Robert Dingwall

My Oxford Year film still, from left: Corey Mylchreest, Sofia Carson, 2025

My Oxford Year is wrong to normalise staff-student romances

Netflix’s university-set romcom is strangely silent about the ethics of college tutors sleeping with their students, says Robert Dingwall

By Robert Dingwall

27 August

An illustration of a student having a bath in a lavish apartment, with the water being diluted with liquid poured from a flask. To illustrate that the OfS must spearhead a dilution of the UK’s lavish student experience.

The OfS must spearhead a dilution of the UK’s lavish student experience

If the UK has decided it can no longer afford the sub-Oxbridge university model, expectations need to be systematically lowered, says Robert Dingwall

By Robert Dingwall

19 August

Hands handcuffed,one holding a pen, illustrating the restrictions on research caused by the GDPR

The GDPR is a new headache for social scientists

European universities’ overcompliance with data protection rules is making social research increasingly difficult, say Carine Vassy and Robert Dingwall

By Carine Vassy

4 August

Plagiarism aside, Rachel Reeves’ less discussed sin is theft of sociologists

The shadow chancellor’s book on female economists is emblematic of UK sociology’s struggle for disciplinary status, says Robert Dingwall

By Robert Dingwall

14 November

Illustration of coronavirus casting a shadow, with people standing around the virus.

To question the biomedical consensus is not to lack moral accountability

Publications must always permit debate on the quality and relevance of research – plus the efficacy and costs of derived policy, says Robert Dingwall

By Robert Dingwall

30 September

We need a serious debate on slavery reparations

Academics should not be afraid to challenge the wisdom of requiring institutions to make financial amends for their past links to slavery, says Robert Dingwall

By Robert Dingwall

1 November

Group think: scholars assess the state of sociology

Sociology, once a discipline seen as the embodiment of social progress, is now subject to frequent scepticism over its methodology, politics and career relevance. Here, five sociologists offer their assessment of the challenges facing the subject and what the future holds

By Robert Dingwall

4 October