Contact
Biography
I previously taught at the universities of Portsmouth and Greenwich and worked as a researcher at the University of Southampton and Goldsmiths College, University of London. Prior to entering academia I was a Senior Policy Advisor at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport with responsibility for architecture and design policy.
My most recent book is Elite Universities and the Making of Privilege: Exploring race and class in global educational economies co-authored with Kalwant Bhopal.
Expertise Summary
I am a sociologist interested in the lives and identities of marginalised communities. My research explores the impact of race/racism and social class in different educational contexts including Higher Education (HE) and homeschooling.
My research has often focussed on Traveller, Gypsy and Roma families, in particular their experiences of education and schooling, relations with non-Gypsy neighbours and understandings of mobility. My current research in this area concentrates on European policy making and educational inequalities faced by Travellers, Gypsies and Roma people.
I have conducted extensive research with homeschooling families. In particular exploring the impact of race, class and religious affiliation on understandings of risk in relation to these families. My work in this area is interested in theorising how homeschooling (home education) is understood in public, media and political discourse.
My work in HE explores transitions into and out of universities in relation to race/ethnicity and social class. I am in the final stages of a project that analyses the experiences of non-traditional students studying at elite universities in the United States and the UK. This focuses on the global role of neo-liberal higher education economies, the reproduction of elites and mobilities, and the persistence of racism within HE. It uses theoretical positions drawn from Critical Race Theory and the work of Pierre Bourdieu.
Media
'Racism and classism in elite universities are deliberate mechanisms used to maintain privilege' LSE Impact Blog, 20 February 2023
'Elite universities protect privilege - but schools can break the barriers' Schools Week, 10 February 2023
'Elite universities aren't hotbeds of 'wokery': our research shows they're rife with racism and classism' The Guardian, 30 January 2023
Nottingham divided over law that would give police more powers over Traveller camps Nottingham Post, 4 October 2021
Is Free Speech Racist? THE: Times Higher Education, 25 February, 2021
'Homeschooling: links with inequality are far from new' The Conversation, 15 February 2021
'Rendered Invisible: Politicians consistently ignore the plight of Gypsies and Travellers' Fabian Review, Spring 2020
Selected Publications
Martin is a member of the Centre for International Education Research.
Broadly his research supervision areas include work interested in exploring structural inequalities of race/ethnicity and class in education.
Specific areas of interest:
Gypsy, Roma and Travellers: educational and social inequalities; European policy-making and GRT
Elite universities: Higher education, mobility, race/ethnicity and class
Bourdieu: Bourdieu and race/ethnicity; elite universities
Home schooling/home education: specifically in relation to race/ethnicity, class, religious affiliation
Please contact Martin if you wish to discuss a potential research project: Martin.Myers@nottingham.ac.uk