Professor Steve Strand OBE was conferred to the Fellowship of the Academy in autumn 2025. He is Professor of Education at the University of Oxford, and his research focuses on equity issues and social justice in relation to educational outcomes.
Professor Steve StrandOBE FAcSS
Steve 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.
Steve 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.
Steve 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.
What are the social sciences and why do they matter?
The best social science research empowers us to understand and make sense of the complex social world in which we live. Understanding how social, cultural, political and economic forces shape our lives and the world around us, is fundamental to effecting change in the future.
What inspires you most about your work?
I worked for over a decade as Head of Research and Evaluation in two London Local Education Authorities, and it is vital for me that the research we do as academics has impact and makes a real difference. If the research in education that myself and others do leads to better informed education policy, or influences the practice of education professionals, that is the only reason for doing it.
What is the most urgent issue social scientists need to tackle today and within the next three years?
There are many vital and pressing issues confronting government in the UK, but in my field of education, 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 redouble our efforts to ensure that all students, regardless of their background, have the opportunity to succeed academically.
What does being a Fellow of the Academy mean to you?
I am very honoured to be elected as a Fellow of the Academy, and I look forward to working with a community of world-leading social scientists.