Women in Qual (WIQ)
A free community for women (non-binary and transgender) researchers using qualitative research and methods — at every career stage, across all fields, sectors and industries.
Free monthly virtual networking, webinars, and a newsletter. More than 900 global members and growing.
Why Women in Qual exists
Qualitative research can be a solitary endeavour, particularly if you’re the only person in your department doing it, if you find yourself continually defining your qual work to quantitative researchers who don’t quite get it, or if you’re only one who thinks reflexivity is more than a paragraph in a methods section.
I started Women in Qual in March 2026 because there was no obvious place for women qualitative researchers to connect with each other, have these conversations, meet qualitative researchers working across different fields/disciplines/industries and both inside and outside of academia. To have somewhere to ask a methods question without it feeling like a performance with judgement, and to meet people doing similar work elsewhere. More than 900 members later, it turns out a lot of other women felt the same.
The WIQ Community is free to join, and it runs on a small team of volunteers working around their day jobs. Our regular monthly newsletters, virtual monthly networking events and quarterly webinars stay free for all.
Upcoming events
Free Expert Webinar: Qualitative Sampling:”How do I know I’ve done enough?” with Professor Karen O’Reilly
4 NOVEMBER 2026 at 13.00 (GMT)
Our November expert webinar explores interpretive sampling, initial, ongoing and final samples, and how to tackle the thorny question of sample size through “sample fitness”, drawing on Prof O’Reilly’s book Qualitative Research Methods for Everyone. There will be time for questions and discussion.
Free monthly virtual networking
11 NOVEMBER 2026 at 12.00 (GMT)
Informal, no presentations, no PowerPoint slides, no agenda beyond talking to other women who do qualitative work. Come with a question, a problem, or nothing at all. Just join us and say hello.
Free monthly virtual networking
An hour online, once a month. No presentations, no slides, no obligation to say anything clever or to perform. Members bring what they are working on, what they are stuck on, or just turn up to meet and talk to other women who understand qualitative research and its challenges.
These sessions are deliberately unstructured. Some months it is methods talk, some months it is career questions, and occasionally it is simply company for people working alone to meet and chat with others.
Free, and open to all members.
Webinars
Free sessions with guest speakers on methods, ethics and research practice. Past topics have included transcription and social justice, and the future of qualitative research in an AI landscape.
Recordings are usually shared with members afterwards, so it is worth joining and subscribing to the WIQ newsletter to receive these and even if the date does not suit.
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