Rate My Professor Brady Robards

Brady Robards (he/him) is an Associate Professor of Sociology and Associate Dean (Research) in the Faculty of Arts at Monash University, affiliated with the School of Social Sciences in Sociology and Anthropology. He earned his PhD in Sociology from Griffith University in 2012, with a thesis titled 'Systems of Belonging: Identity, Integrity and Young People's Use of Networked Publics', alongside a BA (Hons) and Graduate Certificate in Higher Education. His career trajectory includes serving as Associate Lecturer and First Year Advisor in the School of Humanities at Griffith University (2011-2012), Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Tasmania (2013-2017), and Senior Lecturer and ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) Senior Research Fellow at Monash University's School of Social Sciences (2017-2022).

Robards specializes in digital cultures, examining long-term social media use, digital traces of memory, and their implications for employment among young people; youth cultures and internet practices; gender and sexuality, particularly among LGBTQ+ communities; and digital research methods and ethics, including the innovative 'scroll back' method. He co-convenes the Monash Digital Cultures Research Group with Akane Kanai and leads projects such as Scrolling Beyond Binaries on queer youth social media use and the Social Media & Employment project on professional identities. Key publications include the book Growing up on Facebook (with Sian Lincoln); Digital intimate publics and social media (co-edited with Dobson and Carah, 2018); and highly cited articles such as 'That’s not necessarily for them’: LGBTIQ+ young people, social media platform affordances and identity curation' (Media, Culture & Society, 2019; 268 citations), 'MyTribe: Post-subcultural manifestations of belonging on social network sites' (Sociology, 2011; 261 citations), 'Uncovering longitudinal life narratives: Scrolling back on Facebook' (Qualitative Research, 2017; 260 citations), and 'Nomophobia: is the fear of being without a smartphone associated with problematic use?' (International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2020; 185 citations). He serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Youth Studies and Journal of Applied Youth Studies. Robards has garnered awards including the Dean’s Award for Research Enterprise, Faculty of Arts (2022), Faculty of Arts Dean's Special Commendation for Excellence in Research Enterprise (2021), VicHealth Awards, Research into Action category (2019), Special Commendation for the Dean's Award for Excellence in Research by an Early Career Researcher (2017), and University of Bristol ‘Next Generation’ Visiting Fellowship (2024). His scholarship aligns with UN Sustainable Development Goals including Good Health and Well-being, Gender Equality, Reduced Inequalities, and Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions. A member of The Australian Sociological Association (TASA) since 2008 and the Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR) since 2011, Robards advances qualitative methodologies incorporating digital traces.