Michaela Benzeval
{{Short description|British sociologist}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Michaela Jane Benzeval
| image = Michaela Benzeval on UK Data Service.jpg
| caption = Benzeval in 2015
| workplaces = University of Essex
| alma_mater = University of Bath
University of London
University of Glasgow
| thesis_title = What is the role of income in creating health inequalities? Evidence from cross-sectional and longitudinal studies
| thesis_url = https://theses.gla.ac.uk/3053/
| thesis_year = 2011
| doctoral_advisor = Sally Macintyre
}}
Michaela Jane Benzeval CBE is a British sociologist, Professor and Director of Understanding Society at the University of Essex. She was appointed a Commander of the British Empire in the 2024 New Year Honours.
Early life and education
Benzeval studied economics at the University of Bath. She moved to the University of London for her graduate studies, where she specialised in and health policy and epidemiology. In London she also completed a Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice. She completed her doctoral research at the University of Glasgow, where she investigated the role of income in driving health inequality with Sally Macintyre.{{Cite web |title=What is the role of income in creating health inequalities? : evidence from cross-sectional and longitudinal studies |url=https://search.worldcat.org/title/773985301 |access-date=2023-12-31 |website=search.worldcat.org |language=en}} She used the General Household Survey to explore the association between income and health. She found that income had a stronger association with health than education and class. She also showed that lone mothers and fathers had higher risk of ill health. She used the British Household Panel Survey to show that reductions in income and income volatility were associated with poor health.
Research and career
After completing her doctorate Benzeval joined Queen Mary University of London, where she studied mental health of men and women in relationships.{{Cite journal |last1=Willitts |first1=M. |last2=Benzeval |first2=M. |last3=Stansfeld |first3=S. |date=2004 |title=Partnership History and Mental Health over Time |journal=Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health |volume=58 |issue=1 |pages=53–58 |doi=10.1136/jech.58.1.53 |jstor=25570254 |pmid=14684727 |pmc=1757022 |issn=0143-005X}} She found that enduring first relationships were associated with good mental health, and that women were more adversely affected by multiple partnership transitions than men.{{Cite web |last=Bhattacharya |first=Shaoni |title=Cohabiting boosts men's mental health |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn4507-cohabiting-boosts-mens-mental-health/ |access-date=2023-12-31 |website=New Scientist |language=en-US}}
Benzeval was a Programme Leader and Director for the West of Scotland Twenty-07 Study, which investigated the processes that cause and maintain social inequality.{{Cite journal |last1=Benzeval |first1=M. |last2=Der |first2=G. |last3=Ellaway |first3=A. |last4=Hunt |first4=K. |last5=Sweeting |first5=H. |last6=West |first6=P. |last7=Macintyre |first7=S. |date=2009-10-01 |title=Cohort Profile: West of Scotland Twenty-07 Study: Health in the Community |journal=International Journal of Epidemiology |language=en |volume=38 |issue=5 |pages=1215–1223 |doi=10.1093/ije/dyn213 |issn=0300-5771 |pmc=2935558 |pmid=18930962}}
She joined the University of Essex in 2015, when she was made a Professor and Director of the Institute for Social and Economic Research.{{Cite web |title=mjbenz |url=https://www.iser.essex.ac.uk/people/mjbenz |access-date=2023-12-31 |website=Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER) |language=en-GB}}
Awards and honours
- 2022 Elected Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences{{Cite news |title=Academy of Social Sciences Fellowship for Professor Michaela Benzeval {{!}} University of Essex |url=https://www.essex.ac.uk/news/2022/09/05/academy-of-social-sciences-fellowship-for-professor-michaela-benzeval |access-date=2023-12-31 |website=www.essex.ac.uk |language=en}}
- 2024 Appointed Commander of the British Empire in the 2024 New Year Honours{{Cite web |date=2023-12-30 |title=Meet the Essex University professor awarded CBE in the New Year's Honours list |url=https://www.gazette-news.co.uk/news/24017547.university-essexs-michaela-jane-benzeval-awarded-cbe/ |access-date=2023-12-31 |website=Gazette |language=en}}
Select publications
- {{Cite Q|Q34633437|doi-access=free}}
- {{Cite Q|Q74817355}}
- {{Cite Q|Q34207291}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Benzeval, Michaela}}
Category:Alumni of the University of Bath
Category:Alumni of the University of London
Category:Alumni of the University of Glasgow
Category:Academics of the University of Essex
Category:Fellows of the Academy of Social Sciences