Skip to main content
Alan Felstead

Professor Alan Felstead

Research Professor

School of Social Sciences

Email
alanfelstead@cardiff.ac.uk
Telephone
+44 29208 79050
Campuses
sbarc|spark, Room 3.37, Maindy Road, Cathays, Cardiff, CF24 4HQ
cymraeg
Welsh speaking

Overview

Professor Alan Felstead has degrees from the University of Cambridge, the University of Warwick and Imperial College, University of London. He has held positions at Nuffield College, University of Oxford and the University of Leicester. Since 2006 he has been Research Professor in the School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University.  He has additionally been a Co-director of the Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research and Data (WISERD) since 2022. His research focuses on: the quality of work; training, skills and learning; non-standard employment; and the spaces and places of work. Professor Felstead has completed numerous funded research projects (including 18 funded by the Economic and Social Research Council), produced eight books, and written over 250 journal articles, book chapters, research reports and discussion papers. He has generated over £12.2 million of research funding from, for example, the ESRC, UK government departments, devolved administrations, the European Union and the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (CEDEFOP). He has delivered many keynote addresses to conferences around the world, including China, Singapore, South Africa, Australia and Europe.  He has given written and oral evidence to inquiries on labour market issues carried out, for example, by the Department of Work and Pensions Select Committee, the House of Lords, the Cabinet Office, the Scottish Parliament and Senedd Cymru/Welsh Parliament. His latest book, Remote Working: A Research Overview, was published in 2022 by Routledge.  According to one reviewer, it is ‘a must read for anyone interested in how the changing location of work affects our lives’, while according to another ‘this excellent book gives an accessible yet thoroughly research-based account of the key issues’. His other books have also drawn praise.  Unequal Britain at Work, was published in 2015 by Oxford University Press. It was rated as 'impressive for its timespan, depth and rigour', while offering a 'welcome' and 'nuanced empirical analysis ... very relevant to policy debate'. Improving Working as Learning, London: Routledge, 2009, won the Society for Educational Studies Highly Recommended prize for books published that year. He has been Visiting Professor at the Centre for Learning and Life Chances (LLAKES), UCL Institute of Education, a Visiting Professor at Beijing Normal University and a Visiting Research Fellow at the UK Commission for Employment and Skills. He was appointed a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences (FAcSS) in 2011 and a Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales (FLSW) in 2013.  He is also a Senior Member of the ESRC's Peer Review College.  In 2018-2019 he sat on the Welsh Government's Fair Work Commission as the Independent Expert Advisor and during 2019-2020 he was on part-time secondment to Welsh Government.

Supervision

I have supervised numerous undergraduate and masters dissertations as well as PhD theses.  I have also acted as PhD external examiner on many occasions, both in the UK and overseas. 

I am keen to supervise topics related to the labour market, including the location of work, types of employment contract and the variety of ways in which workers learn at work.

Publication

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

2003

2002

2001

2000

1999

1998

1997

1996

1995

1994

1993

1992

1991

1990

1986

Articles

Audio

Book sections

Books

Monographs

Websites

Research

Research council funded research projects include, in reverse chronological order (non-ESRC projects not listed):

18. ESRC - 'Additional Funding of the PrOPEL Hub' (Co-Investigator with Sarah Connolly, Kevin Daniels, Rhys Davies, Patricia Findlay, Richard Kneller, Cher Li, Colin Lindsay, Martin McCracken, Monder Ram, Graeme Roy and Peter Urwin).

17. ESRC - ‘Skills and Employment Survey 2023: Continuity and Change’ (with contributions from the Department for Education and Acas), February 2023-July 2025 (Principal Investigator with Rhys Davies, Francis Green, Duncan Gallie, Golo Henseke, Ying Zhou, Curtis Jessop, Jon D’Ardenne and Martin Wood).

16. ESRC - 'The PrOPEL Hub - Productivity Outcomes of Workplace Practice, Engagement and Learning' (Co-Investigator with Graeme Roy, Patricia Findlay, Colin Lindsay, Eleanor Shaw, Monder Ram, Paul Latrielle, Dragos Adascalita, Richard Kneller, Cher Li, Martin McCracken, Rhys Davies and Sara Connolly).

15. ESRC - 'Developing, Designing and Promoting an Online Interactive Job Quality Quiz' funded via Cardiff University's ESRC Impact Acceleration Account (Principal Investigator).

14. ESRC - 'Skills and Employment Survey 2017' (with contributions from the Department for Education, Welsh Government and Cardiff University) (Principal Investigator with Francis Green, Duncan Gallie and Golo Henseke).

13. ESRC - 'Development Work for the Skills and Employment Survey 2017' funded as an additional ESRC/UKCES Strategic Partnership grant to LLAKES (Principal Investigator with Francis Green and Duncan Gallie).

12. ESRC – 'Longitudinal Follow-up to the Skills and Employment Survey 2012' funded under the LLAKES second five-year grant (2013-2017) (Co-Investigator with Francis Green and Duncan Gallie).

11. ESRC–'Additional Analysis of the Skills and Employment Survey 2012' funded as additional ESRC/UKCES Strategic Partnership grant to LLAKES (Co-Investigator with Francis Green and Duncan Gallie).

10. ESRC – 'The Labour Market Implications of Changes in the Public Sector: Inequality and Work Quality' (Co-Investigator with Phil Murphy, David Blackaby, Melanie Jones, Vicki Wass and Gerry Makepeace).

9. ESRC – 'Skills and Employment Survey 2012' funded under the ESRC/UKCES Strategic Partnership with additional funding from WISERD (Principal Investigator with Duncan Gallie and Francis Green).

8. ESRC – 'Training in Recession: Historical, Comparative and Case Study Perspectives' funded under the ESRC/UKCES Strategic Partnership (Principal Investigator with Francis Green).

7. ESRC – 'Work Attitude Measures in Large Multi-User Surveys' funded under Seminar Series Competition (Co-Invesigator with Brendan Burchell, Shirley Dex, Zella King and Michael Rose).

6. ESRC – '2006 Skills Survey' (with additonal funds from ELWa, EMDA, Scottish Enterprise and Highlands & Islands Enterprise)  (Co-Investigator with Francis Green and Duncan Gallie).

5. ESRC – 'Learning as Work: Teaching and Learning in the Contemporary Work Organization' funded under the Teaching and Learning Research Programme (Principal Investigator with Alison Fuller and Lorna Unwin).

4. ESRC – 'Transforming Places of Work' funded under the Future of Work Programme (Principal Investigator with Nick Jewson, Annie Phizacklea and Sally Walters).

3. ESRC – 'Working at Home: New Perspectives' funded under the Future of Work Programme (Principal Investigator with Nick Jewson and Annie Phizacklea).

2. ESRC – 'Learning, Skills and Economic Rewards in Britain' funded under the Learning Society Programme (Co-Investigator with David Ashton and Francis Green).

1. ESRC – 'The Meaning and Implications of Training Data' (Co-Investigator with Francis Green and Ken Mayhew).

Teaching

I convene a second year module on the world of work which combines academic study with experiential learning (SI0240). In addition, I give occasional lectures on other modules such as a postgraduate module on scholarship in the social scienes (SIT100) and an third year undergraduate module on work and skills (SI0605). I also teach skills concepts, ways of understanding workforce development and research methods in context as part of a masters degree in Skills and Workforce Development in Singapore (SIT903).

During my career, I have supervised and taught numerous students to completion of post-graduate dissertations and theses. I have also acted as PhD external examiner on many occasions, both in the UK and overseas. I am keen to supervise postgraduate students whose areas of interest are related to the labour market. Such topics include the location of work, types of employment contract and the variety of ways in which workers learn at work.

Biography

Professor Felstead has been studying employment-related issues for over 35 years.  Since completing his PhD, he spent 5 years working at Nuffield College, Oxford, 14 years at the Univeristy of Leicester and 17 years (and counting) at Cardiff University.

Honours and awards

Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences (FAcSS).

Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales (FLSW).

2023 Top Almetric scoring article of all time in New Technology, Work and Employment (as of November 2023) and in top 5% of all research outputs scored by Almetric (refers to Felstead, A and Henseke, G (2017) ‘Assessing the growth of remote working and its consequences for effort, well-being and work-life balance’, New Technology, Work and Employment, 32(3): 195-212).

2021 Top Cited Industrial Relations Journal Article in 2019-2020 (refers to Felstead, A, Gallie, D, Green, F and Henseke, G (2019) ‘Conceiving, designing and trailing a short form measure of job quality: a proof-of-concept study’, Industrial Relations Journal, 50(1): 2-19).

2021 Finalist for National Undergraduate Employability Award ‘Best Collaboration between Universities and Employers’.

2020 Top Downloaded Industrial Relations Journal Article in 2018-2019 (Felstead, A, Gallie, D, Green, F and Henseke, G (2019) ‘Conceiving, designing and trailing a short form measure of job quality: a proof-of-concept study’, Industrial Relations Journal, 50(1): 2-19).

2018 Nominated for Celebrating Excellence in Teaching Award, Cardiff University.

2013 SAGE Prize for Excellence Nominee for refereed journal article (Felstead, A, Green F and Jewson, N (2012) 'An analysis of the impact of the 2008-09 recession on the provision of training in the UK', Work, Employment and Society, 26(6): 968-986).

2013 SAGE Prize for Excellence Nominee for refereed journal article (Gallie, D, Felstead, A and Green, F (2012) 'Job preferences and the intrinsic quality of work: the changing attitudes to work of British employees 1992-2006', Work, Employment and Society, 26(5): 806-821).

2010 Society of Educational Studies Award for Felstead, A, Fuller, A, Jewson, N and Unwin, L (2009) Improving Working as Learning, London and New York: Routledge. It was judged to be of 'fundamental importance' to the study, understanding and conceptualization of workplace learning and was 'highly recommended' for books published in 2009.

2005 Emerald Citation of Excellence Award for refereed journal article Felstead, A and Gallie, D (2004)  'For better or worse? Non-standard jobs and high involvement work systems', International Journal of Human Resource Management, 15(7): 1293-1316. The award placed it in the top 50 out of 15,000 published articles assessed over the previous year.

Professional memberships

Member of the British Sociological Association (BSA).

Member of the British Universities Industrial Relations Association (BUIRA).

Academic positions

2022-present: Co-director, Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research and Data, Cardiff University.

2006-present: Research Professor, School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University.

1992-2006: Professor/Reader/Senior Research Fellow/Research Fellow/Research Associate at the University of Leicester.

1987-1992: Research Officer at Nuffield College, University of Oxford.