OVPLI

Biographical Details:

Professor Maria Slowey is Director of Higher Education Research and Development in the Office of the Deputy President and Registrar. She was previously (2004-2009) Vice-President for Learning Innovation and Registrar, DCU.

She has held senior academic leadership and managerial positions in Ireland (DCU: 2004 to present) Scotland (University of Glasgow: 1992-2004) and England (University of Northumbria: 1984-1992). Her career has particularly focused on research-led innovation in higher education, widening access, internationalisation and lifelong learning.

Maria was previously Professor and Director of Adult and Continuing Education at the University of Glasgow with cross-University responsibility for strategic development of continuing education and lifelong learning. She established CRADALL (the Centre for Research and Development in Adult and Lifelong Learning) was Head of the Department of Adult and Continuing Education, and Vice-Dean Research in the Faculty of Education. She came to Glasgow from the University of Northumbria, where she held several positions in the Centre for Recurrent Education, finishing as founding Head of the Centre for Continuing Education and External Relations. She was also a lecturer in the National University of Ireland, Maynooth, and was awarded the first Aontas-Carrolls National Research Fellowship in Adult Education in Ireland.

In 2009 she was elected Academician of the British Academy of Social Sciences.

Maria plays an active role in relevant research agencies and initiatives, including: membership (twice) of the RAE (UK Research Assessment Exercise) Sub-Panel on Continuing Education (1996 and 2001) the ESRC Research Priorities Board (twice, to 2005) and commissioning panels for the ESRC Research Centres competition. In Scotland, inter alia, she was a member of the Independent Committee of Inquiry on Student Finance established by the Scottish Parliament, (the 'Cubie Committee') and academic adviser to the Scottish Parliament Committee on Lifelong Learning (2001/2). She was Vice-Chair of the Steering Committee for the 35m ESRC Teaching and Learning Research Programme (TLRP) and an elected Trustee and Council Member of the Society for Research in Higher Education (SRHE).

Educated in University College Dublin and Trinity College Dublin, Maria has held visiting positions and given invited lectures at, amongst others, the Universities of Cambridge (Homerton College), Melbourne, Stanford, Stockholm, British Columbia, California (Berkeley), Oxford (Kellogg College),Duisburg-Essen and Marburg.

Research Interests:

Maria's research and policy interests draw on sociology, policy analysis and comparative education to address issues of: equality of opportunity and widening access to higher education; lifelong learning; comparative tertiary education policy; the role of the university in the community; and, governance and management in higher education.

She has written extensively on these issues and has acted as a consultant to a range of bodies internationally, including: OECD, UNESCO, the EC, the Council of Europe, the European Training Foundation, the European Association for the Education of Adults, the Swedish National Board for Higher Education, the New Zealand Qualifications Authority and the US Advisory Council on Continuing Education.

For current projects and publications please refer to HERC website.

Selected Peer Reviewed Journals

• Slowey, Maria with Mark Morgan. 2009. 'Higher education in the broader educational landscape - widening the perspective on equity and access in Ireland'. Journal Of Adult And Continuing Education, 15:2, , pp204-219.
• Slowey, Maria and P. Clayton. 1996. 'Towards the 'Flexible' Workforce? Implications for Gender Equality and the Education and Training of Adults'. Scottish Journal Of Adult And Continuing Education, Volume 3, No. 1, pp45-62.

Selected Books

• Professor Maria Slowey and H.G. Schuetze. Global Perspectives on Higher Education and Lifelong Learners, Routledge, 2012.
• Professor Maria Slowey with R. Hamilton. The Story of DACE (Department of Adult and continuing education), University of Glasgow, 2005.
• Professor Maria Slowey. Higher Education and the Lifecourse, 2003.
• Professor Maria Slowey with D. Watson. Higher Education and the Lifecourse,, Society for research into higher education/Open University Press, 2003.
• Professor Maria Slowey with H.G. Schuetze. Koutou-Kyouiku to Syougai-Gakushuu-Sha: Sono Henka ni kansuru Kakkoku no Joukyou (Japanese translation of Higher Education and Lifelong Learners), Kenkyuu Koutou, 2003.
• Professor Maria Slowey. Higher Education and Lifelong Learners: International Perspectives on Change, RoutledgeFalmer, 2000.
• Professor Maria Slowey with H.G. Schuetze. Higher Education and Lifelong Learners - International Perspectives on Change,, RoutledgeFalmer, 2000.
• Professor Maria Slowey. Implementing Change within Universities and Colleges -Ten Personal Accounts, Kogan Page, 1998.