New Professor of Care Ethics and Culture

Dr Martin Robb, from The Open University’s School of Health, Wellbeing and Social Care, has been promoted to Professor of Care Ethics and Culture. His academic research has been broadly concerned with issues relating to gender, identity and care, and has included studies of men working in childcare, young masculinities, fathering identities, and bereaved fathers.

Professor Robb commented on his promotion:
“The first part of my professorial title reflects the contribution that I’ve been making to the emerging field of care ethics in my recent research and writing. It also acknowledges my desire to establish the OU as a recognised centre of excellence for research in care theory, for example through attracting research students and by bringing together an interdisciplinary interest group from across the University.
The second half of my title reflects my longstanding interest, reflected in both my research and my teaching at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, in the ways in which the everyday practice and experience of care are shaped by social factors of identity and culture.”

Alongside Dr Kerry Jones, Professor Robb is co-editor of the book Men and Loss: New Perspectives on Bereavement, Grief and Masculinity, published by Routledge earlier this year. The book brings together new research and theories of bereavement, and men and masculinities, to support the understanding of men’s experience of loss. Martin has authored a number of the chapters, including on topics such as masculinity, identity and bereavement, and around research into fathers uniting in their grief through football. Martin’s monograph Men, Masculinities and the Care of Children: Images, Ideas and Identities, which draws on his earlier groundbreaking research on men and care, was published by Routledge in 2020.

Professor Robb hosts the Careful Thinking podcast, which is inspired by the belief that thinking critically about care can deepen our understanding and improve the everyday practice of care.

He is also co-editor of the interdisciplinary journal Children & Society, a key resource for those seeking an understanding of children and young people and the issues that affect their lives.

Martin is currently making a significant contribution to the field of care ethics and care theory. He recently launched an interdisciplinary Care Ethics Interest Group at The Open University and is writing a book on Gabriel Marcel and the Ethics of Care, to be published by Routledge in 2027. 

Before joining The Open University, Martin led a variety of education projects with socially disadvantaged groups and communities. Today, he is the academic lead for the OU’s MA in Childhood and Youth.