The University of the West Indies

Dr. Natasha Kay Mortley

Natasha Kay Mortley is a Research Fellow at the IGDS – RCO.   She has B.Sc in Sociology;  MPhil in Sociology of Development and PhD in Migration and Diaspora Studies.  Her Doctoral research focused on Migration of Nurses and the Impact on Caribbean Health Care Systems.  In 2010 she was one of five recipients of the Global Development Network Award for Migration and Development.

Dr. Mortley has extensive experience in the field of Development Studies, having been engaged in a multi-disciplinary approach to key developmental challenges of particular relevance to the Caribbean region.  Over the past fifteen (15) years, she has focused on integrating a gender perspective to Caribbean social development and policy issues.  Her research work has been in the areas of migration & development studies; diaspora studies; gender & leadership; women & entrepreneurship; gender & climate change; gender-based violence and Caribbean masculinities. 

Dr. Mortley’s teaching areas include:

GEND6601 Key Theories and Debates in Gender and Development

GEND6101 Introduction to Research Methods for Gender Studies

GEND6102 Feminist Epistemology and Gender Research

GEND6505 Gender Analysis for Development Policy and Planning

GEND6103 Workshop Series on Research Protocols and Processes

Natasha Mortley serves as Strategic Advisor to the OECS Commission on Migration and Gender. For more go to LinkedIn page at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-natasha-kay-mortley-294377107/

 

Research Interests: 

Academic interests

  • Migration and diaspora studies
  • Gender-based violence
  • Caribbean masculinities
  • Gender and climate change
  • Gender and leadership 

Outreach interests

  • Gender analysis for social policy
  • Gender training/advocacy
  • Female and youth empowerment

 

Publications: 

Books

  • St. Lucian Women on the Move: The Impacts of Gender Relations on Migration Decisions.  November 2009. VDM Verlag Publishing House Ltd.

 

Chapters in Books

  • Mortley, N. Leveraging Jamaican Fathering towards Stronger Families and Safer Communities.  In Bailey, C. and Lazarus, L. (Eds.) 2023.  The Routledge Companion to Applied Qualitative Research in the Caribbean. 
  • NATASHA MORTLEY & Keino Senior.  Jamaican realities and masculinities and sexualities: Where have we come since Michel Foucault? In Nelson, K. and Fernandez, N. (Eds.) 2022.  Gendered Lives: Global Issues.  Pp 267-286.  New York: Suny Press.
  • Nancy Edwards, Eulalia Kahwa and NATASHA MORTLEY. Research capacity building: A Literature review and theoretical framework. In Edwards, N. (Ed.) 2016.  Building and Evaluating Research Capacity in Health Systems: Case Studies and Innovative Models.  Pp 11-38.  Canada: UTC Press.
  • Nancy Edwards, Dan Kaseje and NATASHA MORTLEY.  Indicators for measuring and evaluating research capacity building. In Edwards, N. 2016.  Building and Evaluating Research Capacity in Health Systems: Case Studies and Innovative Models. Pp 215-248.  Canada: UTC Press.
  • Strategic developmental opportunities from diaspora tourism: The Jamaican perspective.  World Sustainable Development Outlook 2010 edited by Allam, Ahmed and Gale Rigobert. November 2010, pp 413-428.
  •  Nurse Migration and the Impact on the Health Care System: Focus on St. Lucia and Jamaica.  In Thomas-Hope, E. (Ed). 2009.  pp 315-329.  Freedom and Constraint in Caribbean Migration.  Kingston: Ian Randle Publications.  

 

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

  • MORTLEY, N. & Neil Lunt. Covid 19 and the Implications for Migration in the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS).  Caribbean Conjunctures: The Caribbean Studies Association Journal.  Vol. 1, Nos. 1 & 2, December 2022, pp 67-89.
  • Baldwin, A. & NATASHA MORTLEY. Caribbean Women and Reparatory Justice: Reclaiming, Rebuilding, and Restoring Communities through Migration. International Journal of Africana Studies, Vol 21, Nos. 1-2, 2020, pp 43-64.
  • More than dollars and cents: Leveraging the multiple roles of Caribbean migrant women within the diaspora for sustainable development.  Caribbean Review of Gender Studies: A Journal of Caribbean Perspectives on Gender and Feminisms, Issue 13, June 2019 pp 69-92.
  • The impact of nurse migration on Caribbean health care systems: A Phenomenological Approach. Sage Research Methods Cases Online Journal. January 2017.  (22 pages).
  • Baldwin, A. & MORTLEY, N.  Reassessing Caribbean migration: Love, power and rebuilding in the diaspora. Journal of International Women Studies. Vol. 17, Issue 3. Women and Gender: Looking Toward Caribbeanness.  2016 pp 164-176.
  • Strategic opportunities from Diaspora Tourism: The Jamaican perspective.  Canadian Foreign Policy Journal.  Vol. 17, Issue 2. November 2011, pp 171-185.

 

Technical Reports

  • UNESCO.  Contemporary Caribbean Masculinities: A Pilot Study of Males, Community and Crime in Jamaica, 2017 (79 pages).

  • World Bank.  A Pilot Study of Gender and Entrepreneurship in Dominica and St. Lucia.  September, 2016 (81 pages).

  • European Union (EU).   Gender Study for EDF 11. European Union and Office of the National Authorizing Officer (NAO), Ministry of Finance, Economic Affairs Planning and Social Security, St. Lucia, August 2015 (64 pages).

  • Center for Caribbean Competitiveness.  Racing to the Top: Sports Tourism in Jamaica through a Global Value Chain Approach.  UWI, St. Augustine. May 2015, (80 pages).

  • International Organization for Migration (IOM) and Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS).  Action Plan for Diaspora Engagement and Remittances for Development within the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States.  OECS Secretariat, St Lucia. November, 2014, (13 pages).

  • World Bank.  Gender Note: Organization of the Eastern Caribbean States (OECS). January 2014.

  • Inter American Development Bank (IDB).  Causes and Costs of Adolescent Dislocation at the Secondary Level in Jamaica.  Inter American Development Bank and the Institute for Gender and Development Studies, Regional Coordinating Office. December 2013.

  • International Organization for Migration (IOM).  Rapid Assessment of Migration Data Collection and Management Systems in the English Speaking Caribbean and Surinam. International Organization for Migration (IOM). January, 2012 (47 pages).

  • IPPR and GDN.  Elizabeth Thomas-Hope, Claremont Kirton, NATASHA MORTLEY, Mikhail Urhquart and Pauline Knight.  Development on the Move: Measuring and Optimizing Migration’s Economic and Social Impacts.  UK: Institute for Public Policy Research and Global Development Network, June 2009 (65 pages).

 

Contributions

  • Film - Forward Home: The Power of the Caribbean Diaspora.  Documentary Film Revealing the Economic Power of the Caribbean Diaspora Living in Global Cities. Based on research on “Strategic Opportunities from the Caribbean Diaspora” with Keith Nurse et al. 2009 to 2011.

  • “Early Childhood in the Caribbean,” by Christine Barrow and Martin Ince.  Working Papers in Early Childhood Development, 2008.

 

Newspaper Articles

  • Positively Male: Leveraging Jamaican Masculinities for Effective Role Modeling. Jamaica Observer, 19th November 2018.

 

Current Projects:

  • “Love Power Migration: Alienation and Agency” with Andrea Baldwin, Virginia Tech University.
  • “UN Women Technical and Coordination Services on VAWG in Jamaica.”  EU and UN Spotlight Initiative
  • “Privilege or Alienation? Male experiences of feminist epistemology and gender studies within the IGDS” with Dalea Bean.