Professor Steve Strand elected to Academy of Social Sciences Fellowship

Steve Strand OBE, Professor of Education at the University of Oxford’s Department of Education and Fellow of St Cross College, is among the outstanding social scientists elected to the fellowship of the Academy of Social Sciences today.

This honour recognises his significant national and international contributions in the fields of equity and social justice in education.

Professor Strand, who is the only academic elected from the University of Oxford in this round, said “I am honoured to be elected a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences, and delighted to join such an extraordinary group of scholars. I am indebted to the many colleagues, schools and students who have contributed to this line of work over the years. This recognition would not have been possible without them”.

The Academy of Social Sciences Fellowship comprises 1,700 leading social scientists from academia, the public, private and third sectors. All Academy Fellows are elected for their excellence in their fields and their substantial contributions to social science for public benefit. Selection is through an independent peer review which recognises their excellence and impact.

Professor Strand’s research interests are in ethnic, social class and gender gaps in a wide range of educational outcomes and he is particularly interested in the interface between equity and school effectiveness.

Speaking on his research, Professor Strand said: “Equity gaps in educational achievement in England have closed substantially over the last 30 years. For example, achievement gaps have closed entirely for the vast majority of ethnic minority groups. However, social class remains a dominant issue, and White British and Black Caribbean pupils from working class homes continue to have the poorest outcomes. Whether it’s achievement at the end of Reception Year at age 4/5, or entry to Higher Education at age 18/19, these groups are at the bottom of the pile.

“We have to continue to strive to ensure that all students, regardless of their background, have the opportunity to succeed academically”.

Professor Strand is the author of over 100 articles in international peer-reviewed journals and other scholarly publications. He is joint editor of the Oxford Review of Education and a serving member on the editorial boards of several other prestigious journals. His methodological expertise is in the quantitative analysis of large and complex longitudinal datasets such as the National Pupil Database (NPD) and UK Longitudinal Panel Studies. For 10 years he led the Quantitative Methods (QM) hub in the Oxford Department of Education.

Professor Strand was Special Adviser to the House of Commons Education Select Committee Inquiry into the Underachievement in Education of White Working Class Children (2013-14), and Consultant to the England Department for Education Black Pupil’s Achievement Group (2007-09) and Gender Agenda (2007-08). He was commissioned to undertake an analysis of educational achievement at age 16 for the Government Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities in 2021. He currently serves on Department for Education advisory groups for the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Futures Longitudinal Study, the Second Longitudinal Study of Young People in England, and the Education and Outcomes Panel Studies.

Professor Strand was a member of the British Educational Research Association’s Executive Council (2000-2003) and a full member on the UK Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021 Panel for Education. He was awarded an OBE for services to Equality and to Human Rights in the New Year Honours list 2025.