Dr Caitlin Schmid is a Research Fellow at the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership (GIWL) at King’s College London. Her research combines advanced quantitative methods with feminist economics and policy analysis, with a particular interest in unpaid care, labour market inequalities, and the politics of measurement.

Caitlin is the lead researcher behind the Gender Equality Index UK (GEIUK), providing the first data tool to measure and map women’s and men’s socioeconomic outcomes across all 372 local authorities in the UK. The GEIUK equips policymakers, researchers, and advocates with a detailed evidence base on gender and geographic inequalities in the UK. Launched in May 2025, she presented findings on BBC Radio 4 Woman’s Hour together with GIWL chair Rt Hon Julia Gillard.

In parallel, Caitlin leads an ESRC-funded workshop series in partnership with the Women’s Budget Group, aimed at strengthening data literacy and building capacity for gender-sensitive policymaking. This initiative delivers statistical training using UK census data to local authorities, civil society organisations, and early career researchers.

Her previous work at GIWL includes a co-authored comparative study on gender pay gap reporting systems, funded by the UN Foundation. The research informed 2024 policy reforms in Australia and was recognised with a 2023 SSPP Impact Prize by King’s College London.

Caitlin holds a PhD in Sociology from the University of Manchester, funded by the ESRC with an Advanced Quantitative Methods grant and awarded the university’s President Doctoral Scholar Award. She earned an MSc in Sociology: Comparative Organisation and Labour Studies from the University of Amsterdam, receiving the 2017 Dutch National Prize for Best Social Science Master’s Thesis in Gender and Sexuality Studies, and a BSc in Psychology from the University of Zurich.