Professor Gareth Parry BA, CertEd, PhD, FSRHE

Professor of Education

Director, ESRC Study of Universal Access and Dual Regimes of Further and Higher Education

Tel: (+44) (0)114 222 8101
Fax: (+44) (0)114 279 6236
Email: g.w.parry@Sheffield.ac.uk
Room: 7.08

Research interests

Higher Education and Public Policy

Gareth researches policy and change in higher education, nationally and internationally. His work in this area is concerned with:

• Relationships between higher education and government
• Policy reforms, their histories and impacts
• Policy inquiry processes, including national commissions

System, Sector and Organisational Change

He is interested in how systems of higher education are defined, organised and managed, and how they change. His research is addressed to a range of theoretical and empirical themes:

• Models of elite, mass and universal higher education
• Theories of differentiation and stratification
• Relationships between universities, colleges and schools

Access, Participation and Equity

Gareth has led ten major research projects on aspects of access and equity in post-secondary education. These have spanned quantitative, qualitative and comparative dimensions:

• Participation patterns, trends and outcomes
• Concepts of access and access education
• Policies and strategies to widen participation
• Interventions and their evaluation
• Global, national and local movements of students

Presently, Gareth is Director of a two-year ESRC-funded study titled Universal Access and Dual Regimes of Further and Higher Education (the FurtherHigher Project): www.sheffield.ac.uk/furtherhigher

Teaching

Gareth is Director of the Doctor of Education (EdD) in Higher Education based in Dublin. He is also Strand Leader on Higher Education in the Doctor of Education (EdD) based in Sheffield.

Distinctions and Awards

Gareth was elected a Fellow of the Society for Research into Higher Education in 2002. He has served on its Governing Council and Research Committee and has been Co-Editor of Higher Education Quarterly, one the Society´s academic journals. Other recent distinctions include:

• Presenter of the Fourth Philip Jones Memorial Lecture
• Appointment to the ESRC Virtual Research College
• Consultant to the Foster Review of the Future of Further Education Colleges
• Appointment to the Management Board of Foundation Degree Forward

Indicative Publications

Parry G., Thompson A. and Blackie P. (2006) Managing Higher Education in Colleges. London: Continuum, 166 pp.

Parry, G. (2006) `Policy-Participation Trajectories in English Higher Education´. Higher Education Quarterly, 60, 4, pp 392-412.

Parry G. (2005) `British higher education and the prism of devolution´. In T. Tapper and D. Palfreyman (eds.) Understanding Mass Higher Education. Comparative Perspectives on Access. Abingdon: Routledge/Falmer, pp 160-189.

Parry, G. (2005) `English higher education and near universal access: the college contribution´. G. Layer (ed.) Closing the Equity Gap. The Impact of Widening Participation Strategies in the UK and the USA. Leicester: NIACE, pp 81-123.

Parry G. (2005) `Higher education in the learning and skills sector: England´. In J. Gallacher and M. Osborne (eds.) A Contested Landscape: International Perspectives on Diversity in Mass Higher Education. Leicester: NIACE, pp 63-91.

Parry G. (2005) The Higher Education Role of Further Education Colleges. Paper commissioned by the Foster Review of Further Education Colleges in England. London: DfES, 18 pp. Available at: http://www.dfes.gov.uk/uploads/documents/Higher_EducationinFE_Gareth_Parry.doc

Parry, G. (2005) `Why the English are different´. In C. Duke (ed.) The Tertiary Moment. What Road to Inclusive Higher Education? Leicester: NIACE, pp 117-132.

Parry, G. (2003) `Mass Higher Education and the English: Wherein the Colleges?´. Higher Education Quarterly, 57, 4, pp 308-337.

Parry G. and Thompson A. (2002) Closer by degrees. The past, present and future of higher education in further education colleges, London, Learning and Skills Development Agency, 86 pp.

Parry G. (2001) `Reform of Higher Education in the United Kingdom´. In Nolan B. C. (ed.) Public Sector Reform: International Perspectives, London: Palgrave, pp 117-132.

View a full list of Gareth Parry’s publications

Recent Funded Research Projects

ESRC Parry, G (with Bathmaker, A-M, Brooks, G and Smith, D): Universal Access and Dual Regimes of Further and Higher Education (01.02.06 – 31.02.08)

£247,000

HEFCE Parry, G: Review of Agreements and Arrangements for Indirect Funding Between Higher Education Institutions and Further Education Colleges: Supplementary (01.12.02 – 31.07.03)

£22,500

HEFCE Parry, G: Review of Agreements and Arrangements for Indirect Funding Between Higher Education Institutions and Further Education Colleges (01.12.02 – 31.07.03)

£69,000

LSDA Parry, G: Higher Education in Further Education: A Contribution to the Higher Education Targets? (01.10.02 – 31.07.03)

£25,000

LSDA Parry G: Learning Relationships in Settings Shared by Young People and Adults (01.04.02 – 30.06.03)

£74,700

LSDA Parry G: Progression from HND/HNC to First Degree (01.10.01 – 30.06.02)

£13,600

Research Students

Gareth currently supervises the following students studying for Doctor of Philosophy and Doctor of Education degrees:

Arthur Durrant From `Education and Training´ to `Learning and Skills´: the Impact of Changing Policy Discourse 1991-2002

Sharon Feeney Models of Quality Audit for Higher Education

Greg Gallagher Sharing Wisdom: the Role of Entrepreneurial Mentoring

John Gallagher Government, Professions and Regulatory Control Through Higher Education

Colm Garvey Dublin Institute of Technology and University Status

Bill Gourley Classification, Competition and Collaboration at the Interface of Further and Higher Education

Jill Healey Colleges, Values and the Place of Chaplaincy

Stephen McManus The Formation of Technical Education in Ireland

Micheal O Foghlu Funding Policies to Support Science, Engineering and Technology

Michael Tobin Foresight Methodologies in Higher Education