Dr Sofia Persson is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology at Leeds Beckett University. She joined the university in 2019 as a Lecturer and was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2021. Prior to this appointment, she worked as a research associate at Manchester Metropolitan University. Dr Persson holds a PhD in Psychology from Manchester Metropolitan University awarded in 2019, an MSc in Forensic Psychology from the same institution completed in 2015, and a BSc in Psychology from the University of Sheffield awarded in 2014.
Her research centres on rape mythology and sexist attitudes, with a particular emphasis on how these beliefs are reinforced through scientific communication, such as claims about hardwired differences between women and men. Dr Persson is an advocate for open science practices and serves as the UK Reproducibility Network local network lead at Leeds Beckett University. She is the section editor for the Methods and Open Practices Section of Social and Personality Psychology Compass and a fellow of Advance HE. She also sits on the organising committee of the Psychology of Women and Equalities Section of the British Psychological Society. Dr Persson has contributed to numerous publications on topics including rape attributions, open research practices in undergraduate projects, and related areas in social and personality psychology.