Dr Nigel Kettley

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Biography

Nigel has had a wide-ranging teaching and research career in the fields of sociology, education studies, research methods and teacher education. Before joining the Institute of Continuing Education in 2007, he was a Research Associate in the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge, and earlier still an MPhil and PhD student in Sociology and Politics at Wolfson College.

Before returning to study in 1997, he was a lecturer in a large Further Education college in Economics and Sociology. He is an active researcher in the areas of widening participation, educational attainment, and lifelong learning more generally with a particular focus on issues of gender, social stratification, theory formation and inclusive curriculum design.

Nigel teaches on a variety of courses for the Institute, supervises postgraduate students, and is a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of the British Journal of Sociology of Education. He is also a Fellow at Wolfson College, Cambridge, a member of the Faculty of Education, Cambridge, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts.

Qualifications:

PhD Sociology of Education, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, University of Cambridge, SPS Cambridge

MPhil Sociology and Politics of Modern Society, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, University of Cambridge, SPS Cambridge

Certificate in Education (FE), University of Southampton

BA Sociology (Hons), University of Essex

Research

Nigel is Academic Director for a number of courses at the Institute including: two Madingley Weekly Programme Courses (Crime and Deviance: Nuts, sluts and perverts? and Sex and Gender: Men, Women and Social Change); the Certificate in the Principles and Practice of Assessment; and the MSt in Advanced Subject Teaching. He contributes to teaching on the Madingley Weekly Programme, the MSt in Advanced Subject Teaching and supervises MPhil and PhD students for the Faculty of Education.

The history of educational attainment, widening participation and lifelong learning research

The development, incorporation and restructuring of further education in England and Wales

Differential student funding, bursary provision, public policy and legislative change in higher education

Student recruitment, socio-economic experience and progression in further and higher education in England and Wales

Gender, ethnic and socio-economic variations in educational attainment at GCSE and A/AS level in further education colleges combining numerical and narrative data

Gender and social class theory with particular reference to the new sociology of masculinity, gender and power relations, and continuous measures and models of social stratification

Mixed methods research design and theory-building in educational research including the development of inclusive and holistic research projects based on the conceptual tools of the Cambridge School of Sociology

Theorising educational practice, the making or doing of education, without recourse to Bernstein, Bourdieu or postmodernism

Widening participation and higher education policy

Gender and ‘social class’ divisions within education

The new sociology of masculinity

Pedagogical practice in immediate post-compulsory education

Issues of citizenship in education

Aspects of international higher education (including the growth of transnational higher education, gender differences in HE and the utility of notions of ‘capital’ for exploring class differences in university systems)

Selected Publications

JOURNAL ARTICLES

Kettley, N. C. and Whitehead, J. M. (2012) 'Remapping the landscape of choice: Patterns of social class convergence in the psycho-social factors shaping the HE choice process', Educational Review, Vol. 64, Number 4, pp. 493-510 , 2012
Oliver, C. and Kettley, N. (2010) 'Gatekeepers or facilitators: the influence of teacher habitus on students’ applications to elite universities'. British Journal of Sociology of Education, Vol. 31, No. 6, pp. 737-757 , 2010
Kettley, N., Whitehead, J. M. and Raffan, J., ‘Worried women, complacent men? Gendered responses to differential funding in higher education’, Oxford Review of Education, Vol. 34, No. 1, pp. 111-129 , 2008
Kettley, N., ‘The past, present and future of widening participation research’, British Journal of Sociology of Education, Vol. 28, No. 3, pp. 333-347 , 2007
Kettley, N., ‘It’s pretty cool to be clever: The marginal relevance of gender to educational practices and attainment at AS/A level?’, Evaluation and Research in Education, Vol. 19, No. 2, pp. 126-144 , 2006
Nigel Kettley & Colm Murphy (2021) Augmenting excellence, promoting diversity? Preliminary design of a foundation year for the University of Cambridge, British Journal of Sociology of Education, 42:3, 419-434 , 2021

BOOKS

Kettley, N., Whitehead, J. M. and Borek, A. ‘Re-gendering financial worry? The impact of changing funding regimes on students’ experience and perception of debt in elite higher education’ , 2013
Kettley, N. Borek, A. and Whitehead, J. M. ‘The squeezed middle? Social class, students’ funding packages and changing perceptions of financial assistance in elite higher education’ , 2013
Kettley, N., Theory building in educational research. London: Continuum , 2010
Kettley, N., Educational attainment and society. London: Continuum , 2007

BOOK CHAPTERS

Kettley, N. (2013): ‘Thinking with Theory in Qualitative Research: Viewing Data across Multiple Perspectives. By Alecia Y. Jackson and Lisa A. Mazzei’, British Journal of Educational Studies, DOI:10.1080/00071005.2013.768850 , 2013
Kettley, N., Patterns of GCE A/AS level attainment in Further Education. Cambridge Studies in Social Research No. 9. Cambridge: SRG Publications , 2005

CONFERENCE PAPERS

'Differential student funding in higher education: female worry and male complacency'. CamERA, The Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge , 2008
'Factors that encourage and discourage students from entering higher education: an analysis by gender and social background of two national samples'. Widening Participation in Higher Education East of England Regional Research Forum, St. Edmund's College, University of Cambridge , 2006
'The past, present and future of widening participation research'. Sponsored by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) for the ESRC/TLRP Workshop on Widening Participation, Institute of Education, University of London , 2006
'Social Stratification and AS/A Level Attainment'. Social Class and Inequality Conference, Cardiff University , 2005
'Patterns of GCE A/AS Level Attainment in Further Education'. The British Sociological Association Annual Conference, University of York , 2004
Access to Higher Education: Is Student Finance the Key Issue? CamERA, The Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge , 2004
Gender, Stratification and Attainment in Further Education, Research Colloquium, Wolfson College, University of Cambridge , 2003
Gender, Social Background and Differential A/AS Level Attainment in Further Education, Cambridge Social Stratification Seminar, Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge , 2001

Memberships

Joint Principal Investigator, Cambridge Bursary Scheme Evaluation Project, Faculty of Education (a longitudinal (2000-2011) evaluation of the impact of differential student funding on access to Cambridge, students’ lifestyles and students’ destinations)

Member of the Equality, Education and Development (EED) Research Group, Faculty of Education

Editorial Advisory Board: British Journal of Sociology of Education

Peer reviewer for the following journals: British Journal of Sociology of Education; Cambridge Journal of Education; British Educational Research Journal; British Journal of Educational Studies; and Educational Review

Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts

Forthcoming courses

Undergraduate awards: Certificate in Politics | Undergraduate Certificate/Diploma

Undergraduate awards: Certificate in Sociology | Undergraduate Certificate/Diploma

Undergraduate awards: Certificate in Cognitive Psychology | Undergraduate Certificate/Diploma

Undergraduate awards: Certificate in Entrepreneurship: Venture Creation | Undergraduate Certificate/Diploma

Undergraduate awards: Certificate in Strategic Business and Management | Undergraduate Certificate/Diploma

Transforming society: politics, economics and social policy | Summer Programme course

Transforming society: politics, economics and social policy | Weekend Courses

Courses taught

Undergraduate awards: Undergraduate Certificate in Entrepreneurship: Venture Creation | Undergraduate Certificate/Diploma

Undergraduate awards: Undergraduate Certificate in Sociology | Undergraduate Certificate/Diploma

Undergraduate awards: Undergraduate Certificate in Politics | Undergraduate Certificate/Diploma

Undergraduate awards: Undergraduate Certificate in Strategic Business and Management | Undergraduate Certificate/Diploma

Undergraduate awards: Undergraduate Certificate in Cognitive Psychology | Undergraduate Certificate/Diploma

Postgraduate Certificate in Learning Design and Teaching Innovation (Academic Professional Apprenticeship) | Apprenticeship awards

Past courses taught

Closing the health/wealth gap? An introduction to the sociology of health and illness | Summer Programme course

Closing the health/wealth gap? An introduction to the sociology of health and illness | Weekend Courses

Transforming society: politics, economics and social policy in the UK | Summer Programme course

Undergraduate Certificate in Sociology | Undergraduate Certificate/Diploma

Undergraduate Certificate in Cognitive Psychology | Undergraduate Certificate/Diploma

Undergraduate Certificate in Politics | Undergraduate Certificate/Diploma

Undergraduate Certificate in Strategic Business and Management | Undergraduate Certificate/Diploma

Divided kingdom: social class and inequality in modern Britain | Weekend Courses

Postgraduate Certificate in Learning Design and Teaching Innovation | Postgraduate Certificate/Diploma

Postgraduate Certificate in Learning Design and Teaching Innovation (Academic Professional Apprenticeship) | Postgraduate Certificate/Diploma

Undergraduate Certificate in Politics | Undergraduate Certificate/Diploma

Transforming society? Politics, economics and social policy | Short Course (2-7 days)

Advanced Diploma in Research Theory and Practice in English - Business Management (International Pre-Master's) | Postgraduate Certificate/Diploma

Trajectories and turning points: an introduction to the sociology of the life course | Virtual Festival of Learning

Undergraduate Certificate in Politics | Undergraduate Certificate/Diploma

Advanced Diploma in Research Theory and Practice in English - Business Management (International Pre-Master's) | Postgraduate Certificate/Diploma

Undergraduate Certificate in Politics | Undergraduate Certificate/Diploma

Trajectories and turning points: an introduction to the sociology of the life course | Short Course (2-7 days)

Advanced Diploma in Research Theory and Practice in English - Business Management (International Pre-Master's) | Postgraduate Certificate/Diploma

Advanced Diploma in Research Theory and Practice in English - Engineering (International Pre-Master's) | Postgraduate Certificate/Diploma

A for effort, B for achievement? A critical introduction to education studies | Short Course (2-7 days)

ECR Teach | Postgraduate Non-Award Bearing

Advanced Diploma in Research Theory and Practice in English - Business Management or Engineering (International Pre-Master's) | Postgraduate Certificate/Diploma

ECR Teach | Postgraduate Certificate/Diploma

A for effort, B for achievement? A critical introduction to education studies | Short Course (2-7 days)

Closing the health/wealth gap? An introduction to the sociology of health and illness | Short Course (1 day)

Undergraduate Certificate in Sociology, Politics and Psychology | Undergraduate Certificate/Diploma

MSt in Advanced Subject Teaching | Part-time Master's Degree

ECR Teach | Postgraduate Certificate/Diploma

Cradle to grave? The sociology of childhood, youth, adulthood and old age | Short Course (1 day)

Transforming society? Politics, economics and social policy | Short Course (2-7 days)

Undergraduate Certificate in Social Sciences | Undergraduate Certificate/Diploma

Relative strangers? The family and households in society | Short Course (2-7 days)

Cradle to grave? The sociology of childhood, youth, adulthood and old age | Short Course (5 wks part-time)

Undergraduate Certificate in Social Sciences | Undergraduate Certificate/Diploma

Divided kingdom: Social class and inequality in modern Britain | Short Course (2-7 days)

Relative strangers? The family and households in modern British society | Short Course (5 wks part-time)

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