- Race matters: confronting the legacy of empire and colonialism Shain, Farzana. 2020. Race matters: confronting the legacy of empire and colonialism. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 41(2), pp. 272-280. ISSN 0142-5692
- A Gap Exposed: What is Known About Sikh Victims of Domestic Violence Abuse (DVA) and Their Mental Health? KAUR-AUJLA, Harjnder; Shain, Farzana and Lilley, Alison. 2019. A Gap Exposed: What is Known About Sikh Victims of Domestic Violence Abuse (DVA) and Their Mental Health? European Journal of Mental Health, 14(1), 179 -189.
- Foucault as educator Harwood, Valerie; Olssen, Mark and Shain, Farzana. 2018. Foucault as educator. British Journal of the Sociology of Education, 39(8), pp. 1226-1234. ISSN 0142-5692
- Succeeding against the odds: can schools ‘compensate for society’? Shain, Farzana. 2016. Succeeding against the odds: can schools ‘compensate for society’? Education 3-13, 44(1), pp. 8-18. ISSN 0300-4279
- Making sense of the protests in Turkey (and Brazil): contesting neo-liberal urbanism in ‘Rebel Cities’ Gokay, Bulent and Shain, Farzana. 2015. Making sense of the protests in Turkey (and Brazil): contesting neo-liberal urbanism in ‘Rebel Cities’. Estudos Ibero-Americanos, 41(2), pp. 242-260. ISSN 0101-4064
- Introduction. Educational inclusion: towards a social justice agenda? Bhopal, Kalwant and Shain, Farzana. 2014. Introduction. Educational inclusion: towards a social justice agenda? British Journal of the Sociology of Education, 35(5), pp. 645-649. ISSN 0142-5692
- Making sense of the protests in Turkey (and Brazil) Gokay, Bulent and Shain, Farzana. 2013. Making sense of the protests in Turkey (and Brazil). Journal of Global Faultlines, 1(2), pp. 58-68. ISSN 2397-7825
- 'The Girl Effect': Exploring Narratives of Gendered Impacts and Opportunities in Neoliberal Development Shain, Farzana. 2013. 'The Girl Effect': Exploring Narratives of Gendered Impacts and Opportunities in Neoliberal Development. Sociological Research Online, 18(2), pp. 181-191.
- Race, Nation and Education: An overview of British attempts to manage diversity since the 1950s Shain, Farzana. 2013. Race, Nation and Education: An overview of British attempts to manage diversity since the 1950s. Educational Enquiry, 4(1), pp. 63-85. ISSN 2000-4508
- ‘Getting on’ rather than ‘getting by’: ethnicity, class and ‘success against the odds’ Shain, Farzana. 2012. ‘Getting on’ rather than ‘getting by’: ethnicity, class and ‘success against the odds’. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 33(1), pp. 153-163. ISSN 0142-5692
- Uneasy Alliances: British Muslims and Socialists since the 1950s Shain, Farzana. 2009. Uneasy Alliances: British Muslims and Socialists since the 1950s. Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics, 25(1), pp. 95-109. ISSN 1352-3279
- Culture, Survival and Resistance: theorizing young Asian women’s experiences and strategies in contemporary British schooling and society Shain, Farzana. 2000. Culture, Survival and Resistance: theorizing young Asian women’s experiences and strategies in contemporary British schooling and society. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 21(2), pp. 155-174. ISSN 0159-6306
- Managing Ambiguity: Between Markets and Managerialism — A Case Study of ‘Middle’ Managers in Further Education Gleeson, Denis and Shain, Farzana. 1999. Managing Ambiguity: Between Markets and Managerialism — A Case Study of ‘Middle’ Managers in Further Education. The Sociological Review, 47(3), pp. 461-490. ISSN 0038-0261
- Under new management: changing conceptions of teacher professionalism and policy in the further education sector Shain, Farzana and Gleeson, Denis. 1999. Under new management: changing conceptions of teacher professionalism and policy in the further education sector. Journal of Education Policy, 14(4), pp. 445-462. ISSN 0268-0939
Professor Farzana Shain
Staff details
Goldsmiths Research Centres/Groups
Farzana is a sociologist of education. She specialises in educational inequalities and education policy and politics.
Farzana joined Goldsmiths in 2020 as George Wood Professor in Education. Previously, she was Professor of Sociology of Education at Keele University, where she directed the Research Centre for Social Policy from 2015 to 2019 and led the ‘Tackling Inequalities’ research theme in Keele’s Institute for Social Inclusion until December 2019.
Farzana researches and teaches in the field of sociology of education, focusing particularly on racialised, classed and gendered inequalities. She serves as a steering group member of the International Association for Human Rights Education and on the boards of the following journals:
• British Journal of Sociology of Education - Executive Board (2015-2023; Editorial Board
2003-present)
• Human Rights Education Review - International Editorial Advisory Board (2017- present)
• Multidisciplinary Journal of Social Diversity-Advisory Board (2013-present)
• Journal of Global Faultlines -Editorial Team (2012-present)
Research interests
Current/recent projects include:
• Generation Delta: Nurturing the next generation of Black female professors - UKRI-Research England funded 2022-2026
• Change the Narrative - A Film collaboration exploring British Muslim girls’ accounts of their educational lives with Parvez Qadir and Kirstie Henderson with part funding from the Leverhulme Trust 2019-20
• In the shadow of 9/11: Muslim girls’ narrative accounts of past, present and future lives. Leverhulme Trust Research Fellowship 2017-19
• Raising Attainment at KS1. Stoke City Council funded (PI, with Dr Ruth Dann and Dr Laura Watt) 2013-2016.
• Children’s understanding of peak oil. British Academy small grants (PI, with Prof Bulent Gokay) 2012-2013, with follow-on funding from Keele University to research Children’s understanding of Fracking (PI with Bulent Gokay and Sian Edwards both of Keele, in 2016-7
Previous research includes, 'Changing Teaching and Managerial Cultures in Further Education'. ESRC (Denis Gleeson PI)
Doctoral Supervision
Farzana has supervised 24 doctoral students to successful completion and has examined over 35 PhD theses at universities in the UK and abroad.
I welcome applications from prospective doctoral students on the following topics:
• educational inequalities/social exclusion/social justice
• race, politics and education
• gender and education
• education policy and politics
• educational implications of 9/11 and the war on terror
• institutional change
Publications and research outputs
Book
- The New Folk Devils: Muslim Boys and Education in England Shain, Farzana. 2011. The New Folk Devils: Muslim Boys and Education in England. Stoke-on-Trent: Trentham Books. ISBN 9781858564425
- The Schooling and Identity and Asian Girls Shain, Farzana. 2003. The Schooling and Identity and Asian Girls. Stoke-on-Trent: Trentham Books. ISBN 9781858561813
Edited Book
- Neoliberalism and Education Rearticulating Social Justice and Inclusion, 1st Edition Bhopal, Kalwant and Shain, Farzana, eds. 2015. Neoliberalism and Education Rearticulating Social Justice and Inclusion, 1st Edition. New York, NY: USA: Routledge. ISBN 9781138182530
Edited Journal
- British Journal of Sociology of Education (Special Issue): Educational inclusion: towards a social justice agenda? Bhopal, Kalwant and Shain, Farzana, eds. 2014. British Journal of Sociology of Education (Special Issue): Educational inclusion: towards a social justice agenda?, British Journal of Sociology of Education, 35(5). 0142-5692
Book Section
- Addressing the triple challenge of right-wing populism, nationalism and colonial amnesia in and through human rights education Shain, Farzana. 2024. Addressing the triple challenge of right-wing populism, nationalism and colonial amnesia in and through human rights education. In: Audrey Osler and Beate Goldschmidt-Gjerløw, eds. Nordic Perspectives on Human Rights Education Research and Practice for Social Justice. Abingdon: Routledge, pp. 241-246. ISBN 9781032375373
- Educating Shain, Farzana. 2020. Educating. In: S Mathewman; B Curtis and D Mayeda, eds. Being Sociological. London: Macmillan International (Red Globe Press), pp. 219-236. ISBN 9781352011159
- Minority Students in the UK Shain, Farzana. 2020. Minority Students in the UK. In: M David and M Amey, eds. The Sage Encyclopedia of Higher Education. Sage, pp. 1062-1064. ISBN 9781473942912
Article
- Whiteness, citizenship of class and educational privilege of Eastern European pupils in British schools Hayes, Aneta and Shain, Farzana. 2023. Whiteness, citizenship of class and educational privilege of Eastern European pupils in British schools. Whiteness and Education, 8(1), pp. 82-100. ISSN 2379-3406
- Navigating the unequal education space in post-9/11 England: British Muslim girls talk about their educational aspirations and future expectations Shain, Farzana. 2021. Navigating the unequal education space in post-9/11 England: British Muslim girls talk about their educational aspirations and future expectations. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 53(3), pp. 270-287. ISSN 0013-1857
- From silence to ‘strategic advancement’: institutional responses to ‘decolonising’ in higher education in England Shain, Farzana; Yildiz, Umit; Poku, Veronica and Gokay, Bulent. 2021. From silence to ‘strategic advancement’: institutional responses to ‘decolonising’ in higher education in England. Teaching in Higher Education, 26(7-8), pp. 920-936. ISSN 1356-2517
Film/Video
- Changing The Narrative Shain, Farzana; Qadir, Parvez and Henderson, Kirstie. 2020. Changing The Narrative.
Other
- How to solve the universities’ financial crisis Gokay, Bulent and Shain, Farzana. 2025. How to solve the universities’ financial crisis. LSE British Politics and Policy blog, London.
