Prof. Brendan Burchell

Background

My first degree was in Psychology from the University of Birmingham from 1977-80. From there I went to Warwick University to take a PhD in Social Psychology. My career then took a change of direction when, in 1985, I was appointed to the Department of Applied Economics at Cambridge as a Research Officer to assist in a project entitled the Social Change and Economic Life Initiative, working collaboratively with economists, social psychologists and sociologists on a variety of aspects of labour markets and their effects on individuals. In 1988 I transferred to take a Lectureship in the Faculty of Human, Social, and Political Science.

Since coming to Cambridge my research has concentrated mainly on the effects of labour market experiences (e.g. job insecurity, work intensification, bankruptcy, zero hours contracts, part-time work, unemployment, job quality, etc) on social and psychological well-being. I am also interested in self-employment in developed and developing countries, the quality of police jobs and the future of work, post-robotics and machine learning. I am a recognised expert on gender and employment within the EU, and works with many international organisations.

In addition to my position as a Professor, I am also the Director of Graduate Education within the department of Sociology and I was previously Head of Department.

Research interests

• Future of work
• Job quality
• Self-employment
• Work and wellbeing