Dr Marina Shapira

Associate Professor

Sociology, Social Policy & Criminology Colin Bell Building, University of Stirling, Stirling, FK9 4LA

Dr Marina Shapira

About me

Dr Marina Shapira is an Associate Professor in Sociology at the University of Stirling and the Associate PGT Dean at the University's Faculty of Social Sciences.

She joined the Faculty in March 2013. Before coming to Stirling, she studied Applied Math (MSc) at Yerevan State University, and Sociology at University of Haifa (MA) and Oxford University (DPhil), and worked as a Research Fellow and a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre of Educational Sociology, University of Edinburgh, the ESRC Centre for Population Change and the Employment Research Institute.

At Stirling, Marina coordinates and teaches core and elective undergraduate modules on research methods (quantitative), Race, Ethnicity, and Migration, and Sociology of Education (from 2024). She is coordinating the Sociology, Social Policy, and Criminology Honours Dissertations module and supervising undergraduate, postgraduate, and PhD students.

Dr Shapira is a member of the Social Surveys and Social Statistics research group and of the Stirling Network for Curriculum Studies. Her research focuses on curriculum studies, educational inequalities and transitions, socio-economic inequalities, immigration impacts, and ethnic and national identities (including immigrants and ethnic minorities).

She has been funded by the ESRC, British Academy, British Council, and the Nuffield Foundation. Currently, she is leading a large research project “Choice, Attainment, and Positive Destinations” funded by the Nuffield Foundation that examines the impacts of curriculum policies on young people's outcomes in Scotland (2019-2023). She is also enrolled as a co-investigator in two international projects: one funded by the British Academy and exploring the national identities and intentions to stay of young migrants in Armenia (2020-2023); and the other examining trends in early English language learning in basic education (British Council, 2022-2025).

Supervision: Dr Marina Shapira welcomes enquiries about supervision from students and prospective candidates interested in writing an undergraduate, masters, or doctoral dissertation on topics related to migration, ethnic socio-economic inequalities, educational inequalities, curriculum studies, socio-economic stratification and mobility, and quantitative research methods.

Qualifications: Dr Marina Shapira holds a DPhil from Oxford University (2007), an MA in Sociology with Distinction from the University of Haifa, and an Msc/Diploma of Mathematician with Distinction from Yerevan State University.

Event / Presentation

Witness statement given at Education and Young People Committee, The Scottish Parliament
University of Stirling

Witness statement given at Young People and Education Committee, The Scottish Parliament
University of Stirling
https://www.scotsman.com/…t-scores-4431734

Witness statement given at Young People and Education Committee, The Scottish Parliament
University of Stirling


External Examiners and Validations

UG Sociology Programme Review, London Metropolitan University
London Metropolitan University


Other Academic Activities

Member of the Editorial Board for Curriculum Journal
University of Stirling

Member of the Editorial Board Frontiers Sociology
University of Stirling

What do you need to know as the nation awaits its PISA test scores
University of Stirling
https://www.scotsman.com/…t-scores-4431734
Interview for Scotsmen

What does Pisa tell us about Scottish education?
University of Stirling
https://www.tes.com/…ottish-education
Publication in the Times Educational Supplement