Gurnam Singh

Gurnam Singh is Research Associate at the Centre for Global Learning, Education and Attainment (GLEA) and  Associate Professor of Social Work at Coventry University, He is also lead for Post Graduate Research Students within the faculty of Health and Life Sciences at Coventry University. Additionally, he is Visiting Professor of Social Work at the University of Chester and Visiting Fellow in Race and Education at the University of Arts, London.

Prior to entering academia in 1993, he worked as a professional social worker and community activist. He completed his PhD from the University of Warwick in 2004 on anti-racist social work. In 2009 in recognition of his contribution to Higher Education he was awarded a prestigious National Teaching Fellowship from the UK Higher Education Academy. Over the past 20 years he has secured research projects in excess of £500,000 and has presented over 120 papers at national and international conferences, many as an invited keynote speaker.

Area of Expertise:

Race, racism, critical pedagogy, social inclusion, educational disparities, critical social work, higher education development.

I describe myself as an academic activist in that what inspires me both in my teaching and research is the desire to transform individuals and society. I always seek to deploy a critical sociological imagination in my work as well as espousing democratic, humanitarian and universal principles. My belief is that committed scholarship has the potential to enable human societies to respond to the challenge of all kinds of inequalities, at the local, national or global level.