Dr Rita Hordósy
I am a sociologist with a deep interest in, and passion for international and comparative educational research. Originally from Hungary, I have been living and working in the UK since 2010.
My research has involved broader topics such as vocational schooling, school aggression, school segregation, local policy-making and higher education experiences of students. I have researched in a number of different settings, ranging from multigrade schools in small villages and vocational schools and universities in cities, drawing on a wide range of research designs and methods.
In September 2019 I joined the University of Nottingham as a Nottingham Research Fellow, leading on a project that compares and contrasts the research / teaching nexus across European universities in Hungary, England and Norway. In 2023 I was appointed as an Assistant Professor in Education. I now co-convene and teach on the MA Education module Understanding and Planning Educational Research. I also co-convene Student Access and Experience Network of the Society for Research into Higher Education and serve on the editorial board of Educational Review.
Between September 2018 and August 2019 I was a Lecturer in Education at the University of Manchester. I taught on two different BA programmes, as well as on a large MA course on three distinct areas: research methods and designs, higher education, and educational inequalities. I also led on a project funded by Greater Manchester Higher, looking at the experiences of further education college students with regards to their career planning, and contrasting their accounts with those of widening participation practitioners, further education college teachers, and careers guidance professionals.
Between 2013 and 2018 I was a Post-Doctoral Researcher at the (former) Widening Participation Research and Evaluation Unit, University of Sheffield, leading on a longitudinal tracking project. This research entitled 'Sheffield Student 2013' followed a cohort of undergraduates through their university years, gaining in-depth understanding of the lived experiences of their financial, academic and social transitions. I conducted my doctoral research in education at the University of Birmingham between 2010 and 2013. This research analysed and compared national information systems across Europe that were gathering information on school leavers’ and graduates' path after compulsory education. After graduating with an MA in Sociology in 2009 at the Eötvös Loránd University in Hungary I worked at the Hungarian Institute for Educational Research & Development as a Research Assistant on several research projects dealing with vocational education.