Staff profile

Dr Mariann Hardey is a Professor of Business and Computing at Durham University Business School.

Mariann is also part of Advanced Research Computing (ARC) at Durham University, where her role supports widening participation and accessibility in computing. She is passionate about self-development and learning, focusing on representation among business leaders and practitioners in the technology sector. She has given numerous presentations at international conferences and events, including the first TEDx event in the United Kingdom, and her work has been featured in international media. Mariann's two most recent books are The Culture of Women in Technology: An Unsuitable Job for a Woman and Household Self-Tracking in a Global Health Crisis. Both have received accolades from tech organisations and the academy. The Culture of Women in Tech forms part of the Master Class curriculum of the UK Government Digital Service to promote employment reform and inclusivity.

Mariann's writing has been featured in The Guardian, The Independent, The Huffington Post, and The Observer. Mariann has appeared on BBC News, Bloomberg, and her research has formed part of BBC Radio 4' The Today Programme and Laurie Taylor's Thinking Allowed. Facebook Etiquette, the award-winning blog authored by Mariann, was the first digital narrative to be presented at the Edinburgh Book Festival. 

Mariann holds a PhD. in Sociology and a Masters in Women's Studies from her 1+3 ESCR scholarship at the University of York, where she continues contributing to the research community.

Personal website www.mariannhardey.com

Areas of Interest for Doctoral Supervision 

Tech culture, labour and the gig economy, social media, tech inequalities, mHealth and self-tracking, data-veillance 

Research Interests 

Creative work, theory, qualitative methods, mHealth, self-tracking, data surveillance, action-research, technology 

Extra duties: Mariann took time away from her career in 2016 to spend time with her daughter.

• Digital Culture
• Women in digital leadership roles
• Consumer-generated-content (CGC)
• Tech Cities
• Digital information systems
• Network society
• Wearable tech and digital consumption
• Social apps
• Digital Humanities

• 2000: IAS Associate Fellow 2022-2025: Mariann is a Fellow at the Durham Institute of Advanced Study. With Rille Raaper, she is the co-PI for their project Risks to Youth and Studenthood in Digital Spaces: Commodification, Transitions and Digital Identities. The research investigates young people's participation in image-rich, real-time digital environments such as YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok at a key point in transition from youth to adulthood. The project makes use of sophisticated video and image processing technologies. As an IAS Fellow, Mariann represents the University at the highest level internationally through sustained knowledge exchange initiatives with policy and cultural impact.

Authored book

• Hardey, M. (2022). Household Self-Tracking During a Global Health Crisis. Emerald. https://doi.org/10.1108/9781800439146
• Hardey, M. (2019). The Culture of Women in Tech: An Unsuitable Job for a Woman. Emerald
• Hardey, M., & Gilroy-Ware, M. (2013). Beginning Theory Digital Communications. SAGE Publications

Chapter in book

• Hardey, M. (2018). Social Network Analysis in an Age of Digital Information. In R. Alhajj, & J. Rokne (Eds.), Encyclopedia of social network analysis and mining (2671-2677). (2nd ed.). Springer Verlag. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-7131-2_403
• Hardey, M. (2017). Theorizing and Researching Gender and Digital Leadership in “Tech Cities”. In C. M. Cunningham, H. M. Crandall, & A. M. Dare (Eds.), Gender, communication, and the leadership gap (291-310). Information Age Publishing
• Smith, H., Hardey, M., Hardey, M., & Burrows, R. (2016). Social Cartography and ‘Knowing Capitalism’: Critical Reflections on Social Research and the Geo-­Spatial Web. In N. G. Fielding, R. M. Lee, & G. Blank (Eds.), The Sage handbook of online research methods (596-610). (2nd ed.). SAGE Publications
• Hardey, M. (2014). Marketing Narratives: Researching Digital Data, Design and the In/Visible Consumer. In M. Hand, & S. Hillyard (Eds.), Big Data?: Qualitative Approaches to Digital Research (115-135). (13). Emerald. https://doi.org/10.1108/s1042-319220140000013008
• Branley, D., Covey, J., & Hardey, M. (2014). Online surveys: Investigating social media use and online risk. In SAGE Research Methods Cases. SAGE Publications. https://doi.org/10.4135/978144627305013514666
• Hardey, M. (2011). ICTs and Generations – Constantly Connected Social Lives. In F. Colombo, & L. Fortunati (Eds.), Broadband society and generational changes (97-109). Peter Lang
• Hardey, M. (2011). Ubiquitous Connectivity: User-Generated Data and the Role of the Researcher. In S. Hesse-Biber (Ed.), The handbook of emergent technologies in social research (111-132). Oxford University Press
• Hardey, M. (2011). How Rules of Acceptable Behaviour Enlighten our Digital Interactions – The Formation of Facebook Etiquette. In Psychology of Facebook. Persuasive Technology Lab, Stanford University

Conference Paper

• Fenton, A., Ahmed, W., Hardey, M., & Koral, C. (2022, August). Exploring SMEs attitudes to Net Zero & social media: Action Case research as a force for good. Presented at British Academy of Management Conference 2022, Manchester, England
• Aduragba, O. T., Yu, J., Cristea, A. I., Hardey, M., & Black, S. (2020, December). Digital Inclusion in Nothern England: Training Women from Underrepresented Communities in Tech: A Data Analytics Case Study. Presented at 2020 15th International Conference on Computer Science & Education (ICCSE)

Journal Article

• Lunt, N., Hardey, M., & Mannion, R. (online). Nip, Tuck and Click: Medical tourism and the emergence of web-based health information. Yearbook of Medical Informatics, 145-145
• Ahmed, W., Hardey, M., & Vidal-Alaball, J. A Social Network Analysis of Organ Donation Conversations on X: Developing the OrgReach Social Media Marketing Strategy for Organ Donation Awareness (Preprint). https://doi.org/10.2196/preprints.59872. Manuscript submitted for publication
• Raaper, R., Hardey, M., & Aad, S. (online). #Studytalk in marketised higher education: Student influencers as emerging support providers. Studies in Higher Education, https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2024.2385614
• Ahmed, W., Hardey, M., David Winters, B., & Sarwal, A. (in press). Social Media Advocacy Impact on Awareness Regarding Racial biases Associated with Pulse Oximetry: An 11-Year Longitudinal Study. Journal of Medical Internet Research,
• Ahmed, W., Hardey, M., Winters, B. D., & Sarwal, A. (in press). Racial Biases Associated with Pulse Oximetry: Longitudinal Social Network Analysis of Social Media Advocacy Impact. Journal of Medical Internet Research, https://doi.org/10.2196/preprints.56034
• Aad, S., & Hardey, M. (online). Generative AI: Hopes, Controversies, and the Future of Faculty Roles in Education. Quality Assurance in Education, https://doi.org/10.1108/QAE-02-2024-0043
• Hardey, M. (online). On the Body of the Consumer: Performance-Seeking with Wearables and Health and Fitness Apps. Sociology of Health & Illness, https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9566.12879
• Das, R., Ahmed, W., Sharma, K., Hardey, M., Dwivedi, Y., Apostolidis, C., Zhang, Z., & Filieri, R. (2024). Towards the development of an explainable e-commerce fake review index: An attribute analytics approach. European Journal of Operational Research, 317(2), 382-400. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejor.2024.03.008
• Ahmed, W., Aiyenitaju, O., Chadwick, S., Hardey, M., & Fenton, A. (2024). The Influence of Joe Wicks on Physical Activity During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Thematic, Location, and Social Network Analysis of X Data. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 26, Article e49921. https://doi.org/10.2196/49921
• Ahmed, W., Önkal, D., Das, R., Krishnan, S., Olan, F., Hardey, M., & Fenton, A. (2023). Developing Techniques to Support Technological Solutions to Disinformation by Analysing Four Conspiracy Networks During COVID-19. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, https://doi.org/10.1109/tem.2023.3273191
• Fenton, A., Ahmed, W., Hardey, M. (., Boardman, R., & Kavanagh, E. (2023). Women’s Football Subculture of Misogyny: The Escalation to Online Gender-Based Violence. European Sport Management Quarterly, https://doi.org/10.1080/16184742.2023.2270566
• Hardey, M., Ahmed, W., Fenton, A., & Koral, C. (2023). Enlightened Participation: SME Perspectives about Net Zero on Social Media using the Action Case Approach. IIM Kozhikode Society & Management Review, https://doi.org/10.1177/22779752231166521
• Ahmed, W., Das, R., Vidal-Alaball, J., Hardey, M. (., & Fuster-Casanovas, A. (2023). Analysing Twitter’s Role in Combating the Magnetic Vaccine Conspiracy Theory Using Social Network Analysis. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 25, Article e43497. https://doi.org/10.2196/43497
• Fenton, A., Cooper-Ryan, A. M., Hardey, M. (., & Ahmed, W. (2022). Football Fandom as a Platform for Digital Health Promotion and Behaviour Change: A Mobile App Case Study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(14), Article 8417. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19148417
• Ahmed, W., Fenton, A., Hardey, M., & Das, R. (2022). Binge Watching and the Role of Social Media Virality towards promoting Netflix’s Squid Game. IIM Kozhikode Society & Management Review, 11(2), 222-234. https://doi.org/10.1177/22779752221083351
• Hardey, M. (2022). Tracking the Trackers: Self-Tracking in Households as Social Practice. Digital Health, 8, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1177/20552076221093131
• Hardey, M., & James, S. J. (2022). Digital Seriality and Narrative Branching: Season One, the Podcast Serial. Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies, 19(1), 74-90. https://doi.org/10.1080/14791420.2022.2029513
• Hardey, M. (2020). Gender and technology culture: Points of contact in tech cities. Sociological Research Online, 25(1), 101-118. https://doi.org/10.1177/1360780419851137
• Ilich, K., & Hardey, M. (2020). ‘It’s all about the packaging’: investigation of the motivations, intentions, and marketing implications of sharing photographs of secondary packaging on Instagram. Information, Communication and Society, 23(1), 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118x.2018.1478983
• Cockshut, L., Brown, A., & Hardey, M. (2020). Social innovation and the university: the impact of intervention for the micro creative economy in North East England. Social Enterprise Journal, 16(2), 203-220. https://doi.org/10.1108/sej-03-2019-0017
• Leng, J., Shoura, M., McLeish, T., Real, A., Hardey, M., McCafferty, J., Ranson, N., & Harris, S. (2019). Securing the future of research computing in the biosciences. PLoS Computational Biology, 15(5), Article e1006958. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1006958
• Hardey, M. (2019). Women’s Leadership and Gendered Experiences in Tech Cities. Gender in Management: An International Journal, 34(3), 188-199. https://doi.org/10.1108/gm-05-2018-0048
• Hardey, M., & Atkinson, R. (2018). Disconnected: Non-users of Information Communication Technologies. Sociological Research Online, 23(3), 553-571. https://doi.org/10.1177/1360780418764736
• Hardey, M. (2013). Special Issue Editorial: Re-asserting the social media contribution to the theory and practice of market research. International Journal of Market Research, 55(6), 751-754
• Hardey, M. (2012). New visions: Capturing digital data and market research. International Journal of Market Research, 54(2), 159-161
• Hardey, M. (2011). To spin straw into gold? New lessons from consumer-generated content. International Journal of Market Research, 53(1), 13-15. https://doi.org/10.2501/ijmr-53-1-013-015
• Hardey, M. (2011). Generation C: Content Creation, Connections and Choice. Journal of the Market Research Society, 53(6), 749-770. https://doi.org/10.2501/ijmr-53-6-749-770
• Lunt, N., Hardey, M., & Mannion, R. (2010). Nip, Tuck and Click: Medical tourism and the emergence of web-based health information. Open Medical Informatics Journal, 4, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.2174/1874431101004010001
• Hardey, M. (2010). Key Trends: The Social Context of Online Market Research: An Introduction to the Sociability of Social Media. International Journal of Market Research, 51(4), 562-564

Report

• Cockshut, L., Hardey, M., & Toal, A. (2021). Durham Digitale pilot project 2020-2021: Pilot project evaluation findings. Creative Fuse, North East
• Hardey, M. (2015). The UK’s Instagram Changing Economy & Cultural Landscape: The Sharp Rise In Professional Instagram users As Share Of Images; Affiliation And Other Revenues Continue To Grow. [No known commissioning body]
• Hardey, M. (2015). Gender in Tech City - Phase 1.i. [No known commissioning body]