Stephen Ball is Karl Mannheim Professor of Sociology of Education in the Department of Educational Foundations and Policy Studies at the Institute of Education, University of London. He did undergraduate sociology at the University of Essex, and an MA and DPhil in Sociological Studies at the University of Sussex working with Colin Lacey. His PhD was published in 1981 as Beachside Comprehensive. He worked at Sussex for ten years, and while there founded the Journal of Education Policy with Ivor Goodson, which he still edits. Stephen moved to King's College London in 1985 and then the Institute of Education in 2001. His involvement with Routledge goes back a long way and includes a book series edited for Falmer Press and the publication of his prize-winning and much translated book The Micro-Politics of the School (Methuen). He has authored and edited many books and has had 114 articles published in international journals and his work has been translated into 10 languages including 2 books in mandarin and 2 in Japanese.
Stephen Ball's research and writing has revolved around three issues social class, education policy and education reform (see Education Policy and Social Class) and has been driven by a series of research studies based on these topics. He is currently involved in 3 ESRC-funded projects, they are focused on: the relationships between philanthropy and education policy (with Carolina Junemann); policy enactments in secondary schools (with Meg Maguire KCL and Annette Braun); and the educational strategies of the black middle class (with Carol Vincent, David Gillborn and Nicola Rollock). I am also working on an international study of philanthropy and education policy with Antonio Olmedo of University of Granada. In 2006 Stephen Ball was elected as a Fellow of the British Academy.
