GSE Lecture Series - St Luke's Day Lecture - Professor Becky Francis (Chief Executive Officer, Education Endowment Foundation)

Education for in/equality? Challenging the socio-economic gap in educational attainment

The longstanding socio-economic gap for educational attainment is anticipated to have widened significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic. The crisis has highlighted a need for research-led approaches to support pupils - both during lock-down, and when returning to schools. More broadly, a research-led approached is needed to ensure that education mitigates inequalities, rather than exacerbating them. In this lecture, Professor Francis will explore a range of explanations for the socio-economic gaps in attainment, and what may be done to alleviate them.

Professor Becky Francis is Chief Executive Officer of the Education Endowment Foundation. She was previously Director of the UCL Institute of Education (IOE), which is ranked #1 in the world for education in the international QS rankings. Her prior roles include Professor of Education and Social Justice at King’s College London, Director of Education at the RSA and Standing Advisor to the Parliamentary Education Select Committee.  

Throughout her career, Becky has sought to maximise the impact of academic research by working closely with teachers and policy-makers. Becky has been a judge for the National Pupil Premium Awards and the TES Teacher of the Year awards. She has spearheaded high-profile research programmes assessing the impact of major reforms in the English school system on educational inequalities.

Becky’s academic expertise and extensive publications centre on social identities and inequalities in educational contexts. She is best known for her body of research on social identities and educational attainment, including gender, race and social class.

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For those with an Exeter IT account the recording of this lecture is now available on ELE.