Dr Kate Dashper

Reader
School Of Events, Tourism And Hospitality Management
0113 81 23460 K.Dashper@leedsbeckett.ac.ukAbout Dr Kate Dashper
Kate Dashper is Reader and Director of Research Degrees in the School of Events, Tourism and Hospitality Management. Her research applies a critical sociological lens to examine practices of work and leisure, particularly focusing on gender issues and interspecies encounters.
Kate’s work combines expertise in gender studies and human-animal studies. Her PhD (Keele University), sponsored by the journal Gender, Work and Organization, was a study of gender relations within the mixed-sex context of equestrian sport. Her research has since developed her interest in gender and diversity, considering how more-than-human perspectives can inform understanding of the complexities of multispecies worlds.
Kate is an internationally recognised researcher for her work in human-animal studies. Through her research on equestrian sport and leisure, Kate examines how humans and nonhumans work and play together, and the interspecies relationships that can develop through joint action and interaction. Her research considers the potential contributions that multispecies perspectives can make to understanding events, tourism and hospitality practices and organisations. She is author of the 2017 monograph Human-animal Relationships in Equestrian Sport and Leisure (Routledge) and co-editor of the first book on multispecies events, Humans, horses and Event Management (CABI, 2021).
Kate’s other main area of expertise is gender, and she has conducted research and consultancy projects within both the events and equestrian industries, evaluating gender equality initiatives in organisations and exploring the gendered experiences of women and men within professional and leisure contexts. She is editor of Sport, Gender and Mega-events (Emerald, 2021).
Current Teaching
Kate is Director of Research Degrees in the School of Events, Tourism and Hospitality Management and leads the School’s postgraduate research development programme. She also teaches human resource management at undergraduate level, and supervises undergraduate and postgraduate research projects.
She is currently supervising PhD students researching a variety of issues in events, tourism and hospitality. She welcomes applications in relation to:
- Gender and events, tourism and hospitality
- Emotional and aesthetic labour in events, tourism and hospitality organisations
- Organisational behaviour in events, tourism and hospitality
- Multispecies perspectives on events, tourism and hospitality
- Animals in tourism
- Nature and the outdoors and events, tourism and hospitality
Research Interests
Kate’s research continues to explore more-than-human aspects of work and leisure, focusing on issues related to diversity, inclusion and representation. She is currently developing the practice of multispecies ethnography within the context of animal-related tourism and events. She is working with colleagues in Australia to consider if and how research can attempt to represent some of the experiences and interests of nonhuman animals within global tourism in order to inform debates about welfare, ethics and sustainability.Kate also remains interested in gender and organisations. She is currently leading a longitudinal study into gender and careers in the events industry. Working with the not-for-profit Fast Forward 15 programme, she is exploring the effectiveness of mentoring and networking as tools to try and redress gender inequality within events and hospitality organisations.
Selected Publications
Journal articles (42)
- Dashper K (In press) Holidays with my horse: Human-horse relationships and multispecies tourism experiences
View Repository Record - Dashper K; Finkel R (2020) 'Doing gender' in Critical Event Studies: A dual agenda for research
https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEFM-03-2020-0014
View Repository Record - Dashper K; Ormerod N; Fletcher T; Lomax D; Bradley A; Marvel A (2020) Informed consumers?: Students, choices and Events Management degrees
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhlste.2020.100260
View Repository Record - Dashper K; Turner J; Wengel Y (2020) Gendering knowledge in tourism: Gender (in)equality initiatives in the tourism academy
https://doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2020.1834566
View Repository Record - Helgadottir G; Dashper K (2020) 20 years of Nordic rural tourism research: A review and future research agenda
https://doi.org/10.1080/15022250.2020.1823246
View Repository Record - Fenner K; Dashper K; Wilkins C; Serpell J; McLean A; Wilson B; McGreevy P (2020) Building bridges between theory and practice: how citizen science can bring equine researchers and practitioners together
https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10091644
View Repository Record - Dashper K; Finkel R (2020) Accessibility, diversity, and inclusion in the UK meetings industry
https://doi.org/10.1080/15470148.2020.1814472.
View Repository Record - Wood E; Dashper K (2020) 'Purposeful togetherness': Theorising gender and ageing through creative events
https://doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2020.1803890
View Repository Record - Dashper K (2020) Mentoring for gender equality: Supporting female leaders in the hospitality industry
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2019.102397
View Repository Record - Dashper K; Buchmann A (2019) Multispecies event experiences : Introducing more-than-human perspectives to event studies
https://doi.org/10.1080/19407963.2019.1701791
View Repository Record - Dashper K; Fletcher T; Long JA (2019) Intelligent investment'? Welsh sport policy and the (in)visibility of 'race'
https://doi.org/10.1080/02614367.2019.1653355
View Repository Record - Danby P; Dashper K; Finkel R (2019) Multispecies leisure: Human-animal interactions in leisure landscapes
https://doi.org/10.1080/02614367.2019.1628802
View Repository Record - Dashper K; Fletcher T (2019) 'Don't call me an academic': Professional identity and struggles for legitimacy within the vocational field of Events Management higher education.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhlste.2019.100201
View Repository Record - Dashper K; Abbott J; Wallace C (2019) 'Do horses cause divorces?' Autoethnographic insights on family, relationships and resource-intensive leisure
https://doi.org/10.1080/11745398.2019.1616573
View Repository Record - Fenner K; Caspar G; Hyde M; Henshall C; Dhand N; Probyn-Raspey F; Dashper K; McLean A; McGreevy P (2019) It's all about the sex, or is it? Humans, horses and temperament
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0216699
View Repository Record - Dashper K (2019) Challenging the gendered rhetoric of success? The limitations of women-only mentoring for tackling gender inequality in the workplace
https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.12262
View Repository Record - Dashper K; Brymer E (2019) An ecological-phenomenological perspective on multispecies leisure and the horse-human relationship in events
https://doi.org/10.1080/02614367.2019.1586981
View Repository Record - Dashper K (2019) More-than-human emotions: Multispecies emotional labour in the tourism industry
https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.12344
View Repository Record - Dashper K; Fenner K; Hyde M; Probyn-Rapsey F; Caspar G; Henshall C; McGreevy P (2018) The Anthropomorphic Application Of Gender Stereotypes To Horses
https://doi.org/10.1080/08927936.2018.1529349
View Repository Record - Dashper K (2018) Moving beyond anthropocentrism in leisure research: multispecies perspectives
https://doi.org/10.1080/11745398.2018.1478738
View Repository Record - Kola A; Ratna A; Dashper K (2018) 'On the Hunt for Belonging': Culture, Hunting and Indo-Muslim Men in South Africa
https://doi.org/10.1080/11745398.2017.1415153
View Repository Record - Dashper K (2018) Confident, focused and connected: The importance of mentoring for women's career development in the events industry
https://doi.org/10.1080/19407963.2018.1403162
View Repository Record - Dashper K (2018) Smiling assassins, brides-to-be and super mums: The importance of gender and celebrity in media framing of female athletes at the 2016 Olympic Games
https://doi.org/10.1080/17430437.2017.1409729
View Repository Record - Dashper K (2017) Listening to horses: Developing attentive interspecies relationships through sport and leisure
https://doi.org/10.1163/15685306-12341426
View Repository Record - Dashper K (2016) Strong, active women: (Re)doing rural femininity through equestrian sport and leisure
https://doi.org/10.1177/1466138115609379
View Repository Record - Dashper KL; Roth S (2016) Sociology in the 1980s: the rise of gender (and intersectionality)
https://doi.org/10.1177/0038038515620359
View Repository Record - Helgadóttir G; Dashper K (2016) 'Dear International guests and friends of the Icelandic horse': Experience, meaning and belonging at a niche sporting event
https://doi.org/10.1080/15022250.2015.1112303
View Repository Record - Channon A; Dashper K; Fletcher T; Lake RJ (2015) The promises and pitfalls of sex integration in sport and physical culture
https://doi.org/10.1080/17430437.2016.1116167
View Repository Record - Dashper K; St John M (2015) Clothes make the rider? Equestrian competition dress and sporting identity
https://doi.org/10.1080/11745398.2015.1095103
View Repository Record - Dashper KL (2015) Revise, resubmit and reveal? An autoethnographer's story of facing the challenges of revealing the self through publication
https://doi.org/10.1177/0011392115583879
View Repository Record - Dashper K (2014) Tools of the trade or part of the family? Horses in competitive equestrian sport
https://doi.org/10.1163/15685306-12341343
View Repository Record - Fletcher TE; Dashper K (2013) Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Sport and Leisure
- Fletcher TE; Dashper K (2013) "Like a Hawk Among House Sparrows": Kauto Star, a steeplechasing legend
https://doi.org/10.1080/17460263.2013.850269
View Repository Record - Dashper K (2013) Getting Better: An authoethnographic tale of recover from sporting injury
https://doi.org/10.1123/ssj.30.3.323 - Dashper K (2013) Getting better: An autoethnographic tale of recovery from sporting injury
https://doi.org/10.1123/ssj.30.3.323 - Fletcher T; Dashper K (2013) 'Bring on the dancing horses!': Ambivalence and class obsession within British media reports of the dressage at London 2012
https://doi.org/10.5153/sro.3040
View Repository Record - Dashper K; Fletcher T (2013) Introduction: diversity, equity and inclusion in sport and leisure
https://doi.org/10.1080/17430437.2013.821259
View Repository Record - Dashper K (2013) The 'right' person for the job: The aesthetics of labor within the events industry
https://doi.org/10.3727/152599513X13668224082341
View Repository Record - Dashper K (2012) Together, yet still not equal? Sex integration in equestrian sport
https://doi.org/10.1080/18377122.2012.721727
View Repository Record - Dashper KL (2012) Together, yet still not equal? Sex integration in equestrian sport
https://doi.org/10.1080/18377122.2012.721727 - Dashper K (2012) Dressage is full of Queens! Masculinity, sexuality and equestrian sport
https://doi.org/10.1177/0038038512437898
View Repository Record - Dashper K (2010) It's a form of Freedom: The experiences of people with disabilities within equestrian sport
https://doi.org/10.1080/11745398.2010.9686839
View Repository Record
Books (5)
- Channon A; Dashper K; Lake RJ; Fletcher T (2017) Sex Integration in Sport and Physical Culture Promises and Pitfalls. Routledge.
- Dashper K (2016) Human-animal Relationships in Equestrian Sport and Leisure. Routledge.
- Dashper K ed. (2014) Rural tourism: An international perspective. Newcastle, UK: Cambridge Scholars.
- Fletcher TE; Dashper K (2014) Diversity, equity and inclusion in sport and leisure. Sport in a global society London: Routledge.
- Dashper K; Fletcher TE; McCullough N ed. (2014) Sports Events, Society and Culture. Routledge: Advances in Events Research Routledge.
Chapters (13)
- Sharma-Brymer V; Dashper K; Brymer E (2020) Nature and pets. In: IsHak WW Handbook of Wellness Medicine. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 413-422.
- Finkel R; Dashper K (2020) Accessibility, diversity and inclusion in events.. In: Page SJ; Connell J The Routledge Handbook of Events. : Routledge, pp. 475-490.
- Fletcher TE; Dashper K; Matzani R (2017) Gender justice? Muslim women's experiences of sport and physical activity in the UK. In: Long J; Fletcher T; Watson R Sport, Leisure and Social Justice. : Routledge, pp. .
- Fletcher TE; Channon A; Dashper K; Lake RJ (2017) The promises and pitfalls of sex integration in sport and physical culture. In: Channon A; Dashper K; Fletcher T; Lake RJ Sex integration in sport and physical culture: Promises and pitfalls. : , pp. .
- Dashper K (2016) Learning to communicate: The triad of (mis)communication in horse-riding lessons.. In: Davis D; Maurstad A The Meaning of Horses. : Routledge, pp. .
https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315690728 - Dashper K (2016) Researching from the inside: Autoethnography and critical event studies.. In: Lamond I; Platt L Critical Events Studies.. : Routledge, pp. 213-299.
- Dashper K (2014) Rural tourism: Opportunities and challenges.. In: Dashper K Rural tourism: An international perspective. : Cambridge Scholars, pp. 1-20.
- Fletcher TE; Dashper K; McCullough N (2014) Introduction: Sports events, society and culture. In: Fletcher T; Dashper K; McCullough N Sports events, society and culture. London: Routledge, pp. .
- Fletcher TE; Dashper K; McCullough N (2014) This is just the beginning.... In: Fletcher T; Dashper K; McCullough N Sports events, society and culture. London: Routledge, pp. .
- Fletcher TE; Dashper K; Russell KA; O'Connor N (2014) Sporting mega-events and Islam: An introduction. In: Fletcher T; Dashper K; Mccullough N Sports events, society and culture. London: Routledge, pp. .
- Dashper KL; Cochrane J (2013) Characteristics and needs of the leisure riding market in the UK. In: Pickel Chevalier S; Evans R Horse tourism and leisure: international scale - local development. : , pp. .
- Dashper KL (2013) Beyond the Binary: Gender integration in equestrian sport. In: Adelman M; Knijik J Gender and Equestrian Sport. : Springer, pp. 37-53.
- Dashper KL (2012) The Olympic Experience from a Distance: The case of the equestrian events at the 2008 games. In: Shipway R; Fyall A International Sports Events: Impacts, experiences and identities. : Routledge, pp. 141-153.
Conference contributions (25)
- Dashper K (2019) Conceptualising nonhuman animals as 'workers' in the tourism industry: Theoretical, practical and ethical implications. Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden 27/08/2020.
- Dashper K; Buchmann A (2019) Reconceptualising animals in tourism: Multispecies perspectives University of the Balearicas, Ibiza 24/06/2019.
- Dashper K (2019) Multispecies encounters in sports events University of South-East Norway 03/06/2019.
- Dashper K; Fletcher T; Ormerod N; Marvell A (2018) What is events management? Student and academic staff perspectives. Leeds Beckett University 04/07/2018.
- Dashper K; Buchmann A (2018) Endurance riding events as multispecies tourism. Leeds Beckett University 19/06/2018.
- Rebelo S; Dashper K (2018) "Women are the business!": A programme to support, develop and inspire future female leaders in hospitality, tourism and events. Bournemouth, UK 23/05/2018.
- Dashper K (2016) Human-horse relationships in equestrian sport and leisure. Stockholm, Sweden 27/10/2016.
- Dashper K (2016) Do horses cause divorces? Gender, family and equestrian leisure Aston University, UK 06/04/2016.
- Dashper K (2015) The ethics of horse riding Malmo, Sweden 23/06/2015.
- Dashper K (2014) The triad of (mis)communication in horse-riding lessons Tallinn, Estonia 31/07/2014.
- Dashper K (2014) Dances on hooves: Dressage to music as a form of interspecies dance. Yokohama, Japan 13/07/2014.
- Dashper K (2013) Gendered bodies within equestrian sport and leisure. Gothenburg, Sweden .
- Dashper KL (2013) A little dirt never hurt anyone: Embodying feminine toughness and independence through horse riding and ownership Florence .
- Fletcher TE (2013) 'Bring on the Dancing Horses': Social class and Dressage Events at the London 2012 Olympic Games Vancouver 13/06/2013.
- Dashper KL (2012) The Elusiveness of 'Feel' in the Horse-human Relationship: Communication, Harmony and Understanding Institute of English Studies, University of London, UK 26/10/2012.
- Dashper K; Cochrane J (2012) Perceptions of the British countryside as mediated by the horse Lisbon, Portugal 29/07/2012.
- Cochrane J; Dashper KL (2012) Characteristics and needs of the leisure riding market in the UK Saumur, France 09/05/2012.
- Dashper KL; Cochrane J (2012) Horse-based tourism, farm diversification and regional development in rural areas Antalya, Turkey .
- Dashper K (2011) Gender Integration in Action: Women, men and equestrian sport Minneapolis, USA .
- Dashper K (2011) The Market for Horse-based Tourism in the UK University of Lincoln, UK .
- Dashper K (2011) Experiencing the Countryside on Horseback: The 'fantastic' sport of horse endurance Rovanemi, Finland 21/09/2011.
- Dashper KL (2010) The Olympic experience from a distance: The case of the equestrian events at the 2008 Games Chuncheon, South Korea 28/08/2010.
- Dashper K; Kerfoot D (2009) Men's time, Women's time? Work/life balance in the UK equestrian industry . Brighton:
https://doi.org/10.1080/11745398.2010.9686839 - Dashper KL; Knights D (2008) Upsetting organisations: The case of equestrian sports in Britain VU University Amsterdam, Holland .
- Dashper KL (2007) Jumping through hoops: An examination of the gendered nature of sport using equestrianism as an exemplar Glasgow, Scotland 03/09/2007.
Reports (6)
- Positive Impact (2017) Telling the story of the Power of Events.
- Sigurdardóttir I; Helgadóttir G; Dashper K; Ásgeirsson H; Heldt T; Heldt Cassell S; Jaegar K (2017) Evaluation of Landsmót Hestamanna, 2016..
- Dashper K (2016) Evaluation of Fast Forward 15 Women's mentoring programme.. Fast Forward 15.
- Mulligan J; Kitchen E; Ormerod N; Dashper K; Fletcher T; Wood E (2015) Evaluation of the social and economic value of participation in meetings and conferences. Research Report, Meetings Professional International (MPI). Meetings Professional International (MPI).
- Dashper K (2015) The event workforce: Understanding job satisfaction, stress and job experience in the events industry.
- Long JA; Dashper K; Fletcher T; Ormerod N (2015) Understanding participation and non-participation in sport amongst Black and minority ethnic groups in Wales. Cardiff: Report to Sport Wales from the Institute for Sport, Physical Activity and Leisure.
View Repository Record