Essex University professor celebrates teaching two generations of family

Prof Pam Cox (l) and Elizabeth Newman-Earl at Thursday's graduation ceremony

An academic said teaching two generations of the same family at PhD level was "a great collective advert for working mums".

Prof Pam Cox, head of sociology at the University of Essex, supervised both Elizabeth Newman-Earl, and 20 years earlier, her mother Vivien Newman.

Ms Newman-Earl said she "felt there was a lovely symmetry" to having the same supervisor as her mother.

Prof Cox, said she had "very much enjoyed" working with the pair.

"They each chose fantastic topics that uncovered different aspects of women's hidden experiences, and each brought an incredible drive and energy to their doctoral research," Prof Cox, 52, said.

"The fact that they are mother and daughter has made this even more special for me as a supervisor.

"I became a mother while I was supervising Viv, and Elizabeth became a mother while I was supervising her. We're a great collective advert for working mums."

Military spouse study

Ms Newman-Earl, 40, from Essex, studied for her doctorate in sociology in Cyprus, where her husband had been posted.

Entitled Patch Life: Army Wives Behind the Wire, she researched the experiences of military spouses abroad.

"It allowed me to understand the specific nature of being overseas in an environment that is a long way from home, that is also pretty tough and unforgiving," she said.

Vivien Newman began her doctoral studies at Essex University in 1999

Her mother, 67, from Chelmsford, studied for a PhD in social history under Prof Cox from 1999, producing a thesis on women's poetry during World War One.

"When I first met with Prof Cox at the end of 1999, I could never have anticipated how intertwined she would become with my family's academic history," she said.

Having supervised the studies of both mother and daughter, Prof Cox added: "We're all speculating as to whether I could yet supervise the PhD of Elizabeth's young daughter on a suitable cultural or critical military topic."