Dr Fiona Abades Barclay

Dr Fiona Abades Barclay is a Research Officer on the

She holds PhD from the University of Loughborough, where she conducted research on postfeminism and digital fitness cultures, focusing on the parasocial practices and labour of female members within fitness online communities. Prior to her PhD, Fiona received her BA in Political Sciences and completed her MA at Central Saint Martins in Culture, Criticism and Curation.

Fiona has been involved in various research projects within the Institute of Sport Business, Loughborough University London in collaboration with the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Most recently, she assisted on research exploring how to safeguard online sporting spaces for Olympic and Paralympic athletes, addressing issues such as virtual maltreatment, abuse, and toxic social media practices.

For more than 10 years, Fiona has worked at schools as both a teacher assistant and tutor. Her current work as a research officer within the Department of Media and Communications, concerns improving learner’s digital literacy in different school settings, including improving children and young people’s ability to know their rights online and to recognise and resist digital misinformation.

Expertise

Media and Culture, Online Labour, Critical Media Literacy, Digital and Popular Cultures, Postfeminism and Neoliberalism, Girls and Young Women, Online Communities and Parasocial Relations