Projects per year
Personal profile
Research interests
I am Professor of Economic and Social Policy at the Institute for Policy Research, where I lead the programme of research on widening participation in higher education. Recent projects have examined 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 the IPR as Reader in Public Policy 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: https://www.iza.org/wc/cvs/cv_Dickson.pdf
Other responsibilities
I am currently on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Education and Work and from 2018-2023 I served on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Social Policy.
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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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
Recent external collaboration on country/territory level. Dive into details by clicking on the dots or
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The Brunel Centre
Pearce, N. (PI), Dickson, M. (PI), Delaney, J. (PI), Garcia Lazaro, A. (PI), Dimos, C. (PI) & Donnelly, M. (PI)
1/04/25 → 31/03/30
Project: Research council
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From the centre to the periphery: evaluating the opportunity areas programme
Donnelly, M. (PI), Brown, C. (CoI), Dickson, M. (CoI) & Pearce, N. (CoI)
Economic and Social Research Council
1/07/24 → 23/09/27
Project: Research council
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The Raising of the Participation Age (RPA) to 18 in England - has it worked?
Dickson, M. (PI)
1/09/23 → 31/07/25
Project: UK charity
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Explaining "unexplained" grade inflation in the UK's universities
Zubrickas, R. (PI) & Dickson, M. (CoI)
Economic and Social Research Council
26/06/23 → 25/09/25
Project: Research council
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USDP: University Staff Doctoral Programme - Stellenbosch University, University of Fort Hare, University of Bath
Dickson, M. (CoI)
1/01/21 → 31/12/26
Project: Other
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Demographic, Health, and Social Predictors of Place of Death in England, 2004-2013: Identifying barriers to dying in the community
Teggi, D., Dixon, J. & Dickson, M., 1 Apr 2025, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Journal of Aging and Social Policy.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
Education and the spatial division of labour: further education and prospects for 'levelling up'
Donnelly, M., Davies, J., Dickson, M., Courtois, A. & Lazetic, P., 31 Dec 2024, In: Contemporary Social Science. 19, 4, p. 514-530Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access3 Citations (SciVal) -
Maternal depressive symptoms and young people’s higher education participation and choice of university: evidence from a longitudinal cohort study
Bowman, S., Morris, T., Dickson, M., Rice, F., Howe, L. D. & Hughes, A. M., 1 Jan 2024, In: Journal of Affective Disorders. 344, p. 339-346 8 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
The dynamic effects of becoming disabled on work, wages and wellbeing in the UK from 1991 to 2018
Dickson, M., Skinner, T. & Forrester-Jones, R., 23 Oct 2024, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Journal of Social Policy. 26 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile23 Downloads (Pure) -
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 › Book chapter
Open AccessFile3 Downloads (Pure)