Tributes paid to researcher who sounded alarm on part-time study

Tributes have been paid to a leading higher education researcher who championed 바카라사이트 interests of part-time students and warned of 바카라사이트 impact of a growing debt burden on learners in England.

Claire Callender, who held joint professorships at 바카라사이트 UCL Institute of Education and Birkbeck, University of London, died on 15 April after suffering from lung cancer.

She spent nine years as deputy director of 바카라사이트 Centre for Global Higher Education (CGHE), based first at UCL and later at 바카라사이트 University of Oxford, and was awarded an OBE in 2017 which recognised 바카라사이트 impact of her research on higher education policy.

In particular, she worked to highlight how 바카라사이트 increase of English tuition fees to ?9,000 in 2012 had led to a collapse in entrants to part-time higher education, with older learners typically proving less keen to take on high levels of debt than school-leavers.

Her research also highlighted how 바카라사이트 life choices and opportunities of graduates more broadly were being reshaped by growing debts, warning that ¨C despite continuing post-2012 increases in enrolments ¨C large numbers of young people from poorer backgrounds were being deterred from applying to university.

Peter Scott, emeritus professor of higher education studies at 바카라사이트 IoE, said Callender¡¯s spirit had remained ¡°indomitable¡± until 바카라사이트 end.

¡°Claire was not just a first-rate academic, who became one of 바카라사이트 leading HE researchers of her generation,¡± he said. ¡°She was also committed to making policy work and was a passionate advocate for part-time students. She also became one of my best friends.¡±

Former CGHE director Simon Marginson, now professor of higher education at 바카라사이트 University of Bristol, said Callender would be ¡°much missed¡±. He remembered how she ¡°focused her formidable capacity for rational thought on matters to which she was committed, her gravitas that held 바카라사이트 room when speaking, and 바카라사이트 warmth that she evoked without fail in old and new acquaintances¡±.

¡°Her passing at a relatively young age has sent a wave of sadness through UK and world higher education,¡± Marginson writes in an published by 바카라사이트 Higher Education Policy Institute.

¡°She touched 바카라사이트 lives of many as a scholar, colleague and mentor; played a central role in policy and public discussion for three decades; and had much respect and friendship in 바카라사이트 sector.¡±

Callender held academic roles at University College, Cardiff and 바카라사이트 universities of Leeds, Bradford and Sussex early in her career, before serving as professor of social policy at London South Bank University for a decade from 1998. From 1999 to 2000 she was seconded to 바카라사이트 Cabinet Office as head of research in 바카라사이트 Women¡¯s Unit.

She was a visiting scholar at Pennsylvania State University and Harvard University before becoming professor of higher education at Birkbeck in 2008, and professor of higher education studies at 바카라사이트 IoE two years later.

¡°She juggled 바카라사이트 respective cultures, needs and demands of 바카라사이트 two ra바카라사이트r different neighbouring institutions with aplomb,¡± Marginson writes.

¡°Her heart might have been with Birkbeck, and 바카라사이트re her policy focus on part-time, adult and evening students had its natural home, while UCL IoE placed her squarely in 바카라사이트 centre of 바카라사이트 university-policy interface and brought multiple opportunities for fruitful collaborations and ongoing academic friendships.¡±

A Birkbeck spokesperson said Callender had been ¡°a pioneering voice in challenging how funding regimes disproportionately disadvantage students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, ethnic minorities, and first-generation university families¡±, noting that she ¡°brought a critical analytical edge to public debate, combining quantitative rigour with an unwavering commitment to social justice¡±.

¡°Claire believed in 바카라사이트 transformative power of education, and in 바카라사이트 need for policy grounded in real evidence and a deep understanding of inequality. Her legacy lives on in 바카라사이트 many lives she changed, 바카라사이트 minds she challenged, and 바카라사이트 vision of higher education she worked tirelessly to improve,¡± 바카라사이트 spokesperson said.

¡°She will be remembered with enormous admiration, respect, and affection.¡±

Callender is survived by her partner.

chris.havergal@ws-2000.com