Nigel has had a wide-ranging teaching and research career in the fields of sociology, education studies, research methods and teacher training. Before joining the Institute of Continuing Education in 2007, he was a Research Associate in the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge, and earlier still a PhD student at Wolfson College. Prior to returning to study he spent ten years as a lecturer in a large Further Education college teaching A levels, Access to Higher Education and Certificate courses in teacher education. He has supervised and lectured in the University of Cambridge for many years in a wide variety of areas including Sociology, Education Studies, Research Methods and Teacher Education. In 2017, Nigel received a Pilkington Prize in recognition of his outstanding teaching at the University of Cambridge.
Nigel is an active researcher in the areas of widening participation, educational attainment and lifelong learning more generally with a particular focus on issues of gender, social stratification and educational practice. Nigel teaches on a variety of courses for the Institute, supervises postgraduate students, and is Academic Director for education and social science courses at the Institute. His major published works are Educational Attainment and Society (2007) and Theory Building in Education Research (2012). He is also a member of the editorial advisory board for the British Journal of Sociology of Education and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.