Fiona Devine

Fiona Devine is Vice-President and Dean of the Faculty of Humanities at The University of Manchester, holding a Professorship in Sociology. She has held leadership roles across multiple departments including the School of Social Sciences and Alliance Manchester Business School. Her research focuses on social stratification, mobility, work, and political participation, with notable work on the BBC’s Great British Class Survey involving 300,000 participants. Fiona has contributed to national policy discussions, served on the ESRC and ESF, and advised the Bank of England’s North West Citizens’ Panels. She is a recipient of OBE (2010), CBE (2019), and fellowships from the Academy of Social Sciences and Royal Society of Arts.

Education: BA, MA, and PhD in Sociology from the University of Essex (1990s). Her research has been supported by ESRC, Leverhulme Trust, and NORFACE, producing over 70 publications. Key projects include analyses of gender mobility trends and qualitative studies on working-class youth transitions post-2008 financial crisis.

Research highlights include redefining class models through multidimensional analysis and exploring regional economic resilience post-pandemic. She collaborates internationally, with visiting positions at Harvard, University of Chicago, and University of Queensland. Grants include £2.5M from ESRC for class survey work and contributions to UK Data Archive.