Claire Maxwell (sociologist)

Last updated

Claire Maxwell
CM-Jan24-wiki.jpg
Claire Maxwell in Copenhagen, 2024
Born (1975-03-28) 28 March 1975 (age 50)
Alma mater University of Oxford (MA, MSc)
Royal Holloway (PhD)
Known for Cosmopolitan nationalism
Scientific career
Fields Sociology of education
Sociology of immigration
Gender and education
Institutions Deakin University
University of Copenhagen
Institute of Education
University College London
Thesis Gender versus ‘vulnerability’: how they determine young people’s sexual and relationship experiences  (2005)
Doctoral advisor Betsy Stanko
Website www.cmaxwell.uk

Claire Maxwell is a sociologist specialising in education, mobilities, and migration. As of July 2025, she serves as Head of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Deakin University, [1] where she also holds a chair in sociology.

Contents

Early life

Maxwell was born and spent her childhood in Luxembourg. [2] She holds Australian and German citizenship, and is fluent in English, German, French, and Danish. She attended the European School in Luxembourg, graduating from its EB programme in 1993.

Education

Maxwell gained a MA in PPE from The Queen's College, University of Oxford in 1996. She returned to Oxford (Green Templeton College and Department of Social Policy and Intervention) for a MSc in Applied Social Studies and a postgraduate Diploma in Social Work (PGDipSW). [3]

Maxwell went on to earn a PhD in 2005 at Royal Holloway College by defending a thesis [4] entitled "Gender versus ‘vulnerability’: how they determine young people's sexual and relationship experiences", supervised by Betsy Stanko.

Career

Maxwell combined her part-time PhD research with public sector employment by Oxfordshire County Council, as a social worker, and a public health specialist and teenage pregnancy co-ordinator for the county.

After her PhD award, Maxwell was employed by the Institute of Education culminating in her appointment as Professor in 2018. She subsequently accepted a chair in Sociology at the University of Copenhagen [5] , latterly serving as deputy Head of department. [6] [7] In 2025, she moved to Deakin University [8] in Melbourne.

Research

Maxwell's published research interests [9] include the sociology of education, where she focuses on the internationalisation of education, the role of elite schools around the world, and the effect on education systems of the increased mobility of people across national borders. Maxwell is also a specialist on transnational migration of high-skilled professionals, examining the convertibility of resources in new countries and workplaces [10] .

She has developed and published on several theoretical innovations, highlighting the intersections between agency, affect, and privilege, as well as how the concept of mobile nationalism can describe the practices of transnationally mobile families. The concept of cosmopolitan nationalism [11] has been developed by Maxwell and colleagues to underpin how education sciences can understand education policy and practices.

She has been awarded research funding in the UK by the ESRC [12] and in Denmark by the Danish Innovation Fund [13] and the Independent Research Fund Denmark. [14] [15] . Her Google Scholar H index is 30. [16]

Books and research publications

In March 2023 Bloomsbury published Sociological Foundations of Education, a new and comprehensive overview of how sociology has shaped the study of education, with Maxwell as lead editor and key chapter author. [17]

Maxwell's most recent monograph was published by Routledge [18] in October 2021. It examines why families travel today and focuses on how social class divergence is forged through movements across borders, and how travel has been influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change [19] .

Maxwell has served as a co-editor of the journal International Studies in Sociology of Education, [20] and as co-editor of Comparative & International Education Society's book series: Education in Global Perspectives, [21] published by SUNY Press. Her work has appeared in numerous academic journals, including Sociology, [22] the Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, [23] the British Journal of Sociology of Education, [24] and Globalisation, Societies and Education. [25]

Media, science communication, and public engagement

Maxwell was interviewed on BBC Radio 4's Thinking Allowed [26] [27] in 2016.

She regularly uses LinkedIn [28] to discuss her research and highlight new publications. She has appeared on the FreshEd podcast [29] .

Public educational service

Maxwell has served on the boards of Rygaards International School and Copenhagen International School in Copenhagen, and was also Chair of Governors at West Oxford Community Primary School in the UK.

Personal life

Maxwell lives in Camberwell. The retired figure skater, Olympian, and fitness influencer Fleur Maxwell [30] [31] is her youngest sister. Her maternal aunt is the former Australian politician Marjorie Henzell.

References

  1. "Our people". Deakin University . Retrieved 16 August 2025.
  2. "The International". 2 July 2021.
  3. "Online CV, UCPH". 21 June 2023.
  4. "RHUL Library, thesis link". 21 June 2023.
  5. "Outside perspective: "I like that Danes invest themselves socially at their workplaces"". 8 July 2019.
  6. Institut, Webmaster på Sociologisk (4 May 2015). "Professors and Associate Professors". www.sociology.ku.dk.
  7. "Departmental Management". 10 January 2024.
  8. "Professor Claire Maxwell". Meet the Head of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences. Retrieved 23 August 2025.
  9. "Claire Maxwell". scholar.google.com.
  10. Capacity, Copenhagen. "Project Onboard Denmark". international-rekruttering.state-of-denmark.com.
  11. "Cosmopolitan Nationalism: Understanding education systems".
  12. "Claire Maxwell, UKRI Gateway to Research". gtr.ukri.org.
  13. "Danish companies get new tools for recruiting internationals". www.sociology.ku.dk/. 11 May 2021.
  14. "Se alle støttede forskningsprojekter". Danmarks Frie Forskningsfond.
  15. "UCPH Faculty of Social Sciences project website". 18 June 2023.
  16. "Claire Maxwell". scholar.google.com.
  17. "Sociological Foundations of Education". Bloomsbury.
  18. "Nurturing Mobilities: Family Travel in the 21st Century". Routledge & CRC Press.
  19. "Book Review". Nordic Journal of Migration Research.
  20. "International Studies in Sociology of Education Editorial Board".
  21. "CIES Book Series - Global Perspective". www.cies.us.
  22. Yemini, Miri; Maxwell, Claire; Koh, Aaron; Tucker, Khen; Barrenechea, Ignacio; Beech, Jason (21 December 2020). "Mobile Nationalism: Parenting and Articulations of Belonging among Globally Mobile Professionals". Sociology. 54 (6): 1212–1229. doi: 10.1177/0038038520933457 via CrossRef.
  23. "National cultural capital as out of reach for transnationally mobile Israeli professional families – making a 'return home' fraught: Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies: Vol 0, No 0".
  24. "Tweet". twitter.com. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
  25. Yemini, Miri; Maxwell, Claire (27 May 2022). "Alternative modes of family travel: middle-class parental 'exit' strategies as a different orientation towards global citizenship education" . Globalisation, Societies and Education. 20 (3): 337–348. doi:10.1080/14767724.2021.1889993 via CrossRef.
  26. "Thinking Allowed, Success and Luck - Cosmopolitanism and Private Education". BBC. 7 December 2016. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
  27. "Claire Maxwell speaks on BBC Radio 4 programme". UCL. 8 December 2016.
  28. "Claire Maxwell: LinkedIn". 18 June 2023.
  29. "FreshEd #195 – Unpacking School Internationalization (Claire Maxwell)" via soundcloud.com.
  30. "Body By Fleur". Body by Fleur.
  31. "Body by Fleur (@bodybyfleur) • Instagram photos and videos". www.instagram.com.