My research interests focus on the study of risk and resilience, inparticular on social inequalities in capacity building, health and attainmentduring the transition from dependent childhood to independent adulthood, asking1) to what extent and how do social conditions, in particular socio-economicadversity, affect individual thinking, feeling and behaviour; 2) to what extentand in what circumstances can individuals succeed against the odds and steertheir own life course?; and 3) what can be done to improve the life chances ofthe most vulnerable? My studies are guided by a socio-ecological developmentalsystems approach, mapping human development over time and in context usinglongitudinal data, such as the nationally representative British cohortstudies. I have examined and contributed to new insights regarding socialinequalities in competence development, aspirations, health and attainment, andthe conditions for change and resilience in the face of adversity. 

My publications include over 100 scholarly articles, as well as amonograph on ‘Risk and Resilience’ (2006) and three edited volumes on ‘Transitionsfrom school-to-work'  with Rainer K. Silbereisen (2009), 'Genderdifferences in aspirations and attainment' with Jacquelynne S. Eccles (2014),and ' Young People’s Development and the Great Recession: Uncertain Transitionsand Precarious Futures' with John Bynner (2017) all published by CambridgeUniversity Press.