Projects per year
Personal profile
Research interests
I am a Reader in Public Policy at the Institute for Policy Research, where I lead the programme of research on widening participation in higher education. Current projects examine the earnings returns to undergraduate and post-graduate degrees, the role of further education in progression to higher education and the impact of early health on later educational and labour market outcomes. I also continue to research the returns to education more broadly having published a number of papers examining the causal effects of education on earnings, employment, health, and the education of the next generation.
I have been at the University of Bath since 2012, first as a Prize (Research) Fellow and then a lecturer before moving into my current role at the IPR in 2017. Prior to joining Bath I held positions at University College Dublin and the University of Bristol. I attained my PhD in Economics from the University of Warwick in 2009.
My research primarily uses microeconometric techniques applied to large-scale survey and administrative datasets to address research questions related to the economics of education - particularly higher education. Currently my main research projects use the Dept. for Education's Longitudinal Education Outcomes (LEO) dataset - which links National Pupil Database, Higher Education Statistics Agency and HMRC data. In other recent or ongoing projects I have used the New Earnings Survey Panel Dataset, the Quarterly Labour Force Survey, UKHLS, BHPS, the ALSPAC cohort data and the UK BioBank.
I am a Research Fellow at the IZA (Institute of Labor Economics). My full CV can be downloaded here: http://legacy.iza.org/en/webcontent/personnel/vitae/4324_cv.pdf
Other responsibilities
I am currently on the Editorial Boards of the Journal of Social Policy and the Journal of Education and Work.
Willing to supervise doctoral students
I am interested in supervising PhD students from economics/advanced quantitative methods backgrounds who are investigating topics in the economics of education, in particular:
- Widening participation in higher education
- Returns to education
- Social mobility
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
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Research England PFS 22/23: The dynamic effects of becoming disabled on work, wages and wellbeing in the UK and how these differ by gender and ethnicity
1/02/23 → 1/09/23
Project: Research-related funding
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Risky Business: Understanding intergenerational persistence in entrepreneurship
Economic and Social Research Council
1/04/22 → 31/03/25
Project: Research council
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Explaining "unexplained" grade inflation in the UK's universities
Economic and Social Research Council
1/04/23 → 30/09/24
Project: Research council
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Addressing risks of graduate un-/under-employment in the COVID-19 labour market
Dickson, M., Lazetic, P., Kameshwara, K. K. & Donnelly, M.
1/12/20 → 1/03/21
Project: Research council
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Returns to education - individuals
Dickson, M. & Buscha, F., 6 Mar 2023, (E-pub ahead of print) Handbook of Labor, Human Resources and Population Economics. Zimmermann, K. (ed.). Springer NatureResearch output: Chapter or section in a book/report/conference proceeding › Chapter or section
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How much does degree choice matter?
Dickson, M., Britton, J., Van der Erve, L., Belfield, C., Vignoles, A., Zhu, Y., Walker, I., Dearden, L., Sibieta, L. & Buscha, F., 31 Dec 2022, In: Labour Economics. 79, 102268.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
Modelling the impact of raising the age of participation to 18
Dickson, M., 6 Jan 2022, Wales Centre for Public Policy. 120 p.Research output: Book/Report › Commissioned report
File21 Downloads (Pure) -
Common health conditions in childhood and adolescence, school absence, and educational attainment: Mendelian randomization study
Hughes, A., Wade, K. H., Dickson, M., Rice, F., Davies, A. R., Davies, N. M. & Howe, L. D., 4 Jan 2021, In: Nature Partner Journal - Science of Learning. 6, 1.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile1 Citation (SciVal)33 Downloads (Pure) -
IPR Blog: How the intersection of gender and dis-ability impacts on work and income and what policymakers could do to help
Skinner, T., Dickson, M. & Kim, E. J., 28 Sep 2021, Institute for Policy Research, University of Bath.Research output: Other contribution