His teaching in HE is largely based on his research interests of educational justice and improvement and on his expertise in social science research methods, although he has successfully taught mathematics, statistics, logic, psychology, computing, design, tennis and how to play contract bridge, to both young people and adults.

His current focus is on postgraduate researchers, teaching as part of the Doctoral Training Centre and delivering regional and international research development activities. 

Stephen Gorard has supervised a large number of research students working on topics as diverse as violence against women in schools, romance literature, a randomised controlled trial of literacy learning, the deployment of a virtual learning environment, the educability of creativity, equity in the IELTS test, the underachievement of boys, nurse education, and teacher development. His preferred areas of supervision include school improvement, social justice, and post-compulsory and lifelong patterns of learning. He is the author of a number of teaching-related books on research methods and in information technology. New students in these and any topics related to policy, education, effectiveness, or equity are always welcome.

He currently supervises the following postgraduate researchers:

• Anna Maxim - researching the experiences of students studying for degrees within the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines.
• Calum Calloway - investigating the summer birth problem
• Fiona Holmes
• Nadia Siddiqui - exploring the Genre of Urdu Pulp Fiction: a critical discourse approach
• Rebecca Morris - researching the impact of Free Schools in England
• Rita Hordósy - analysing and comparing school leavers surveys all over Europe
• Roger Wood - investigating the role of the teacher in inspiring science learning
• Ryan Bradley
• Sian Lawrence - researching widening participation in medical education
• Tom Perry - developing an alternative measure of school effects

In a sense, his research interests are simple. They involve the improvement of education in terms of effectiveness and equity, but his research is ‘society-wide’ and lifelong in scope. He has conducted studies of primary education, early childhood, secondary education, FE, HE, adult and continuing education, and informal learning in the home. These have been concerned with attainment, pedagogy, assessment, participation, leadership, school organisation, and national policy, as well as wider issues such as crime prevention, health promotion and family life.

Methodologically, the work encompasses a full cycle of research from systematic review, to engineering results into practice, and then monitoring the results, and embraces a design or D&R approach to educational improvement. His research approach is multi-method, and he has successfully conducted fieldwork and analysis using a wide variety of techniques, in combination, including:

• Large-scale surveys
• Unstructured (to heavily structured) interviews
• Focus group work
• Observation and participant observation
• Secondary analysis
• Documentary (content) analysis
• Trial design
• Complex statistical modelling
• Historical archive analysis, and
• Research synthesis

Recent research and evaluation grants include (selection):

Download a list of all research grants for Professor Stephen Gorard

Knowledge exchange and impact

Stephen has been granted the title of Academician by the Academy of Social Sciences. He is also a member of the ESRC Grant Assessment Panel for Education, Psychology and Linguistics, and methods expert for US Federal Institute of Education Science. He is also listed as a NESET expert - a network of EU experts on the social aspects of education and training.

He is the associate editor of Evaluation and Research in Education. He is on the editorial boards of a number of journals, regularly referee for about 50 education and social science journals, and is large consultant or reviewer for around 40 academic, governmental and grant-awarding bodies. His work is featured in:

Selected publications

Gorard, S. (2013) Research Design: Robust approaches for the social sciences, London:Sage (forthcoming January 2013)

Gorard, S. (2012) The propagation of errors in experimental data analysis: a comparison of pre- and post-test designs, International Journal of Research and Method in Education, (forthcoming)

See, BH., Torgerson, C. and Gorard, S. (2012) Promoting post-16 participation of ethnic minority students from disadvantaged backgrounds: a systematic review of the most promising interventions, Research in Post-Compulsory Education, 17, 4 (forthcoming)

Gorard, S. (2012) Querying the causal role of attitudes in educational attainment, ISRN Education, (forthcoming)

Smith, E. and Gorard, S. (2012) 'Teachers are kind to those who have good marks': a study of Japanese young peoples’ views of fairness and equity in schools, Compare, 42, 1, (forthcoming)

Gorard, S. (2012) Experiencing fairness at school: an international study in five countries, International Journal of Educational Research, 3, 3, 127-137, DOI:10.1016/j.ijer.2012.03.003

Gorard, S. (2012) Who is eligible for free school meals?: Characterising FSM as a measure of disadvantage in England, British Educational Research Journal, iFirst, DOI:10.1080/01411926.2011.608118

Gorard, S., Beng-Huat, S., and Davies, P. (2012) The impact of attitudes and aspirations on educational attainment and participation. Joseph Rowntree, pp103.

Gorard S. (2012) Experiencing fairness at school: An international study, International Journal of Educational Research. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijer.2012.03.003

Khan MG, Gorard S. (2012) A randomised controlled trial of the use of a piece of commercial software for the acquisition of reading skills, Educational Review, 64, 1, 21-35. DOI: 10.1080/00131911.2010.537315

Smith E, Gorard S. (2012) 'Teachers are kind to those who have good marks’: a study of Japanese young people’s views of fairness and equity in school, Compare A journal of comparative education, 42, 1, 27-46. DOI: 10.1080/03057925.2011.629073 

Gorard, S. (2012) The increasing availability of official datasets: methods, opportunities, and limitations for studies of education, British Journal of Educational Studies, 60, 1, 77-92. DOI: 10.1080/00071005.2011.650946

Gorard, S. and Makopolou, K. (2012) Is mixed methods the natural approach to research?, pp.106-119 in Armour, K. and Macdonald, D. (Eds) Research Methods in Physical Education and Youth Sport, London: Routledge

Gorard, S. (2012) Simple Statistical and Correlational Research, in Coe, R., Arthur, J., Hedges, L. and Waring, M. (Eds.) Research Methodologies and Methods in Education, London: Sage

Gorard, S. (2012) Multiple linear regression made simple, in Coe, R., Arthur, J., Hedges, L. and Waring, M. (Eds.) Research Methodologies and Methods in Education, London: Sage

Full publication list for Professor Stephen Gorard 2001 - present (PDF, opens new window)

Full publication list for Professor Stephen Gorard pre - 2001 (PDF, opens new window)

Stephen is a prolific media commentator on the issues facing education in the UK. His recent appearances include, the future of small schools, BBC TV Midlands Today, Teachers’ pets, The Paul Frank Show, BBC West Midlands, Advantages of work experience, BBC Radio Five Live Richard Bacon Show (more information below). In addition he has contributed regularly to the Times Educational Supplement as well as other popular print media.

Recent coverage on the TV and Radio includes:

• The growth in Asian primary pupils, BBCWM Midlands Masala with Satnam Rana, 26/6/11
• Are Academies better schools?, BBCWM Breakfast Show, 5/7/11
• Engineering graduates ‘taking unskilled jobs’, BBC News, 8/9/11
• A clash of two policies, BBC RadioKent, 31/10/11
• Evidence to the House of Commons Select Committee on Attracting teachers, BBC iPlayer , 23/11/11
• Academies and exclusions, BBC Radio Kent, 13/1/12
• Can we judge the performance of schools?, BBC Radio Four Analysis, 30/01/2012
• Are the right schools earmarked as Academies?, BBC Radio Four Report, 16/2/12
• Primary school places, BBC Radio Four Today Programme, February 2012
• The purpose of Free Schools, BBC Midlands Today, 5/9/12 

Recent coverage in the press includes:

• UK engineering graduates struggling, The Chemical Engineer, 08/09/11
• Skills shortages – a clear and present danger to economy, Education for Engineering: the Royal Academy of Engineering, 8/9/11
• Graduates failing to engineer a career, Management Today, 8/9/11
• Too many engineers? Institute of Water, 09/09/11
• Engineering community slams report for questioning skills shortage, Eureka: the site for engineering design, 12/9/11
• Engineering community slams report for questioning skills shortage, Silobreaker, 12/9/11
• Job worry for engineering graduates, The Press Association, 12/9/11
• It’s nonsense to claim Britain produces too many science graduates, The Guardian, 14/9/11
• Don’t axe GCSEs just reform them, The London Evening Standard, 25/6/12
• You cannot grow a cow by weighing it, The London Evening Standard, 18/9/12 

 Download a list of all media coverage for Professor Stephen Gorard (PDF opens new window)