David Raffe

David Raffe is Professor of Sociology of Education and a member of the Centre for Educational Sociology, which he directed from 1987 to 2001 (jointly with Andrew McPherson from 1987-1994) and from 2010-2012.

His research interests are in secondary, further and higher education and training, transitions between education and the labour market, and policy initiatives including curriculum and qualifications reforms. His particular interests include the relation of academic and vocational education and the comparative study of education systems, including 'home international' comparisons within the UK which he helped to pioneer. Several recent studies have examined the policy lessons that can be drawn from cross-national comparisons, in fields ranging from 14-19 learning and access to higher education to school-to-work transitions and National Qualifications Frameworks. He has participated in several recent studies of qualifications in Scotland and elsewhere, including an ILO study of National Qualifications Frameworks in 14 countries, a CEDEFOP project on Changing Qualifications, the framework implementation and impact study for of the Irish National Framework of Qualifications, studies of the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework and an analysis of credit systems for the German Federal Institute for Vocational Training (BIBB). Other recent research has examined schools’ and colleges’ preparations for the senior phase of a Curriculum for Excellence, cross-national differences in education-to-work transitions and social inequalities in educational participation and attainment. He recently completed a Nuffield Foundation project, with Linda Croxford, on transitions to a differentiated higher education system. He is a member of the project team for the ESRC Fellowship project on Higher Education in Scotland, the Devolution Settlement and the Referendum on Independence, led by Sheila Riddell. He was the founding chair of the European Research Network on Transitions in Youth, and he has taken part in several European and OECD activities.

He is a member of several policy forums including the Goodison Group in Scotland, and he serves on the Scottish Funding Council’s Access and Inclusion Committee and the Scottish Qualifications Authority’s Qualifications Committee. He has been a member of several Scottish Executive/Government committees including the Curriculum Review Programme Board (2004-07), the School College Working Group on Qualifications (chair: 2004-05) and the Duffner Careers Service Review Committee (1999-2000). He was a member of the (Tomlinson) Working Group on 14-19 Education in England (2003-04) and he chaired the Advisory Committee of the Nuffield Review of 14-19 Education in England and Wales, for which he wrote the feasibility and scoping study. He is a member of the Education sub-panel for the 2014 Research Excellence Framework. He is a member of the Editorial Boards or panels of the Australian Journal of Education, (Slovenian) Contemporary Educational Studies, Irish Educational Studies, Journal of Education and Work, Journal of Youth Studies, Longitudinal and Lifecourse Studies and Research Papers in Education.