Iona Burnell Reilly headshot

Dr Iona Burnell Reilly

Senior Lecturer

Sociology of Education; Teacher Training

Department of Education , School of Childhood and Social Care

Iona began her career in higher education as a Lecturer in Sociology of Education. Her own teaching background is in Further Education where she taught English Language and Access courses for 10 years. In recent years she has combined the academic areas of Sociology and Positive Psychology in her lecturing and research. Iona is currently Course Leader for the Postgraduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education. She continues to supervise, examine, research, write and publish on topics related to the sociology and psychology of higher education.

Qualifications

  • (EdD) Doctor of Education
  • MA Integrative Psychotherapy
  • MSc Positive Psychology and Coaching
  • MA Education: Culture, Language and Identity
  • BA (Hons) Linguistics

Areas Of Interest

My interests, and topics covered in my publications, are:

  • social class, social inequality and inequality in education;
  • widening participation in higher education;
  • equality and inclusion within HE;
  • the experiences of the working class in HE;
  • wellbeing and self-care in higher education
Iona Burnell Reilly headshot

CURRENT RESEARCH

Research centres:

  • I am a member of the Centre for Wellbeing, Community and Inclusion at UEL. The centre brings together professionals and researchers in physical and mental health, developmental and social issues, disabilities, including learning disabilities, digital inclusion, human wellbeing, social epidemiology, professional psychology and neuroscience. The core mission of the research centre is to foster research collaborations among academics, practitioners and community groups. 
  • I am a Study Group Convenor for the British Sociological Association -  Sociology, Psychoanalysis and Psychosocial study group.  The study group seeks to interrogate and develop sociology’s engagement with psychoanalysis and to promote the specifically sociological investigation of psychosocial phenomena.


Doctoral supervision research interests:

  • social class, social inequality and inequality in education;
  • widening participation in higher education;
  • equality and inclusion within HE;
  • the experiences of social class in HE.

Most recent research:

I am research active and currently working on these projects:

  • Burnell Reilly. I., Baker, S. and Pierse, M. (currently in progress, publication planned for September 2025) Notions: the lives of Irish working-class academics. Emerald Publishing.
  • Burnell Reilly. I (currently in progress, publication planned for December 2025) Addressing the unfinished business: how working-class academics experienced writing their autoethnography. In Lemon, N. et al. (Eds) Shut Up and Write: Fostering Wellbeing through Collective Writing Practices. Routledge Publishing.  

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

  • Roffey-Barentsen, J. and Burnell Reilly. I. (2025) Completing Your EdD: The Essential Guide to the Doctor of Education. (2nd edition) Emerald Publishing.  9781836088172

Conference papers

  • Gender and Education Conference, June 2024. ‘The rise of academic apprenticeships in the UK: how professionals experience the transition from industry to academia’ and ‘The subjective and lived realities of academics in HE: Exploring the lives of academics from under-represented social groups’. Hosted at Charles Sturt University, NSW, Australia 17-20 June, 2024.
  • Keynote Lecture, University of Liverpool, Centre for Higher Education Studies. ‘Tales of the unexpected: the lives and experiences of working-class academics’. March 2024.
  • Working-Class Studies Association 2023 Symposium, University of Chicago (online). ‘The lives of working-class academics: getting ideas above your station’. June 2023.
  • IAAGT 2022, International Association for the Advancement of Gestalt Therapy Conference, Ireland. 'Edges of Exile and Belonging: Applying gestalt techniques in teacher education with new lecturers who may be experiencing a lack of confidence and trainee nerves in their new role'. IAAGT Conference 2022 | (iaagtireland2022.com) May 2022.
  • Working-Class Studies: An Interdisciplinary Conference 2021, Dublin, Ireland. 'The Lives of Working-Class Academics: getting ideas above your station'. November 2021.
  • ECER 2021, European Educational Research Association Conference, Geneva: 'Managing progression opportunities for students on early-childhood and education studies degrees during the Coronavirus pandemic: how successful has widening graduate employment opportunities been?' September 2021.
  • BERA 2021 conference (British Education Research Association), online: 'Managing progression opportunities for students on early-childhood and education studies degrees during the Coronavirus pandemic: how successful has widening graduate employment opportunities been?' September 2021.
  • ECER 2020, European Educational Research Association Conference, Glasgow: 'Widening graduate employment opportunities for students on early childhood and education studies degrees: a case study at a school of education at one London university'. August 2020.
  • 2019 FACE conference (Forum for Access and Continuing Education) Sheffield Hallam University: 'The Place of Widening Participation' and 'Broadening the Horizons for Students on an Education Studies Degree'. July 2019.
Cover of Dr Iona Burnell Reilly's book - Completing Your EdD: The Essential Guide to the Doctor of Education
Front cover of Dr. Iona Burnell Reilly's book - The Lives of Working Class Academics: getting ideas above your station.

EXTERNAL ROLES

  • Honorary Faculty Member, Centre for Higher Education Studies, University of Liverpool.

TEACHING

EdD Professional Doctorate in Education

Gain the opportunity and the skills with this EdD to conduct robust and innovative research that will improve the policy, practice and quality of education.

Apply for Professional Doctorate in Education

Programmes

  • Post Graduate Certificate in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education

Publications

Browse past publications by year.

Full publications list

Visit the research repository to view a full list of publications

Research repository

  • Burnell Reilly, I. and Czerniawski, G. (2025)

    Getting Over the Finishing Line in: Roffey-Barentsen, J. and Burnell Reilly, I. (ed.) Completing Your EdD: The Essential Guide to the Doctor of Education. Emerald Publishing Limited, pp.Chapter 10

    Book chapter