Rate My Professor Erika Anne Hayfield

Erika Anne Hayfield serves as Dean and Associate Professor of Social Science in the Faculty of History and Social Sciences at the University of the Faroe Islands. She obtained her PhD in Children’s Cultures of Consumption: An Ethnography from Edinburgh Napier University in 2007. Her earlier qualifications include a BA (Hons) in Marketing Management and a Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing Management, both from Edinburgh Napier University in 1999. She has also completed several master's courses in leadership. Before joining academia, Hayfield worked in the private sector and at the Ministry of Labor. She began her academic career at the University of the Faroe Islands in 2014 as Assistant Professor, advanced to Associate Professor in 2017, assumed the role of Vice Dean three years prior to 2024, and was appointed Dean on January 1, 2024. Throughout her tenure, she has supervised Bachelor, Master, and PhD projects at the University of the Faroe Islands and Edinburgh Napier University.

Hayfield's research focuses on migration, encompassing out-migration and immigration; gender and the labour market in the context of small island societies; islandness, including social relations in small island communities; and research ethics in such settings. She has led or co-led several projects, including Faroese Youth Out-Migration, Education, Return Migration, and Society: A Mixed Methods Approach (CoPI, 2025–2028), Childhood and Gender in the Faroe Islands (CoPI, 2019–ongoing), Corona Diary / Korona Dagbók (PI, 2020–2021), and EQUIL: Equality in Isolated Labour Markets (CoPI, 2018–2019). Her publications include "Zoning in and out: Traditional Aquapelagic Temporality and Chronometric Time in the Faroe Islands" (2025), "Editorial: Approaching human rights in a Faroese context" (2024), "The emergence of gender equality legislation in the Faroe Islands: A discursive study" (2024), and "‘There’s No Connection Plugging Me Into This System’: Citizenship as Non‐Participation and Voicelessness" (2024). She co-edited a special issue of Fróðskaparrit on Human Rights and the Faroe Islands (2024). Hayfield contributes actively to public discussions through projects, reports, and scientific articles on topics such as immigrant integration, gender equality legislation, and societal resilience in the Faroe Islands.