Dr Mellanby was an Emeritus Fellow of St Hilda’s College, University of Oxford.
She died on 8th February 2021.  

In 1970 Dr Mellanby set up a neurochemistry unit in the new Experimental Physiology building at Oxford University.  Her own work involved the investigation of physiological and behavioural changes in an experimental model of temporal lobe epilepsy.

In the 1990’s her involvement as a governor of a local comprehensive school stimulated her interest in education and she moved her research to working on factors that affect academic achievement in school children and university students.

Another area of her work is investigating reasons for the academic underperformance of female undergraduates at Oxford University in comparison with their male counterparts, particularly with respect to obtaining first class degrees.

She has been investigating reasons for this discrepancy and she proposes that an important factor is that women’s academic self-concept is more adversely affected by the Oxford environment. Dr Mellanby presented her detailed statistical findings using two studies undertaken since 1996. 

These suggest that males expect to do better and therefore usually do better.  However, female students revise more and with the addition of high anxiety traits this can predict a first-class degree.

The measurement of IQ was found to be inadequate in predicting a first-class degree, but it seems that the emotional state of students shows differences in expectations and outcomes.

This work on the ‘gender gap’ at Finals in Oxford (the differential achievement of male and female undergraduates in Finals examinations despite no difference between the sexes in measured intelligence) remains definitive, if not conclusive.