Emeritus Professor Gareth Parry

BA (Hons), CertEd, PhD, FSRHE

School of Education

Emeritus Professor of Education

EDU - Gareth Parry profile pic
Profile picture of EDU - Gareth Parry profile pic
g.w.parry@sheffield.ac.uk

Full contact details

Emeritus Professor Gareth Parry
School of Education
The Wave
2 Whitham Road
Sheffield
S10 2AH
Profile

Gareth Parry joined the University of Sheffield in 2009 and served as Director of the Centre for the Study of Higher Education for the next nine years. On retirement in 2017, the title of Emeritus Professor was conferred in recognition of his contributions to the University and the School of Education. In 2018, he received the Wonkhe Award for Lifetime Contribution to Better Higher Education Policy. His continuing involvement with the University and School is as a researcher, mentor, examiner and consultant.

Gareth is a policy scholar in the field of higher education studies. His research is addressed to  system change and policy reform in college and university sectors. Following an early career working in further education colleges and open colleges in London, he moved into academic positions at City, Warwick and Surrey Universities and the Institute of Education, University of London.

He has led major research projects funded by the research councils, government departments and national agencies. These have investigated access, participation and equity in tertiary education, cross-national perspectives on college systems, and policy inquiry processes in higher and further education. He was a research consultant to the Dearing inquiry into UK higher education (1996-97) and the Foster review of further education colleges in England (2004-05). He was a founding member of the ESRC Centre for Global Higher Education, a social science research centre dedicated to the study of higher education and its future.

Research interests

 His current research is focused on:

  • the formation and transformation of college systems
  • higher education in local settings
  • further education as an organisational field
Publications

Books

  • David M, Bathmaker A-M, Crozier G, Davis P, Ertl H, Fuller A, Hayward G, Heath S, Hockings C, Parry G , Reay D et al (2009) Improving Learning by Widening Participation in Higher Education. Routledge. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Parry G, Blackie P & Thompson A (2006) Managing Higher Education in Colleges. RIS download Bibtex download

Journal articles

Chapters

  • Parry G (2023) The Alternative Route Revisited, Palgrave Studies in Adult Education and Lifelong Learning (pp. 187-217). Springer International Publishing RIS download Bibtex download
  • Parry G, Osborne M & Scott P (2023) Introduction, Palgrave Studies in Adult Education and Lifelong Learning (pp. 1-19). Springer International Publishing RIS download Bibtex download
  • Parry G, Osborne M & Scott P (2023) Introduction, Palgrave Studies in Adult Education and Lifelong Learning (pp. 1-19). RIS download Bibtex download
  • Parry G (2020) Dearing Report (1997, UK) In David M (Ed.), The Sage Encyclopedia of Higher Education (pp. 350-352). SAGE Publications RIS download Bibtex download
  • Parry G (2020) Browne Report (2010, England) In David M (Ed.), The Sage Encyclopedia of Higher Education (pp. 188-190). SAGE Publications RIS download Bibtex download
  • Parry G (2020) Impact of Higher Education In David M (Ed.), The Sage Encyclopedia of Higher Education (pp. 790-796). SAGE Publications RIS download Bibtex download
  • Parry G (2020) Robbins Report (1963, Great Britain) In David M (Ed.), The Sage Encyclopedia of Higher Education (pp. 1303-1307). SAGE Publications RIS download Bibtex download
  • (2013) Widening Participation in Pursuit of the Learning Society: Kennedy, Dearing and 'The Learning Age', Tackling Disaffection and Social Exclusion (pp. 103-122). Routledge RIS download Bibtex download
  • Parry G (2011) What should the college contribution be? In Coiffait L (Ed.), Blue Skies: new thinking about the future of higher education (pp. 68-70). London: Pearson. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Parry G (2010) Policy contexts: differentiation, competition and policies for widening participation In David M (Ed.), Improving Learning by Widening Participation in Higher Education, (pp. 31-47). Abingdon: Routledge. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Parry G (2010) Academic Standards and Mass Higher Education In Burrage M (Ed.), Martin Trow. Twentieth-Century Higher Education. Elite to Mass to Universal, (pp. 239-241). Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Parry G (2010) University adult education and the shift to mass higher education In Jones, B, Thomas, G & Moseley R (Ed.), University Continuing Education 1981-2006. Twenty-five turbulent years, Leicester: National Institute of Adult Continuing Education. RIS download Bibtex download
  • () Access and Expansion Post-Massification In Jongbloed B & Vossensteyn H (Ed.) Routledge RIS download Bibtex download
  • () Understanding Mass Higher Education Routledge RIS download Bibtex download

Reports

  • Parry G, Allen J, Boniface R, Hayward-Smith L, Saraswat A, Thompson A & Whalley G (2022) Education and Training at Levels 4 and 5 in London RIS download Bibtex download
  • Parry G, Callender C, Scott P & Temple P (2012) Understanding Higher Education in Further Education colleges RIS download Bibtex download
  • Parry G, Rashid S, Thompson A & Brooks G (2011) Patterns of Further and Higher Education in Colleges and Universities in England: A Statistical Summary and Technical Commentary RIS download Bibtex download
  • Parry G & Thompson A (2009) Higher education strategies from further education colleges: evaluation of the pilot exercise RIS download Bibtex download
  • Parry G, Blackie P & Thompson A (2009) Higher Education in Further Education Colleges (HE in FECs). Brief Guide for Governors and Clerks in Further Education Colleges. RIS download Bibtex download
Teaching activities

Gareth is an external examiner for Doctoral degrees in the UK and worldwide.

Further Publications

Recent books and research monographs

  • Scott P, Gallacher J and Parry G (Eds) (2017) New Languages and Landscapes of Higher Education. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 273 pp.
  • Parry G, Saraswat A and Thompson A (2017) Sub-Bachelor Higher Education in the United Kingdom. Gloucester: QAA, 105 pp.
  • Hunt S, Callender C and Parry G (2016) The Entry and Experience of Private Providers of Higher Education in Six Countries. London: Centre for Global Higher Education, UCL Institute of Education, 96 pp.
  • Parry G, Callender C, Scott P and Temple P (2012) Understanding Higher Education in Further Education Colleges, BIS Research Paper 69. London: Department of Business, Innovation and Skills, 219 pp.
  • Rashid S, Parry G, Thompson A and Brooks G (2011) Patterns of Further and Higher Education in Colleges and Universities in England: A Statistical Summary and Technical Commentary. Bristol: HEFCE, 89 pp.
  • David M with Bathmaker A-M, Crozier G, Davis P, Ertl H, Fuller A, Haywood G, Heath S, Hockings C, Parry G, Vignoles A and Williams J (2010) Improving Learning by Widening Participation. Abingdon: Routledge, 258 pp.


Recent journal articles

  • Parry G (2016) College higher education in England 1944-1966 and 1997-2010, London Review of Education, 14 (1), pp 85-104
  • Parry G (2015) English higher education and its vocational zones, Research in Comparative and International Education, 10 (4), pp 493-509.
  • Parry G (2014) Robbins and Advanced Further Education, Higher Education Quarterly, 68 (2), pp 187-209.
  • Barnett R and Parry G (2014) Policy analysis in higher education: negotiating dilemmas, Magis. Revista Internacional de Investigacion en Education, 7 (14), pp 69-84.
  • Parry G (2013) Colleges and the Governance of Higher Education, Higher Education Quarterly, 67 (4), pp 315-339.
  • Parry G (2012) Higher education in further education colleges. A primer, Perspectives, 16 (4), pp 118-122.
  • Parry G (2011) Mobility and hierarchy in the age of near-universal access, Critical Studies in Education, 52 (2), pp 135-149.
  • Parry G (2010) The dirty work of higher education, London Review of Education, 8 (3), pp 217-227.
  • Parry G (2009) Further education, higher education and the English experiment, Higher Education Quarterly, 63 (4), pp 322-342.
  • Parry G (2009) Student demand and institutional diversification: the case of England, Journal of Adult and Continuing Education, 15 (2), pp 170-186.