Caroline Oliver
Position/Status
Research Associate
Academic Groups
Education, Equality and Development
Email Address:
co269@cam.ac.uk
Telephone
01223 767541
Qualifications
- BA (Hons)(First class) Sociology & Social Anthropology with Development Studies, University of Hull
- PhD Sociology and Social Anthropology, University of Hull
- PGCAP (with distinction) University of Newcastle upon Tyne
Membership of Professional Bodies/Associations
- British Educational Research Association
- British Sociological Association:
• Trustee on BSA Council
• Shadow Director of BSA Publications
• Member of Education study group - British Association of Comparative and International Education:
• Member of the coordinating committee for the 2012 conference
Profile
Caroline Oliver’s initial training was in Sociology and Social Anthropology, and she continues to draw on these disciplines in her research work at the Faculty around social divisions, inequalities and social justice in relation to young people and education. Caroline has keen interests in qualitative methodologies, in particular, ethnographic and life history/narrative approaches. Her current research is on:
- transitions of young people at risk of exclusion as they approach adulthood, specifically exploring the intersections of ethnicity, social class, gender and disability. Using Bourdieu’s theoretical framework and Sen’s capability approach, the multidisciplinary research aims to generate new theoretical understandings, identify enabling forms of educational experience to inform professional development, policy and practice, and develop new methodological approaches in research with young people;
- exploring ethnographic and oral history accounts of marginalised youth on the fringes of global cities;
- responses to bullying among children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (see www.anti-bullying alliance).
Former research at the Faculty has been on widening participation and access to elite universities (Newton Trust funded) and the status of teachers and the teaching profession (funded by the DfES).
Prior to joining the Faculty, Caroline was a Lecturer in Sociology and Social Anthropology at the Universities of Newcastle upon Tyne (2002-2005) and Hull (2001-2002) and a Graduate Teaching Assistant at Hull University (1998-2001). During this earlier period of her career, her research focused on social divisions in relation to the other end of the life course, exploring the intersections of migration and ageing through an ethnographic exploration of retirement migration. This work, now published as a monograph (by Routledge) contributes to newly emerging scholarship in lifestyle migration, exploring issues of temporality and mortality, in/inter/dependence, and the reproduction of social class and nationality as older migrants retire in Spain. Other recent work on this topic explores the reproduction of social class following migration and the place of lifestyle migration in emerging frameworks of global migration governance. Although this work is now largely completed, Caroline still maintains an active interest in the field and related research interests, especially ethnographic research practices, life histories/narratives, globalization, migration and cultural identities.
Caroline has presented at numerous international and national conferences and regularly reviews articles for scholarly journals. She works part-time at the Faculty.
Research
Interests
- Sociology and Social Anthropology
- Social divisions (age, social class, ethnicity, gender, SEN and/or disability)
- Globalization, migration and youth cultures
- Qualitative research including ethnography, narrative and life-histories
Current Research Projects
- Who do you think you are? A project exploring the experiences of young people (PI: Professor Diane Reay).
- Responses to bullying among young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities (PI: Dr Colleen McLaughlin)
- Youth Cultures in the Global City (PI: Dr Jo-anne Dillabough)
Former Research Projects
- Evaluation of the Cambridge Bursary Scheme (funded by the Isaac Newton trust)
- The Teacher Status Project (funded by the DfES)
Teaching
Contributions to:
- Undergraduate Education tripos (Educational Inclusion and Diversity)
- MPhil and MEd Core Research Training
- MPhil and MEd course Politics, Development and Democratic Education (PDDE)
Supervising students and assessor on:
- MPhil and MEd course Politics, Development and Democratic Education (PDDE) and Perspectives in Special and Inclusive Education (PSIE)
Selected Publications
Books
Oliver, C. (2007) Retirement Migration: Paradoxes of Ageing. New York: Routledge.
Journal articles
Oliver, C. (2011). ‘Pastures New or Old. Migration, Narrative and Change’. Anthropologica. 53 (1).
Oliver, C. and Kettley, N. (2010). 'Gatekeepers or facilitators: the influence of teacher habitus on students’ applications to elite universities'. British Journal of Sociology of Education. 31 (6). 737-753.
Oliver, C. (2010). 'Between Time Not There and Time Not Theirs: Temporality in Retirement Migration to Spain'. Journal of Aging, Humanities, and the Arts, 4 (2). 110-118.
Oliver, C. and O'Reilly, K. (2010) A Bourdieusian Analysis of Class and Migration: habitus and the individualising process. Sociology, 44 (1). 49-66.
Chapters in books
Oliver, C. (2010). 'Lifestyle Migration', in A. Betts (ed.) Global Migration Governance. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 130-148.
Oliver, C. (2007) 'Imagined Communitas: Older Migrants and Aspirational Mobility' in V. Amit (ed.) Going First Class? New Approaches towards Privileged Movement and Travel. Oxford: Berghahn, EASA series.
Research Reports
Hargreaves, L., Cunningham, M., Hansen, A., McIntyre, D., Oliver, C., and Pell, T. (2007). The Status of Teachers and the Teaching Profession in England: Views from Inside and Outside the Profession. Final Report of the Teacher Status Project. DfES Research Report, 831A.
Hargreaves, L., Cunningham, M., Everton, T. Hansen, A., Hopper, B. McIntyre, D., Oliver, C., Pell, T., Rouse, M. and Turner, P. (2007). The Status of Teachers and the Teaching Profession in England: Views from Inside and Outside the Profession. Evidence Base for the Final Report. DfES Research Report, 831B.