Educational choices and social interactions. Reassessing Educational Strategies in a divided Society (ERESS, 2019-2021). Nuffield Foundation research grant. PI (with with Germ Janmaat).
The project proposes to analyse class differences in intentions to pursue higher education among English pupils born in 1989/1990 with equal academic attainment offering a more complete account of the decision-making processes. The project adopts an extended notion of expected returns including both social, i.e. conformity with peers, and economic outcomes. The project uses data from Next Steps in combination with records from the NPD to quantify the role of expected returns in mediating the association between social origins and educational choices. It does this by focusing on the point at which young people choose GCSE subjects (year 9), select into post-16 educational tracks (year 11) and enter university. This interdisciplinary project will enhance our understanding of processes of educational attainment and will shed light on how class inequalities shape those processes and reduce the potential for social mobility, which is a considerable concern to the public and policy makers.
Post-16 Educational Trajectories and Social Inequalities in Political Engagement(2020-2021). Nuffield Foundation research grant Co-I with Germ Janmaat (PI) and Bryony Hoskins
This project explores the difference in political engagement between young people of disadvantaged and more privileged backgrounds. It examines how this social gap in engagement changes over the life course and whether post-16 educational pathways reinforce this gap. These pathways refer to the different tracks in 16-to-19 education (such as A levels and various vocational courses) and enrolment in higher education or not. The project also explores whether these pathways have an enduring influence on young people’s political engagement and keep disadvantaged youth locked in a cycle of apathy and alienation. The focus is on post-16 pathways because the education system branches out at age 16 and because late adolescence has been identified as a crucial period for the formation of a disposition to participate. The project will use data of the British-Household-Panel-Study/Understanding-Society (BHPS/US) in combination with data from the National Pupil Database (NPD) to explore these questions. We expect the findings of this project to contribute to the debate among policy makers and practitioners on the desirability of tracking, on the accessibility of more prestigious pathways for disadvantaged groups, and on the curriculum on offer in the various post-16 tracks If the project shows that post-16 educational pathways exacerbate social disparities in political participation, a case can be made for reforming post 16 education in ways that enhance the engagement of disadvantaged groups.
Training, Skills and Skills Utilisation (2019-2020). Institute for Adult Learning Singapore grant. Co-I, with Francis Green (PI).
Understanding support for the UK membership in the EU: Identity, political efficacy and economic interest (2017-present). Co-PI (with Jan Germen Janmaat, Andy Green, Gabriella Melis)
We obtained on a competitive basis early access to the latest wave of Understand Society, which offers the opportunity to investigate in depth the individual and motivational drivers of the support to the UK membership to the EU during 2016, the year when the EU referendum was held. I provide a rational choice perspective that includes simultaneously economic, identity and political payoffs of the support for the UK membership in the EU.
Spending policy and income inequality (ESRC LLAKES grant, 2015-present). PI
I analyse how spending policy affects income distribution by shaping the balance of power between labour and capital. The project supports a power relations approach in studying income distribution by shedding light on under-researched ways in which state policy affects power relations in times of austerity and privatisation, including through its role as an employer and provider of incomes to private firms and households.
Out-of-school-time study programmes and GCSE peformance (Nuffield Foundation grant 2015-2016), PI (with Francis Green)
This project estimates the effect of out-of-school-time programmes on GCSE performance in England, focusing on their potential for reducing socioeconomic gaps in educational achievement. These programmes refer to any form of activity where children are supervised by adults outside the normal school timetable.
Comparative analysis of early childhood outcomes (ESRC LLAKES grant, 2016-present), Co-I (with Lucinda Platt)
The project analyses the role of national, cultural and institutional (policy) drivers as well as characteristics and circumstances of families bringing up young children in explaining variations between countries in children's early outcomes.
Causes and Dynamics of the Unequal Distribution of Skills among Adults (ESRC LLAKES grant, 2013-2017). Co-PI (with Andy Green)
The project assesses the effect of education system characteristics on competences linking PISA and SAS country-level competences to construct a quasi-cohort change in competences between the age of 15 and 27. The outcomes of interest are both the level of competences and their distribution. We find that both outcomes are associated with a similar set of education system characteristics. Countries with comprehensive upper secondary education and training systems with little between-school variation (Sweden and Norway) and countries with dual systems of apprenticeship (Austria and Germany) are particularly effective both at improving competence levels and reducing inequality in the distribution of competences over time. This success is explained by the inclusiveness of education system at the upper secondary level (with high participation and lower social gradients of level 3 completion); by the greater esteem for vocational programmes; and by the mandatory study of maths and the national language as part of the upper secondary curriculum.