Meet the group

DR CHARLIE DAVIS (Principal investigator)

Charlie joined the School of Education at the University of Nottingham in January 2020 as an Assistant Professor in Higher Education. He began his HE career in 2009 at the University of Derby, moving to Nottingham Trent University in 2015. Charlie completed his EdD at the University of Nottingham in 2018. He also holds an MA ICT in Education from the University of Nottingham, which he gained in 2010.

Prior to his career in HE, Charlie spent eight years teaching English to speakers of other languages in England, the Republic of Ireland and Barcelona.

Charlie’s research primarily focuses on utilising participatory research approaches to foster opportunities to challenge forms of social injustice. Through his work, Charlie uses critical storytelling methods to provide participants with creative opportunities to represent their lived experiences on their terms.

Contacts: Twitter | LinkedIn | Staff Profile

Stacey Mottershaw

Stacey is a Lecturer (Teaching and Scholarship) in the Management Department of Leeds University Business School, with a specialist focus on academic personal tutoring, and teaching CSR, Business Ethics and Sustainability.

Alongside her full-time role, she is also studying towards her EdD, exploring the career journeys and trajectories of working-class academics. Stacey has a particular interest in class, careers, and ethics across a variety of sectors.

Contacts: Twitter | LinkedIn | Staff Profile

Dr Adam Matthews

Adam is a Lecturer in Education, Technology and Society at the University of Birmingham. Adam works across both Engineering and Physical Sciences and Social Sciences at the University. This allows for interdisciplinary practice in both teaching and research. Adam’s academic background and training is in the Social Sciences and research interests focus on the intersection of education, technology and society with the idea of a university as one of his main research interests.

Adam has previously worked in the field digital education as writer and designer in a variety of contexts including travel, sports coaching, policing, financial services, media and communications and higher education. This is still a keen interest for Adam in his teaching practice and he is a keen advocate of digital technologies in Education for access and participation. Adam’s own undergraduate degree and doctorate were completed part-time with the Open University and University of Birmingham.

Contacts: Twitter | Website | Staff Profile

Dr Jessica Hawkins

Jessica received a BA in European Studies with German and Italian from Lancaster University in 2005 and completed her Masters in International Development: Poverty, Conflict and Reconstruction in the Global Development Institute (GDI) at the University of Manchester in 2009. She followed this with a PhD in Development, Policy and Management at the same Institute.

She worked as a Teaching Assistant and course convenor in GDI between 2010 and 2014 before starting a lectureship at the Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute in August 2014. She is now a Senior Lecturer in Humanitarian Studies, researching pedagogies of humanitarianism, state formation and histories of displacement and the camp.

Dr GEorgiana mihut

Georgiana Mihut is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Education Studies and a higher education researcher at the University of Warwick. Her research interests span tertiary education policy, international and comparative higher education, as well as higher education stratification, prestige, and rankings. Georgiana uses primarily quantitative and mixed methods research approaches and has an interest in experimental research designs.

Georgiana's publications cover higher education developments in over 15 national contexts. Several of Georgiana's projects have used a comparative approach or looked at higher education trends internationally. Georgiana has published on a wide range of topics, including the role of university prestige in the labour market, university rankings, the experiences of international students, internationalisation policies, further and vocational education, and outcomes of students with disabilities.

Contacts: Twitter | Staff Profile

Dr PENNY RIVLIN (FHEA)

Penny is a Teaching Fellow in Media and Communication at the University of Leeds, and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. She was awarded her PhD in Sociology from the University of Leeds in 2013, before undertaking postdoctoral research posts at the Universities of York, Sheffield, and Leeds. Since 2018, Penny’s research has focused on pedagogy and the student experience, and she remains committed to supporting students of working-class heritage in higher education.

Contacts: Twitter | Staff Profile

Dr BLAIR MATTHEWS

Blair Matthews is a Teaching Fellow at the International Education Institute at St Andrews University. He completed an MA in Educational Technology and TESOL at Manchester University in 2011 by distance, followed by a PhD in Educational Research at the University of Stirling in 2018.

Before this, he worked as an EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teacher for many years in South Korea, Bulgaria and Scotland, then moved into English for Academic Purposes in 2008. He is now a module convenor on the MSc TESOL at St Andrews and supervises doctoral students. He has interests in international education, language education and language teacher education.

Contacts: Twitter | Staff Profile

agnes sokolowska (she/THEY) - illustrator

Agnes is an undergraduate Mathematics student at the University of Nottingham with plans to work in academia in the future. As the project illustrator, Agnes worked on transforming the group's discussions into interactive visual stories. This was done with the use of digital art and interactive storytelling tools.

Outside of this project, Agnes has also worked on numerous illustration projects related to social issues she's passionate about, including LGBT representation in children's literature, diversity in Mathematics, and environmentalism.

Contacts and work: Instagram