Published.
  • Fry, A., 2016. Review of Sacred selves, sacred settings: Reflecting Hans Mol, by D. J. Davies and A. J. Powell (eds.). BASR. Published.
  • Fry, A., 2016. Review of Beyond the abortion wars: A way forward for a new generation, by C. C. Camosy. Wiley. Published.

Profile of Teaching UG

  • Sociology of Health and Illness (Level 6, Unit Lead)
  • Introduction to Social Research (Level 4, Seminar Lead)
  • Understanding Communities (Level 4, Guest Lecturer)
  • Seekers, Believers and Iconoclasts: Sociology of Thought (Level 6, Guest Lecturer)
  • Qualitative Research Skills (Level 5, Seminar Teacher)
  • Dissertation (Level 6, Supervisor and Unit Lead)

Invited Lectures

  • The wellbeing of working-class clergy, St Michael's Church Centre, Bristol, 23 Sep 2023 more
  • AI and Christian Ethics, Sarum College, 25 Mar 2023 more

Grants

  • Understanding the wellbeing of disabled clergy (The Church of England, 01 Jan 2024). In Progress
  • Worldview formation and death anxiety: Explaining atheism after a near-death experience (Explaining Atheism, 04 Apr 2023). In Progress
  • The wellbeing of working-class clergy in the Church of England (The Church of England, 03 Oct 2022). In Progress
  • Well-being and churchgoing: An exploration of the relationships between well-being, worldview and community participation in the North East of England (William Leech Research Fund, 02 Sep 2019). Completed
  • Gender attitudes amongst Anglo-Catholic and evangelical clergy in the Church of England: A qualitative examination of how male priests respond to women’s ordination as priests and their consecration as bishops (St Luke’s College Foundation, 03 Oct 2016). Completed
  • Gender attitudes amongst Anglo-Catholic and evangelical clergy in the Church of England: A qualitative examination of how male priests respond to women’s ordination as priests and their consecration as bishops (The Foundation of St Matthias, 03 Oct 2016). Completed
  • Gender attitudes amongst Anglo-Catholic and evangelical clergy in the Church of England: A qualitative examination of how male priests respond to women’s ordination as priests and their consecration as bishops (The Latimer Trust, 03 Oct 2016). Completed
  • Gender attitudes amongst Anglo-Catholic and evangelical clergy in the Church of England: A qualitative examination of how male priests respond to women’s ordination as priests and their consecration as bishops (The Ruby & Will George Trust, 03 Oct 2016). Completed
  • Gender attitudes amongst Anglo-Catholic and evangelical clergy in the Church of England: A qualitative examination of how male priests respond to women’s ordination as priests and their consecration as bishops (St Hild and St Bede Trust, 03 Oct 2016). Completed

External Responsibilities

Internal Responsibilities

  • Patron, Student Society (Social Sciences)
  • Global Engagement Lead, Department of Social Sciences and Social Work

Journal Reviewing/Refereeing

  • Humanities & Social Sciences Communications, Anonymous peer review, 04 Jan 2024
  • Humanities & Social Sciences Communications, Anonymous peer review, 26 Oct 2023
  • Religion and Gender, 21 Jul 2023
  • Sociological Research Online: an electronic journal, Anonymous peer review, 11 Apr 2023
  • Sociological Research Online: an electronic journal, Anonymous peer review, 23 Feb 2023
  • Critical Research on Religion, Open peer review, 25 Nov 2022
  • Sociological Research Online, Anonymous peer review, 14 Oct 2022
  • Journal of Happiness Studies, 10 Aug 2022
  • Fieldwork in Religion, 16 May 2022
  • Fieldwork in Religion, 12 May 2022
  • Religion and Gender, 15 Dec 2021
  • Journal of Religion and Health, 23 Nov 2021
  • Quality and Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, 17 Oct 2021
  • Critical Research on Religion, 29 Jun 2021
  • Critical Research on Religion, 03 Jun 2020
  • Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 07 Jun 2019

Public Engagement & Outreach Activities

  • English evangelicals: Their past, present and future (22 Nov 2023)
  • The Emergence of Anglo-Catholicism in the Church of England (25 Jan 2023)

Conference Presentations

  • The European Association for the Study of Religions, The voices of working-class clergy in a middle-class Church: Assessing their wellbeing through social and cultural capital, 04 Sep 2023, Vilnius
  • The British Sociological Association, Spiritual capital meets cultural capital: The voices of working-class clergy in a middle-class Church, 12 Apr 2023, Manchester
  • The European Association for the Study of Religions, The Church of England’s public policy response to Coronavirus-related restrictions on religious freedoms: Socio-historical precedents, 27 Jun 2022, University College Cork
  • The Centre for Critical Research on Religion, Comparing the Church of England’s response to COVID-19 with New Atheism conceptions of science: Reflections on the use of ‘critical religion’ for exploring religious engagement with scientific knowl, 10 Jun 2022, Queen's University Belfast
  • The British Sociological Association, How and why can religious institutions work towards building equality and justice now? A case study from the Church of England’s public policy response to the Coronavirus pandemic, 20 Apr 2022, Online
  • The Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, Beyond the religion/science binary: What the Church of England’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic reveals about its relationship with science, 22 Oct 2021, Portland, OR
  • The British Association for the Study of Religions, Comparing the Church of England’s response to COVID-19 with New Atheism conceptions of science: Reflections on how ‘critical religion’ aids understanding of ‘religion’, 31 Aug 2021, Online
  • The European Association for the Study of Religions, Institutional religion in an age of COVID-19: What the Church of England’s adaptation to the pandemic reveals about its relationship with science, 30 Aug 2021, Pisa, Italy
  • The British Sociological Association, Sociology of Religion Study Group, Beyond the religion/science Binary: What the Church of England’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic reveals about its relationship with science, 05 Jul 2021, Online
  • Viral Science and Public Theology: Talking About Nature and Neighbour in a Post-COVID World, The use of science in the public sphere by the Church of England during COVID-19, 01 Dec 2020, St John's College, Durham University
  • The European Association for the Study of Religions, Gendered disruptions in the Church of England: The advent of women clergy and the conservative response, 25 Jun 2019, Tartu, Estonia
  • The Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, Male power and the Anglican status quo: An exploration of system-justifying behaviour and opposition to women’s ordination in the Church of England, 26 Oct 2018, Las Vegas, NV
  • The European Association for the Study of Religions, Clergy attitudes vs. public attitudes towards gender: An exploration of male evangelical gender values in the Church of England, 17 Jun 2018, Bern, Switzerland
  • Contemporary Religion in Historical Perspective: Publics and Performances, Postfeminist priests? An examination of male Anglican clergy attitudes towards women, 19 Feb 2018, The Open University, Milton Keynes
  • The Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, “I do not permit a woman”: An exploration of social context and clergy attitudes towards gender in the Church of England, 13 Oct 2017, Washington, DC
  • The European Association for the Study of Religions, How do male clergy communicate gender types and challenge women's authority in the Church of England?, 18 Sep 2017, Leuven, Belgium
  • The Durham Conference on Ecclesiology and Ethnography, Making contact: What do clergy narratives reveal about their attitudes towards women priests?, 12 Sep 2017, St John's College, Durham University
  • The Durham Conference on Ecclesiology and Ethnography, Towards an empirical ecclesiology of gender, 06 Sep 2016, St John's College, Durham University

Consultancy Activities

  • Working-class Clergy Wellbeing in the Church of England, Research-based consultancy. The National Ministry Team (Church of England), Dr Sharon Jagger

Attended Training

  • Supporting Students, 05 Apr 2023
  • Doctoral Supervision: New Supervisors Development, 22 Mar 2023
  • Artificial Intelligence & Academic Integrity, 25 Jan 2023
  • JISC Learning Analytics, 18 Jan 2023
  • Mentimeter, 10 Jan 2023
  • Mentimeter Advanced, 10 Jan 2023

Qualifications

  • PGCertHE in Higher Education Pedagogy (The London School of Economics and Political Science, 2020)
  • PhD in Sociology (Durham University, 2019)
  • AKC (Associateship of King's College London) in Theology, Philosophy & Ethics (2014)
  • MA in Theology & Religious Studies (King's College London, 2013)
  • BA (Hons) in Theology & Religious Studies (The University of Manchester, 2011)

Memberships

  • SocRel (Sociology of Religion Study Group of the British Sociological Association), Member,
  • The British Association for the Study of Religions, Member,
  • The British Sociological Association, Member,
  • The Higher Education Academy (Advance HE), Fellow,

Social Media Links

External Media and Press