Staff profile

Hester joined the Department of Sport and Exercise Sciences in 2022 following a lectureship at Erasmus University Rotterdam (Netherlands). Prior to this, Hester completed a PhD in the Department of Sport and Exercise Sciences and Department of Sociology at Durham University, exploring women’s experiences with exercise during eating disorder recovery.

Hester is a qualitative researcher, whose work exists at the intersection of health, gender, and digital media. Her current research seeks to better understand how individuals who struggle with eating disorders can engage with exercise in ways that are supportive to their mental health and wellbeing. Hester also conducts research exploring how experiences with mental health and exercise are communicated on social media platforms. This research is often conducted using a feminist theoretical lens.

Hester is also interested in digital culture more broadly and occasionally works on projects relating to online communities and digital activism.

Grants

UKRI/MITACS UK-Canada Globalink Award (2020). Project title: 'Social Media and Canadian Women's Physical Activity Participation: Developing a New Methodology for Understanding Digital Health'. The University of British Columbia (£11,810).

Economic and Social Research Council (2020) Overseas Insitutional Visit to the University of Adelaide. Hosted by Professor Megan Warin and the Fay Gale Centre for Research on Gender (£2,361)

PhD Supervision

Hester welcomes expressions of interest from students interested in PhD study in the following areas:

• Mental health and physical activity
• Gender and sport
• Digital culture and health

If you are interested in pursuing postgraduate research in any of these areas, please email Hester directly at hester.r.hockin-boyers@durham.ac.uk

Research Interests

• Exercise and health
• Eating disorders 
• New Media
• Digital Methods
• Gender

Journal Article

• Dumitrica, D., & Hockin-Boyers, H. (2022). Slideshow activism on Instagram: Constructing the political activist subject. Information, Communication and Society, https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118x.2022.2155487
• Hockin-Boyers, H., Pope, S., & Jamie, K. (2021). Digital Pruning: Agency and Social Media Use as a Personal Political Project Among Female Weightlifters in Recovery from Eating Disorders. New Media and Society, 23(8), 2345-2366. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444820926503
• Hockin-Boyers, H., & Warin, M. (2021). Women, exercise and eating disorder recovery: The normal and the pathological. Qualitative Health Research, 31(6), 1029-1042. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732321992042
• Hockin-Boyers, H., & Clifford-Astbury, C. (2021). The politics of #diversifyyourfeed in the context of Black Lives Matter. Feminist Media Studies, https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2021.1925727
• Hockin-Boyers, H., Jamie, K., & Pope, S. (2020). Moving Beyond the Image: Theorising 'Extreme' Female Bodies. Women's Studies International Forum, 83, Article 102416. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wsif.2020.102416
• Hockin-Boyers, H., Pope, S., & Jamie, K. (2020). #gainingweightiscool: The use of transformation photos on Instagram among female weightlifters in recovery from eating disorders. Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health, 13(1), 94-112. https://doi.org/10.1080/2159676x.2020.1836511

Other (Digital/Visual Media)

• Hockin-Boyers, H. (2023). ‘Shy girl workouts’ aren’t just a great way to get fit – they may also help women gain confidence in the gym
• Hockin-Boyers, H., Pope, S., & Jamie, K. (2021). Can women curate their social media feed to protect mental health?. [Durham University Thought Leadership]
• Hockin-Boyers, H. (2018). Lifting the stigma from women and strength training. [Blog]

Other (Print)

• Hockin-Boyers, H., Pope, S., & Jamie, K. (2021). ‘Digital pruning’ helps women protect their mental health