Delma Byrne

Biography

My research interests focus on social stratification and the sociology of education in particular, and the role of education in shaping life chances over the life-course, including labour market experiences. I have been working on these research areas for some time now, having worked on these issues during my time as a Research Assistant and Post Doctoral Research Fellow at the Economic and Social Research Institute, Dublin (2001-2003 and 2007-2010 respectively) and at the University of Edinburgh where I obtained a PhD in Educational Sociology (2003-2007). There is a particular focus on inequalities relating to gender, social class, race/ethnicity, disability and special educational needs in my work. This work cross-cuts research in comparative education and labour market research, with a particular focus on the structure of education systems and the graduate labour market. I use a variety of research designs, research methods and data to include the use of both quantitative and qualitative methods in empirical educational research, which underpins my teaching in the fields of sociology and education. My use of data includes both cross-nationally comparative data such as the European Labour Force Survey and Reflex data, as well as longitudinal data such as the Growing up in Ireland data, and qualitative data collection.

Research Interest

Stratification in Education and Training and the Labour Market, School-to-Work Transitions, Graduate Labour Market, Social Inequality: Gender, Social Class, Race/Ethnicity/Migrant Status Inequality, Comparative Data Analysis, Social Science Research Methods (Quantitative, Qualitative, Mixed Methods).