Francesca Gains is an Emeritus Professor of Public Policy at the University of Manchester.  She joined the University of Manchester in 1999 after completing her PhD at the University of Sheffield. She became the first woman Head of Politics at Manchester (2015 - 2018) and subsequently was appointed Academic Co-Director of Policy@Manchester (2018 - 2022). She is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Public Policy, Local Government Studies and the International Review of Administrative Sciences.

Before becoming an academic Francesca worked in local government & the probation service, and had both government funded and Parliamentary research experience.  Francesca's research examines the relationship between political management arrangements and policy outcomes.  For example, research into civil service reform (funded by the ESRC); into local government constitutional reform (funded by the Department for Communities and Local Government); into equalitites and gender equality institutional arrangements (funded by the Equalities and Human Rights Council, European Research Council, and ESRC). 

Her most recent research has examined governance developments in English devolution (with ESRC funding). Her REF 2021 impact case study 'Getting Gender on the Devolution Agenda'  is showcased on the University of Manchester's research impact highlights.  Francesca contributed to the devolution policy agenda giving evidence to the Housing, Communites and Local Government Select Committee on the progress of devolution in March 2020, contributing to public debates during the  development of devolution in Greater Manchester and at many events examining the potential and possibilites of devolution with Mayor Andy Burnham both before and after the mayoral elections in 2016 and 2020.   She highlights the need for diversity in local representation in this Centre for Cities podcast and the relevance of a gendered lens to devolved policy making to improve productivity in this webinar

Ensuring impact and knowledge transfer of her research and working with policy makers and other stakeholders to co-produce policy development continues to be a central aspect of her research profile.  In 2022/3 she acted as  advisor to the Local Government Association Levelling Up Locally Inquiry.  In 2020 she was invited to join the Greater Manchester Combined Authority Women and Girls Equality Panel, and since 2019 has been on the Oversight Board of GM4Women2028.  

Francesca has published over 30 peer reviewed articles and two edited collections (see publications).  In 2012 she was awarded the Best Paper in Comparative Policy at the 2011 American Political Science Association conference in Seattle for work examining when governments pay attention to gender equality demands (with collaborators Claire Annesley and Isabelle Engeli).  In 2008 she received the Herbert Kaufman Award for the Best Paper in Public Administration at the 2007 American Political Science Association Conference in Chicago for research examining bureaucratic policy preferences (with Peter John).  

Francesca has had the great pleasure of supervising 16 doctoral researchers to successful completion (see further information below) and although not accepting new projects will continue to supervise until completion a final PhD (see research projects below).  In 2022 she was awarded Humanites PGR Supervisor  of the Year after nomination by her past students.

Specific research interests:

• Gender policy change 
• Diversity and representation in policy making processes
• Political management reform in central and local government
• English devolution and introduction of police and crime commissioners
• Political management and policy outcomes
• Comparative Public Policy

Current research projects:

Strengthening Participatory Decision Making in Greater Manchester (with Liz Richardson) an action research project following up on recommendations in the GM Independant Inequalitity Commission Report

Current PhD Supervision

Khin Khin Mra (UoM funded: 2022 - 2025)  'Ballots and Bullets - Women's Right to Representation and Justice in Myanmar's Political Transition' 

Supervision areas:

Supervised to completion

• Blanca Merino Casallo 'Investigating Politicians' Acting For and Against Gender Equality Policies'
• Christopher Butler (SoSS funding) UK Governments & Public Opinion Policy Responsiveness
• Anna Sanders (ESRC funded) The Impact of Gendered Policies on Women's Voting
• Matthew Crow 'Social Enterprise in the British Political Tradition'
• Anthony Chambers (ESRC funded) Do Immigrant Origin MPs represent Immigrant Origin Voters?
• Ana Sanchez Santana (ORS funded) The Challenges of Regulatory Governance in Mexico
• Jolanta Shields (ESRC and Presedential Doctoral Scholarship) 'Community Interest Companies in the NHS: A Trojan Horse for Marketisation?
• Leah Culhane (ERC Understanding Institutional Change funded)  'Feminist Institutionalism and Gendered Political Change'
• Rabi'ah Aminudin (Government funding) 'The Role of the National Women's Policy Agency in Malaysia'
• Sara Kallock 'Liveability and the Framing of Sex Work'
• Ceray Celan 'The Impact of Islamic Communities on Educational Policy Making in Turkey
• Paul Hepburn (Englander Fellowship) 'Local Governance and the Local Online Networked Public Sphere';
• Christina Easton (ESRC funded) 'The Representation of Women in the Transitional House of Lords';
• Tessa Brannan (ESRC funded) 'Bounded Rationality in Best Practice Policy Learning around Community Engagement ';
• Susanna Ghosh-Mitra 'Implementation of Water Privitisation Policies in India';
• Catherine Durose (ESRC funded) 'From 'Street Level Bureaucrats' to 'Front Line Workers'