Projects per year
Personal profile
Research interests
Research interests
- Geographies of education
- Place, space and identity
- Youth transitions and contemporary social change
- UK 'home international' comparative research
- Indigeneity and education
- Education policy and social mobility
Current projects
- Geographies of higher education: social and spatial (im)mobilities (ESRC Future Research Leader grant, £280k)
- Indigeneity and Pathways through Higher Education (ESRC Standard Grant, £600k)
Prior to joining the University of Bath, I was based at the University of Sheffield, and before that Cardiff University (where I gained my PhD). My research interests are broad and I take an interdisciplinary approach, in particular drawing on theories and ideas from education, human geography, and sociology. My work has examined education and contemporary social change, exploring a number of topics relating to higher education participation, social mobility, space and place, education and the labour market, and elite class formation. I am particularly interested in developing new innovative approaches to combining quantitative and qualitative methods. My work has been funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), Sutton Trust, the UK Government’s Social Mobility Commission, NESTA and the International Baccalaureate Organisation (IBO).
My more recent research has contributed to understanding processes of contemporary social change through the lens of higher education – and I currently lead two ESRC-funded projects in this area. The first project ( Spatial and Social Im/Mobilities ) is a far-reaching study addressing place and young people’s mobilities, taking into account spatial divisions according to race, ethnicity, economy and culture. Based in the UK, the project involved the development of a new mapping method (see here) to explore the spatial structuring of young people’s mobilities through in-depth fieldwork across 20 spatially diverse case studies. A second project in this area (Indigeneity and Pathways through Higher Education, award no. ES/S016473/1) brings together an international team of researchers from Universidad Veracruz, UNAM (Mexico City) and Bath to generate knowledge about how university attended impacts on Indigenous student experiences, skills/knowledge(s) acquired, and identifications across different social domains. Based in Mexico, it is a 3-year cohort study tracing a group of young people who self-identify with an Indigenous group as they progress through university and into the labour market.
I completed my doctoral research (also funded by the ESRC through a 1+3 scholarship) in 2012, which was a quantitatively framed, qualitative study, which examined the relationship between schools and the shaping of young people's university choices. This work involved developing a new approach to researching school effects, drawing on and combining insights from school effectiveness research and the sociology of education.
Research membership
- Internationalisation and Globalisation of Education
- Centre for the study of Education in an International Context (CEIC)
- Institute for Policy Research (IPR)
Willing to supervise doctoral students
I am interested in supervising new PhD students researching these topics:
- Space, place and education
- Youth transitions and contemporary social change
- Indigeneity and education
- Creative and participatory methods
- Sociology of education in general
I can support prospective students with applications for funding, with a variety of sources available (see funding guidance)
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
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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 → 27/09/28
Project: Research council
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The position of ‘satellite schools’ in the local, national and international ‘elite’ education markets
Courtois, A. (PI), Donnelly, M. (CoPI) & Lauder, H. (CoPI)
1/04/20 → …
Project: Other
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Knowledge exchange to influence policy and practice on schools’ child wellbeing strategy: a local and national approach
Brown, C. (PI), Douthwaite, A. (CoI) & Donnelly, M. (CoI)
Project: Research-related funding
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Imagined Futures: Indigenous Girls and Higher Education Access in Nigeria
Olaniyan, Y. (PI) & Donnelly, M. (PI)
1/10/24 → 3/03/25
Project: Research-related funding
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Connected Belonging: A relational and identity-based approach to schools' role in promoting child wellbeing
Brown, C., Douthwaite, A., Donnelly, M. & Shay, M., 24 Mar 2025, (E-pub ahead of print) In: British Educational Research Journal. p. 1-39Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
The Borders Within: Public Policy in an Age of Geographic Division
Donnelly, M., 1 Apr 2025, Bristol: Policy Press.Research output: Book/Report › Book
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Viejas y nuevas formas de discriminación hacia los estudiantes indígenas en universidades convencionales
Pérez-Castro, J., Santana Colin, Y. & Donnelly, M., 23 Apr 2025, In: Perfiles Educativos. 47, 244, e61777.Translated title of the contribution :Old and new forms of discrimination against Indigenous students in mainstream universities Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
A Transactional or a Relational Contract? The Student-Consumer, Social Participation and Alumni Donations in Higher Education
Souto-Otero, M., Donnelly, M. & Kanol, M., 31 Jan 2024, In: British Journal of Educational Studies. 72, 1, p. 85-107 23 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access1 Citation (SciVal) -
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 Access4 Citations (SciVal)
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Member of Research Partners Network
Donnelly, M. (No value)
1 Feb 2024Activity: Knowledge Exchange (Industry, Government, NGOs) › Advisory board membership
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Some British universities have become remarkably racially diverse
Donnelly, M. (No value)
22 Feb 2024Activity: Media article or participation, blog › Media article or participation
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The school where teachers never shout at children
Donnelly, M. (No value)
22 Feb 2024Activity: Media article or participation, blog › Media article or participation
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Sadiq Khan launches London Inclusion Charter to tackle youth violence
Donnelly, M. (No value)
1 Feb 2024Activity: Media article or participation, blog › Media article or participation
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Ealing among 18 Boroughs signed up to London's Inclusion Charter
Donnelly, M. (No value)
7 Feb 2024Activity: Media article or participation, blog › Media article or participation