Dame Janet Valerie Finch
DBE,
DL,
FAcSS The Fellowship of the Academy of Social Sciences (FAcSS) is an award granted by the Academy of Social Sciences to leading academics, policy-makers, and practitioners of the social sciences.
Fellows were previously known as Academicians and used the ...
(born 13 February 1946) is a British
sociologist and
academic administrator
Academic administration is a branch of university or college employees responsible for the maintenance and supervision of the institution and separate from the faculty or academics, although some personnel may have joint responsibilities. Some t ...
. She was
Vice-Chancellor
A chancellor is a leader of a college or university, usually either the executive or ceremonial head of the university or of a university campus within a university system.
In most Commonwealth and former Commonwealth nations, the chancellor ...
and Professor of Social Relations at
Keele University
Keele University, officially known as the University of Keele, is a public research university in Keele, approximately from Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England. Founded in 1949 as the University College of North Staffordshire, Keele ...
,
and has held a number of other public appointments in the UK. She currently holds an honorary position at the Morgan Centre for the Study of Relationships and Personal Life, based in the School of Social Sciences,
University of Manchester
, mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity
, established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univ ...
.
She is also part of Flooved advisory board.
Biography
Finch was educated at
Merchant Taylors' Girls' School,
Crosby Crosby may refer to:
Places
;Canada
*Crosby, Ontario, part of the township of Rideau Lakes, Ontario
*Crosby, Ontario, a neighbourhood in the city of Markham, Ontario
;England
*Crosby, Cumbria
*Crosby, Lincolnshire
*Crosby, Merseyside
** Crosby (U ...
, Merseyside, and then
Bedford College, London (now merged with
Royal Holloway College, London
Royal Holloway, University of London (RHUL), formally incorporated as Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, is a public research university and a constituent college of the federal University of London. It has six schools, 21 academic departm ...
(RHC)) where she obtained BA in Sociology. She obtained a PhD in Sociology from the
University of Bradford
The University of Bradford is a public research university located in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. A plate glass university, it received its royal charter in 1966, making it the 40th university to be created in Britain, but ...
in 1975. She was made an Honorary Fellow of RHC in 1999.
[''FINCH, Dame Janet (Valerie)'', Who's Who 2012, A & C Black, 2012; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2011; online edn, Nov 2011 accessed 27 October 2012](_blank)
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Finch has published extensively on family relationships, her research interests focusing especially on inter-generational family relationships. In September 1995, Finch was appointed Vice-Chancellor at Keele University, having previously been a Pro-Vice-Chancellor at Lancaster University.
At Keele, she has overseen substantial alterations of the University and the increasing development of a private Science and Business Park. She attracted controversy in February 2007, when it was announced that she would receive a pay raise of 31.7%, the largest raise for any Vice-Chancellor in England that year.
In a statement given to the '' THES'', the university responded that the salary awarded would be frozen for a three-year term, and was awarded following comparisons with other institutions, and taking into account Finch's "outstanding performance during a period of cultural and procedural change and development". She retired from her position in 2010, having served fifteen years as Keele's Vice-Chancellor. She returned the following year to be made a Doctor of Letters
Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or ') is a terminal degree in the humanities that, depending on the country, is a higher doctorate after the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree or equivalent to a higher doctorate, such as the Docto ...
.
Finch is one of four main panel chairs in the Research Excellence Framework
The Research Excellence Framework (REF) is a research impact evaluation of British higher education institutions. It is the successor to the Research Assessment Exercise and it was first used in 2014 to assess the period 2008–2013. REF is under ...
, based at the University of Manchester
, mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity
, established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univ ...
, a non-executive director of the Identity and Passport Service
His Majesty's Passport Office (HMPO) is an agency of the Home Office in the United Kingdom. It provides passports for British nationals worldwide and was formed on 1 April 2006 as the Identity and Passport Service before being renamed HM Passpo ...
and the chair of the Council of Ombudsman Service Ltd. In 2011 the government selected Finch to be the chair of the UK Statistics Authority cy, Y Bwrdd Ystadegau
, seal =
, logo = UK Statistics Authority logo.svg
, formed =
, jurisdiction = United Kingdom
, headquarters = 1 Drummond Gate London SW1V 2QQ
, employees = 3685
, budget = £256m (2018)
, minister1_name = Jeremy ...
, but during a pre-appointment hearing with MPs on the Public Administration Select Committee differences became apparent on how the independence of the chair should be exercised, and Finch decided to withdraw from the application process. In 2012-13 Finch chaired the government's Working Group on Expanding Access to Published Research Findings, which produced a report recommending a policy direction for open access. She was independent co-chair of the Council for Science and Technology
The Council for Science and Technology (CST) is an advisory non-departmental public body of the United Kingdom government. Its role is to give advice on issues that cut across government departments to the Prime Minister, the First Minister of ...
.
Honours
Janet Finch was named a CBE
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
in the 1999 New Year's Honours
Honour (British English) or honor (American English; see spelling differences) is the idea of a bond between an individual and a society as a quality of a person that is both of social teaching and of personal ethos, that manifests itself as a ...
List for services to social science
Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of so ...
, and a DBE in the 2008 Birthday Honours List, for services to social science and higher education.
Selected works
* ''Married to the Job: Wives' Incorporation in Men's Work'' (Allen and Unwin, 1983)
* ''Education as Social Policy'' (Longman, 1984)
* ''Research and Policy: the Uses of Qualitative Methods in Social and Educational Research'' (Falmer Press, 1986)
* ''Family Obligations and Social Change'' (Polity Press, 1989)
* ''Negotiating Family Responsibilities'' (with J Mason; Routledge, 1993)
* ''Wills, Inheritance and Families'' (with L Hayes, J Mason and L Wallis; Polity Press, 1996)
* ''Passing On: Kinship and Inheritance in England'' (with J Mason; Routledge, 2000)
See also
*Carol Smart
Carol Christine Smart (born 20 December 1948) is a feminist sociologist and academic at the University of Manchester. She has also conducted research about divorce and children of divorced couples.
Smart is an important figure within the femi ...
*David Morgan (sociologist)
David Hopcraft John Morgan (30 July 1937 – 17 June 2020), known as David (H. J.) Morgan, was a British sociologist, who was President of the British Sociological Association (1997–1999) and editor of the association's journal ''Sociolog ...
*Keele University
Keele University, officially known as the University of Keele, is a public research university in Keele, approximately from Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England. Founded in 1949 as the University College of North Staffordshire, Keele ...
*University of Manchester
, mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity
, established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univ ...
References
External links
* Date of birth pe
Debrett's
Citation
presented at the dinner (19/7/10) to mark Professor Dame Janet Finch's retirement from Keele University
Janet Finch at "Pioneers of Qualitative Research" from the Economic and Social Data Service
{{DEFAULTSORT:Finch, Janet
1946 births
Academics of Lancaster University
British sociologists
Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Deputy Lieutenants of Staffordshire
Living people
Vice-Chancellors of Keele University
People educated at Merchant Taylors' Girls' School
Alumni of Bedford College, London
Alumni of the University of Bradford
Place of birth missing (living people)
Academics of the University of Manchester
Family sociologists
Fellows of the Academy of Social Sciences
British women sociologists