Biography

Sally Riordan is an Associate Professor of Social Policy Research at the Centre for Apprenticeships. Previously, she worked as a senior research fellow at University College London. Her research focusses on social inequalities, the rise of evidence-based work cultures, the challenges of evidence synthesis, and the use of evidence in policymaking. She has taught philosophy undergraduates at the University of Cambridge and post-graduate students in education at Wolverhampton University. Prior to academia, she worked as a management consultant for Accenture and as a science teacher in schools across Cambridgeshire.

Qualifications

PhD Philosophy, Stanford University (2013)
MSc History and Philosophy of Science, London School of Economics (2006)
MMath Mathematics, University of Cambridge (1998)
MA Mathematics, University of Cambridge (1997)

Professional Qualifications
Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA) (2024)
PGCE Secondary Science with Physics, University of Cambridge (2016)

Research

Dr Riordan’s research focusses on the use of evidence in policy and practice. She evaluates the effectiveness of processes to collect, synthesise and disseminate research findings, most especially the role of randomised controlled trials and meta-analysis in education.

Selected publications

Riordan, S. (2024). The translation of cultural capital theory to English secondary schools: knuggets, wild words and pipelines. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 45(6), 912–933. https://doi.org/10.1080/01425692.2024.2376592

Riordan, S. (2022). Improving teaching quality to compensate for socio-economic disadvantages: a study of research dissemination across secondary schools in England. Review of Education, 10(2). https://doi.org/10.1002/rev3.3354

Riordan, S. (2015). The Objectivity of Scientific Measures, Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A, 50:38–47. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.shpsa.2014.09.005