Val Gillies

Val Gillies is a Professor of Social Policy and Criminology at the University of Westminster since 2016. She holds a PhD from 2006, focusing on disadvantaged working-class mothers. Her research emphasizes family dynamics, social class, marginalized youth, and the impact of AI/data-driven policies on families. She leads/co-leads major grants including the Leverhulme-funded 'Social and Spatial Encounters over Time' (2025–2028) and BA/Leverhulme's 'Wives' Roles in Classic Community Studies' (2022–2024).

Her work bridges historical comparative analysis and modern policy, addressing topics like predictive analytics in family intervention and data ethics. She has advised on over a dozen research projects, including ESRC-funded studies on troubled families and early intervention. Key publications include critiques of algorithmic governance in family policy and the role of sociologists' wives in foundational British studies.

Her teaching focuses on sociology, particularly childhood and youth studies. She collaborates widely with researchers like Rosalind Edwards and Hélène Vannier Ducasse, producing interdisciplinary outputs on social justice and digital policy.