Research interests

Broadly speaking, my research interests are in:

• the sociology of education, especially higher education
• the sociology of stratification and social mobility
• the sociology of inequality, covering gender, race/ethnicity and social class

Specifically I work on:

• inequalities in access to postgraduate study by social class, gender and ethnicity
• institutional stratification in higher education
• empirical testing of theories in the sociology of education (persistent, effectively maintained and maximially maintained inequality, Bourdieusian capitals, relative risk averson, contest and sponsorship mobility)
• academia as a 'field of power'
• comparative study of educational expansion and its relation to inequality etc

I have a scholarly interest in sociological research methods, but I am not active in methodological research per se. I am also interested in the macro-sociology of social change as it relates to education, the history of education and social stratification as this forms the basis of much of my teaching.

Projects

I have a couple of main projects 'on the go' at the moment.

I am developing publications arising from various aspects of HEFCE's Postgraduate Support Scheme which I was closely involved with at different levels. Some of this is conjunction with Sally Hancock (York) and Gillian Hampden-Thompson (Sussex).

I am also writing a book with Vikki Boliver (Durham) about institutional stratification in UK higher education.