Barbara Jane Elliott (born 25 January 1966) is a British sociologist and academic. She is Professor of Sociology at the

University of Exeter The University of Exeter is a public university , public research university in Exeter, Devon, England, United Kingdom. Its predecessor institutions, St Luke's College, Exeter School of Science, Exeter School of Art, and the Camborne School of Min ...

. From October 2014 to September 2017 she was chief executive of the

Economic and Social Research Council The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), formerly the Social Science Research Council (SSRC), is part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). UKRI is a non-departmental public body (NDPB) funded by the UK government. ESRC provides fundi ...

. Her research uses longitudinal, qualitative and quantitative methodologies to explore issues of gender and employment.

Early life

Elliott was born on 25 January 1966 to Keith Elliott and Barbara Joy Elliott. She was educated at Sharnbrook Upper School and

Bedford College of Higher Education Bedford College of Higher Education was a higher education institution in Bedford, England, specializing in teacher training. History Until 1976, three separate institutions offered tertiary education in Bedford: Bedford College of Physical Edu ...

. She studied mathematics and then social and political science at

King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the city ...

. She graduated in 1987 with an upper second class Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree. Later, she undertook

post-graduate Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate ( bachelor's) degree. The organization and stru ...

research in sociology 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 Univer ...

, completing her Doctor of Philosophy degree in 2001. Her thesis was titled ''Success stories: Narrative representations of women's lives?''.

Academic career

Elliott began her academic career as a

Research Associate Research associates are researchers (scholars and professionals) that usually have an advanced degree beyond a Master's degree. In some universities/research institutes, such as Harvard/Harvard Medical School/Harvard School of Public Health, the ...

at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

from 1987 to 1992. From 1992 to 1994, she was a

fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

and lecturer in Social and Political Sciences at

Newnham College, Cambridge Newnham College is a women's Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1871 by a group organising Lectures for Ladies, members of which included philosopher Henry Sid ...

. She moved to the

, where she was a

research fellow A research fellow is an academic research position at a university or a similar research institution, usually for academic staff or faculty members. A research fellow may act either as an independent investigator or under the supervision of a pr ...

from 1994 to 1999. She moved from research to teaching when she became a lecturer in sociology at the

University of Liverpool , mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning , established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...

in 1999. She was a

Visiting Lecturer In academia, a visiting scholar, visiting researcher, visiting fellow, visiting lecturer, or visiting professor is a scholar from an institution who visits a host university to teach, lecture, or perform research on a topic for which the visitor ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

during the 2002/2003 academic year. In 2004, she moved to the

Institute of Education IOE, UCL's Faculty of Education and Society (IOE) is the education school of University College London (UCL). It specialises in postgraduate study and research in the field of education and is one of UCL's 11 constituent faculties. Prior to m ...

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

. She was the

Principal Investigator In many countries, the term principal investigator (PI) refers to the holder of an independent grant and the lead researcher for the grant project, usually in the sciences, such as a laboratory study or a clinical trial. The phrase is also often us ...

of the 1958 and

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...

British birth cohort studies Birth cohort studies in Britain include four long-term medical and social studies, carried out over the lives of a group of participants, from birth. Two of these studies have continued for over 50 years. Principal cohort studies * National Surve ...

. She was promoted to

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

of Sociology in 2009. From 2010 to 2014, Elliot was director of the Centre for Longitudinal Studies. The centre hosts the 1958 National Child Development Study, 1970 British Cohort Study, and

Millennium Cohort Study The Millennium Cohort Study (MCS) is a longitudinal survey conducted by the Centre for Longitudinal Studies (CLS) at the University of London, following the lives of a sample of about 18,818 babies born in the UK in the year 2000–2001. His ...

. In October 2014, she became chief executive and deputy chair of the

. while retaining her title as professor of sociology at the

. She became professor of sociology at the

in October 2017.

Honours

In March 2015, Elliott was elected a

Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences 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 th ...

(FAcSS). She was appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire 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 ...

(CBE) in the

2020 New Year Honours The 2020 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebration ...

for services to the social sciences.

Selected works

* *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elliott, Jane Living people English sociologists Women statisticians Fellows of the Royal Statistical Society Academics of the UCL Institute of Education 1966 births People educated at Sharnbrook Academy Alumni of King's College, Cambridge Alumni of the Victoria University of Manchester Fellows of Newnham College, Cambridge Academics of the Victoria University of Manchester Academics of the University of Liverpool Fellows of the Academy of Social Sciences English statisticians Commanders of the Order of the British Empire