Mark Murphy

Dr. Mark Murphy is a Reader in Education & Public Policy at the University of Glasgow, specializing in the intersection of education and public administration. He has held academic positions at King’s College London, University of Chester, and University of Stirling. His research focuses on accountability mechanisms, governance of education systems, and sociological theory applied to educational contexts. Murphy’s interdisciplinary work bridges sociology, social policy, and law, with a strong emphasis on digital scholarship and the role of universities in public intellectualism. He co-founded the website socialtheoryapplied.com, a resource for applying social theory in research.

Key contributions include textbooks such as Social Theory: A New Introduction (2021) and co-edited volumes like Social Theory and the Politics of Higher Education (2021). He serves on editorial boards of journals including the American Education Research Journal and British Journal of Sociology of Education. Recent publications address juridification in education, digital education design, and the moral dimensions of educational assessment.

His work explores how theoretical frameworks like Habermas’ critical theory and Bourdieu’s concepts of habitus inform educational policy and practice. Murphy’s research also examines EU social policy, widening access to higher education, and the impact of accountability systems on frontline services. He advocates for interdisciplinary approaches to education studies, emphasizing the application of social theory in real-world research settings.