Our people

Professor Chris Millward

Chris joined the University of Birmingham in January 2022 as Professor of Practice in Education Policy, having previously served as Director for Fair Access and Participation and as Director of Policy for England’s regulatory and funding agencies. His work is focused on generating and deploying robust evidence for tertiary education policy and practice, with a particular focus on issues of equity and inclusion across the life-course, how different educational systems influence local and national prosperity, and how they could be improved.

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Professor Julie Allan

Julie is Professor of Equity and Inclusion and was formerly the Head of the School of Education. She has also been Visiting Professor at the Universities of Borås, Örebro and Stavanger. Julie's work focuses on inclusive education, disability studies and children’s rights and she has published widely on these aspects. Julie has been advisor to the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh Assembly and the Dutch and Queensland Governments and has worked extensively with the Council of Europe.

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Dr Adam Matthews

Adam is a Senior Research Fellow in education systems and policy. His work looks at universities as part of tertiary education systems and the role that they play as key sites of knowledge production and dissemination in wider society. This includes how technologies and media have and are shaping, knowledge production and access.

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Dr Jodie Pennacchia

Jodie is a Research Fellow in Educational Equity. Her research focuses on disadvantaged learners, particularly those who experience educational exclusion or do not follow traditional or linear educational trajectories. Informed by policy-sociology, her work analyses learners’ experiences and outcomes, and the equity and inclusion issues that surface through policy and practice in a range of educational sectors, phases and pathways. Jodie has undertaken research funded by The Department for Education, The Economic and Social Research Council and Teach First, and co-edited an international collection of research on the educational offer for young people outside of mainstream school, Alternative educational programmes, schools and social justice (Routledge).

Dr Francesca Peruzzo

Francesca is a Research Fellow in Educational Equity and Policy. Her research interests lie in the intersection between politics, policy, education governance and inclusion, using in particular post-structural and decolonial approaches. She has published widely on ableism and higher education policy, and she is currently researching decolonial and inclusive governance in the Global South and North and its implications for equity of opportunities in a post-pandemic education. She is the author of the book Students, teachers, families, and a socially just education: Rewriting the grammar of schooling to unsettle identities (with Julie Allan) published by Lived Places Publishing.

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Dr Ibtihal Ramadan

Ibtihal joined the University of Birmingham Education Equity Initiative team in June 2023 as a research fellow. Her research interests are interdisciplinary with a special focus on issues around equity in education, or lack thereof, which takes into consideration the entanglement of policy and cultures and practices in education (institutions) and public spaces. She is a qualitative researcher drawing from Critical Race Theory and Postcolonial Perspective. Her main areas of expertise are social policy, particularly regarding minoritised groups, EDI policies and practices in HE, Islamophobia, race and racism, Muslim identity, and (gendered)-religious microaggressions. Ibtihal has an extensive experience supervising MSc students at Glasgow University and Edinburgh University. She contributed to the Steering Group of Ad-HE project on Tackling racism on Campus and Anti-Racist Curriculum (ARC) Project (Scotland); currently she is a member of ARC Professional Network (Scotland).

Eleni Stamou

Eleni Stamou is a Research Fellow in the Education Equity Initiative. Her research falls within the fields of Sociology of Education, Policy Studies, and Youth studies. Questions of equity and the workings of inequality are at the core of her work. She has a great interest in theory and draws analytical tools from critical and post structural approaches. Indicatively, she has conducted research on the educational experiences of migrant children and young people; youth identities, cultural heritage and belonging; inclusion and the prevention of social exclusion; educational pathways and transitions post-16. Beyond the university, she has worked as Policy Advisor in Higher Education, at the Greek Ministry of Education and is experienced in working cross-nationally to produce policy-relevant insights. She has worked with a wide range of qualitative and mixed methods, with her expertise lying in ethnographic, participatory, and arts-based methods.

Claire Bylo

Claire works for the University of Birmingham as a Strategic Support Manager. She has wide ranging experience in managing and developing project-based activity. Her recent assignments include contract and programme validation management for the National Institute of Teaching, a secondment to the National College of Advanced Transport and Infrastructure to establish their governance structures and implementing phase one of IMPACT (Improving Adult Care Together) funded by the ESRC and Health Foundation.

An agile project specialist, she worked for the University’s ambitious CORE programme to replace its central IT systems, acting as Subject Matter Expert for document management, GDPR compliance and programme governance.

Honorary Fellows

John Craven

John currently runs System 2, an applied research organisation set up by the Behavioural Insights Team and NESTA to use behavioural science to support young people in disadvantage to thrive.

He was previously Head of the Social Mobility Commission for 15 months, leading a team of 20 civil servants. From 2016 to 2022, he was Chief Executive of upReach, leading them to national awards including the prestigious Queen’s Award for Enterprise for Promoting Opportunity. He previously taught Maths and Economics, and was trustee of a national young persons helpline for 7 years.

"Educational equity means ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to fulfil their academic potential. It is important to me as education and academic qualifications are closely linked to employment prospects and quality of life. In my career, I’ve focused on closing the attainment gap, improving access to university for those from lower socio-economic backgrounds and ensuring that they are then equally able to convert their academic qualifications into professional employment outcomes."

Smita Jamdar

Smita is the Relationship Partner for Shakespeare Martineau’s university clients and advises on strategic, regulatory, constitutional, governance and student matters. Her approach is best summed up by Chambers & Partners: "She is very knowledgeable about the sector, very well informed about the challenges the sector faces, and insightful about how we could change and adapt." Smita has been a member of several sector commissions and regularly publishes on higher education law, regulation and policy.

"Educational equity means creating a legal, policy and institutional environment where no individual faces unnecessary barriers to their admission, progression and success, and where all individuals receive the resources and support they need to succeed. It involves reviewing and re-engineering the way we do things to move away from an environment where individual differences are seen as deficits to be addressed by concessions or allowances, to one where difference is experienced as a source of strength and positive impact, and encouraged to be shared, fostered and celebrated."

Debbie McVitty

Debbie McVitty is editor of Wonkhe and is an experienced commentator on higher education policy. She has previously worked in policy and communications roles at Universities UK, the University of Bedfordshire and the National Union of Students. She holds a DPhil in English Literature from the University of Oxford and an MRes in higher education research, evaluation and enhancement from Lancaster University. Debbie is interested in the social impact of HE, learning, teaching and curriculum, institutional change and innovation, and in bringing to light diverse and under-represented voices in the HE policy debate.

"To me, educational equity means that education institutions – such as universities – and educators as individuals and teams strive to create a learning environment that accommodates diversity in individual circumstances, and that enhances personal agency and capability through well-supported engagement with powerful knowledge. Many pedagogic approaches explore how to do this, but at base it’s about making space for educators’ and students’ humanity – that we all have interests and passions, strengths and weaknesses, more or less power and voice in particular situations – and that in bringing students and educators into relationship with each other and with knowledge, all can potentially live more fulfilled, more impactful lives."

Gurpreet Singh Dehal

Gurpreet is the Chair at University of Derby. He has been involved in the oversight of higher education since 2010, initially as a Council Member of Royal Holloway University, and then as a regulator with both the Higher Education Funding Council for England and the Office for Students. He has also been a trustee with E-ACT, a large national multi-academy trust.

Gurpreet has always focused on effective governance frameworks to improve organisational outcomes, both previously as an executive within financial services, and now as a non-executive across several sectors.

"For me, ‘educational equity’ is about having an overall system where ultimately all learners, no matter their backgrounds or needs, are able to participate, progress and succeed. This requires a recognition of the huge diversity across the learner universe, and providing a range of education offerings, pathways, delivery and assessment methods to support students with their particular context.

Educational equity should be a goal when considering all learners; from pre-school age to adult, and whether learning is provided via an educational institution, through an employer or other organisation."