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Elise van der Mark

Post-doc researcher 

Elise van der Mark is a postdoctoral researcher in the project ‘Women Forward with Network V’s’. This is a collaborative project between the IISH and the FNV, co-funded by the European Union, aimed at promoting gender equality in the ICT and cleaning sectors in the Netherlands. Elise is responsible for the Participatory Action  Research part of the project. 

Elise obtained her PhD (cum laude) in 2019 from VU Amsterdam with a dissertation titled: “Against All Odds: Exploring wellbeing transformation with mothers of disabled children from poor urban settlements in Southern Africa”. During her PhD she was hosted as a visiting PhD fellow at the University of the Western Cape in Cape Town, South Africa on a Erasmus Mundus scholarship. This provided her with the opportunity to carry out Participatory Action Research (PAR) for almost three years with the mothers in the townships of Cape Town. After her PhD, Elise worked as a postdoctoral researcher and teacher at the Athena Institute, VU Amsterdam, on a transdisciplinary “lerende evaluatie” (learning evaluation) within the Youth Protection Services of the Netherlands. Subsequently, she carried out multiple large scale research projects for Dutch ministries as a research adviser and leader of a qualitative methodology team within I&O Research. 

Elise is interested in understanding and tackling social inequality and complex societal transitions through transdisciplinary and participatory processes; applying and enhancing relational and feminist theories; improving qualitative methodologies.

Publications

Elise’s most recent publication is expected in April 2025. She has provided a chapter for the book: Relational Theory. Feminist Approaches, Implications, and Applications. Edited By Christine M. Koggel, Ami Harbin, Jennifer J. Llewellyn

Van der Mark, E. J., Zuiderent-Jerak, T., Dedding, C. W. M., Conradie, I. M., & Broerse, J. E. W. (2023). Connecting relational wellbeing and participatory action research: reflections on ‘unlikely’ transformations among women caring for disabled children in South Africa. Journal of Global Ethics 19(1), 80–104. https://doi.org/10.1080/17449626.2023.2186468

Jessica A. Coetzer, Anoushka Bold, Elise J. van der Mark (2022). Exploring mental health interventions for youth in Southern Africa: A rapid review. Acta Psychologica 229. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2022.103699.

Cornelissen LE, van der Mark EJ, Pennings P, Maat B, Foekens T, Willemsen-de Mey G, Voogdt-Pruis HR (2021). What Matters to Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis When Facing Medical or Non-Medical Treatment Decisions? Patient Prefer Adherence 24 (Aug 15):1827-1841. https://doi.org/10.2147/PPA.S322257. 

Van der Mark, Elise Jantine (2019). Against All Odds. Exploring wellbeing transformation with mothers of disabled children from poor urban settlements in Southern Africa. (Dissertation). VU Amsterdam.

Van der Mark, E.J., I. Conradie, C.W.M. Dedding, and J.E.W. Broerse (2019). Exploring Adaptation and Agency of Mothers Caring for Disabled Children in an Urban Settlement in South Africa: A Qualitative Study, Women Studies International Forum 76 (Sept-Oct): 102271. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wsif.2019.102271

Van der Mark, Elise J., Ina Conradie, Christine W.M. Dedding & Jacqueline E.W. Broerse (2018). ‘We Create Our Own Small World’: Daily Realities of Mothers of Disabled Children in a South African Urban Settlement, Disability & Society 34(1): 95-120. DOI: 10.1080/09687599.2018.1511415

Van der Mark, E.J., I. Conradie, C.W.M. Dedding, and J.E.W. Broerse (2017). How Poverty Shapes Caring for a Disabled Child: A Narrative Literature Review, Journal of International Development 29(8): 1187–1206. DOI:10.1002/jid.3308.

Van der Mark, Elise Jantine & Hebe Verrest (2014). Fighting the Odds: Strategies of Female Caregivers of Disabled Children in Zimbabwe, Disability & Society 29(9): 1412-1427. DOI:10.1080/09687599.2014.934441

Elise van der Mark