Sally Shortall is interested in farm families, and how their values and decisions shape agricultural practice. She is particularly interested in the role of women in farm families. Her research on gender relations in agriculture has focused on dynamics of power, how it is accepted and almost unquestioned that women rarely inherit land, are not recognised by the industry, and have limited access to capital and training. This persists in a context of general improvements in gender equality. To date her research has focused on Europe, Canada, Australia, Tanzania and Nigeria. She is currently working on women’s role in leading on ecological transitions and leading a Horizon Europe project (2023-2026) on this question. She has published extensively on these questions. Sally is also involved in a Horizon Europe project (2023-2027) looking at farmer health and safety and mental well-being, with a focus on the ethics of interviewing farmers who have had life changing accidents.
Sally Shortall was twice elected President of the European Society for Rural Sociology (2015-17; 2017-19). She was elected First Vice-President of the International Rural Sociology Association (2016-2020).
She was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in 2021, and elected an International Fellow of the Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry for international service to agriculture.
Sally holds Visiting Professorships in Queen’s University Belfast, and has a 30% appointment in the Technology University of the Southeast of Ireland. She is an Irish citizen.