Get the biggest stories sent straight to your inbox Sign up for regular updates and breaking news from WalesOnline Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

A Welsh academic has hit out at a radio show host who called her by her first name - despite calling a male colleague by his professional one.

Dr Jennifer Rudd, a research officer at Swansea University who holds a doctorate in chemistry, appeared on the Stephen Nolan show on BBC Radio 5 Live on Easter Sunday to talk about the Extinction Rebellion climate change protests in London.

Host Stephen Nolan repeatedly called her "Jennifer", despite being introduced with her full title, but referred to her male colleague as "Dr Read".

In a post on social media afterwards, she wrote: "#everdaysexism Just did a 5livesport interview with Stephen Nolan. @GreenRupertRead got referred to repeatedly as Dr Read.

"Despite being introduced as "Dr Jennifer Rudd" I repeatedly got referred to as "Jennifer". Thanks for that."

Speaking afterwards to WalesOnline, Dr Rudd, 31, originally from Bath, said she felt her expertise had been "hijacked by her gender".

"The interview was a great opportunity to discuss how the UK could become carbon neutral by 2025, particularly whether and when we could employ technology that captures carbon dioxide from the exhausts of heavy industry," she said.

"My expertise is in this area and I had been introduced as Dr Jennifer Rudd, a scientist and chemistry researcher.

"It felt frustrating to not be addressed equally with Dr Read - we have both been through the same rigorous academic process to be awarded doctorates and therefore deserve to be addressed equally.

"It is also frustrating that this has blown up.

"My research expertise has been hijacked by my gender.

"I didn't create a problem, I just called it out."

She added: "It's not that it is important to use people's titles - that misses the point.

"If two people are in an interview and both are referred to as first name it's not a problem. If both are referred to as Dr it doesn't bother me. However, when one is and one isn't there is an imbalance.

"Using a title can also be a mark of respect. Is one any less deserving of respect than the other?"

Dr Rupert Read, who was also on the show, replied to Dr Rudd's tweet, saying he felt "belittled" on the show.

He wrote: "I got repeatedly rudely interrupted and belittled by the presenter, while he allowed PC Plod to make utterly unsubstantiated claims without any challenge.

"BBC FiveLive appear to show institutional basis against Extinction Rebellion."

"Jennifer was belittled because of being a woman representing XR I was belittled and treated very rudely simply because of being a rep of XR Whereas PC Plod got off scotfree. He was very respectfully treated by the presenter," he added.

The BBC said Dr Read was also called by his first name earlier in the same interview.

Dr Rudd obtained her MChem degree from the University of York, which included an Erasmus year in Muenster, northern Germany, according to her biography on the Swansea University website .

She then moved to Basel, Switzerland for her PhD before moving to North Carolina, USA as a Swiss National Science Foundation Mobility Fellow.

Dr Rudd then had a two-year career break for parenting before starting her current position at Swansea University.

Professor Andrew Barron, director of the Energy Safety Research Institute where Dr Rudd works now, added: “Dr Rudd is a key researcher within our £9 million WEFO funded project ‘Reducing Industrial Carbon Emissions’, working on implementing technology for carbon dioxide utilisation, in other words actually making a difference to the problem being discussed on the Radio 5 program.

"Her opinion is based upon her research expertise and as such should be given the weight it is due.

"Differentiating between two experts by using an academic title for one and not the other suggests to the listener that one opinion has more value.

"The behaviour of the interviewer is exactly the type of issues we need to overcome, because if women find their expertise is treated differently, it will inhibit their engagement in Engineering and Science, which are the most important fields to solve the problem of the climate facing everyone on the globe.”