Carol Ekinsmyth is a researcher of women’s entrepreneurship, work, and placemaking, with a special interest in creative economies and creative industries within urban labour markets and workspaces. She is passionate about 'place' and the role of place in our lives.

Carol is also Co-Chair of the UK Women's Enterprise Policy Group (WEPG), a coalition of leading women entrepreneurs, academic researchers, business support providers, and social entrepreneurs from across the U.K. - whose mission is to develop policy calls based on the latest evidence, and years of collective experience supporting women’s enterprise creation and growth. She recently won two prizes winner at the Institute of Small Business and Entrepreneurship 2023 conference - including Best Paper in the 2023 Conference and Best Paper in the Gender and Enterprise Track for a paper on entrepreneurial ecosystems in unusual places.

Carol teaches urban, economic, and transport Geography. She currently leads undergraduate field trips to Berlin and Helsinki. She is Associate Head Students in the School of the Environment, Geography and Geosciences at the University of Portsmouth.

Carol is a researcher of Gender, Place, and Enterprise and Associate Head of School (for students) in the University of Portsmouth’s School of the Environment, Geography and Geoscience. As an Economic Geographer, Carol’s key concerns are the (gendered) roles of place, space, and location in enterprise. She has recently written about family policy and women’s enterprise, entrepreneurial ecosystems, and place-based enterprise support. Most recently, her paper on the latter won ‘Best Paper in the 2023 Conference’ at the Institute of Small Business and Enterprise (ISBE) annual conference and ‘Best Paper in the Gender and Enterprise Track.

Carol is a committee member of the ISBE Gender and Enterprise Special Interest Group.