

Dr Rosa Marvell
Biography
I am a Senior Lecturer in Sociology with research interests in intersectional social inequalities and social justice, particularly in post-compulsory education and work. This includes inclusive education, trans inclusion at work and higher education inequalities. I joined the University of Portsmouth in September 2021 following a postdoctoral research post within the Widening Participation Evaluation Team at Oxford Brookes University. Prior to this I was a Doctoral and Associate Tutor at the University of Sussex alongside my PhD. My own doctoral research, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, explored the ways in which first-generation students navigate their educational journey towards Master's degrees and how social class and its intersections shapes these pathways.
Prior to working within the higher education sector, I was a Research Fellow at the Institute for Employment Studies, working on a range of research projects and evaluations concerning post-compulsory education and employment for UK Government Departments and bodies, EU Directorates and third sector organisations.
Teaching responsibilities
I am the course lead for the MSc Sociology at the University of Portsmouth, and happy to answer any questions about the course from prospective students.
My current undergraduate teaching predominantly focusses on social inequalities, social justice and research methods. I teach across all our Sociology programmes: BSc Sociology, BSc Sociology with Psychology, BSc Sociology with Media Studies and BSc Sociology with Criminology. My key responsibilities involve convening and delivering Social Inequalities at Level 4, and Equality or Liberation? Theorising Social Justice at Levels 5 and 6. I also co-teach Gender and Sexuality at Levels 5 and 6. Alongside this, I have taught research methods throughout Levels 4, 5 and 6.
At postgraduate level, I have primarily been involved in teaching specialist qualitative research methods, including sessions on narrative methods, creative methods, and participatory methods for Master's and Doctoral students.
I am happy to receive inquiries about postgraduate supervision (MRes, PhD and Ed) on topics related to inequalities in higher education or work which have a focus on social class, gender, and their intersections.
Research outputs
2025
Problems with the panacea: First-generation students’ predicaments with the UK Master’s Loan
Marvell, R. A.
1 May 2025, In: Widening Participation & Lifelong Learning Journal. 27, 1, p. 127-152
Research output: Article
The ongoing pleasure paradox: How practitioners are compelled to silence, sanitise and securitise pleasure in English RSE
Vignali, A., Marvell, R. A.
25 Mar 2025, In: Sex Education: Sexuality, Society and Learning
Research output: Article
2024
We’ve researched trans inclusion for nearly a decade – how we do our work has changed
Marvell, R. A., Fletcher, L.
7 May 2024, In: The Conversation
Research output: Article
2023
Care-experienced students in higher education: A case for re-figuring higher education worlds to widen access and further social justice
Child, S., Marvell, R. A.
31 Aug 2023, In: British Educational Research Journal
Research output: Article
Identifying a research agenda for postgraduate taught education in the UK: lessons from a machine learning facilitated systematic scoping review
Macleod, G., Dozier, M., Marvell, R. A., Matthews, G., Macleod, M., Liao, J.
30 May 2023, In: Oxford Review of Education, 18p.
Research output: Article
2022
‘I have some trauma responses, but it’s not my identity’: furthering social justice for care experienced and estranged university students
Marvell, R. A., Child, S.
16 Nov 2022, In: International Studies in Sociology of Education
Research output: Article
Walking through fog: social inequalities and the journey to postgraduate taught study in England
Marvell, R. A.
9 May 2022, In: Studies in Higher Education, 13p.
Research output: Article
Furthering transgender inclusion in the workplace: advancing a new model of allyship intentions and perceptions
Fletcher, L., Marvell, R. A.
5 Jan 2022, In: International Journal of Human Resource Management, 33p.
Research output: Article
2021
Gender back on the agenda in higher education: perspectives of academic staff in a contemporary UK case study
Morris, C. A., Hinton-Smith, T., Marvell, R., Brayson, K.
21 Jul 2021, In: Journal of Gender Studies, 13p.
Research output: Article
‘It’s not something that we think about with regard to curriculum.’ Exploring gender and equality awareness in higher education curriculum and pedagogy
Hinton-Smith, T., Marvell, R., Morris, C. A., Brayson, K.
2 Jul 2021, In: Gender and Education
Research output: Article