Sophy Higgins is a PhD student based in the Freeman Air and Space Institute (FASI) and the Defence Studies Department, King’s College London. She holds an Arts and Humanities Research Council funded Research Studentship, awarded by the London Arts and Humanities Partnership. Her project is a Collaborative Doctoral Award between FASI and the RAF Museum.

Sophy holds an MA in Early Modern History and a BA (Hons) in History from King’s College London.

Research Project Summary:

Thesis title: ‘Gender, Culture and Class Structure: The influence of women on the RAF’s development in the early 20th century.’

Sophy's project will explore the ways in which gender affected the development of the Royal Air Force in the early twentieth century. It will analyse the contributions of those influential women behind key military and political leaders of the RAF beyond their familial and domestic relationships. It aims to reframe historical narratives of the RAF to explore the ways in which these women actively shaped the organisational and social culture of the institution, helping to consolidate the RAF’s survival and success in the inter-war period.

PhD supervisors

• Dr David Jordan
• Professor David Edgerton
• Dr Harry Raffal (Royal Air Force Museum)