Kathy Sylva - Curriculum Vitae#

Kathy Sylva is Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Oxford. She carries out research on the ways that families, pre-schools and schools jointly shape the development of young children. She has studied babies, pre-school children and students in the primary phase of schooling. Her studies focus on ways that children’s development is influenced by the institutions in which they live. Using longitudinal as well as experimental methods, her research focuses on ways that the lives of children might be improved, especially those who are struggling to learn or are from disadvantaged communities. She was elected Fellow of the British Academy in 2020, awarded an OBE in 2008 for services to children and families and in 2014 was awarded the British Education Association’s Nisbett Award for outstanding contribution to educational research. She was elected Fellow of the British Psychological Society and Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences.

Education and Qualifications

• 1974 Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology, Harvard University
  
• 1972 M.A. in Psychology Harvard University, follow-on from first-class BA honours

University Appointments

• 2015 Honorary Research Fellow, University of Oxford, Department of Education
  
• 1997 - 2015 Professor of Educational Psychology University of Oxford, Department of Education Professorial Fellow Jesus College
  
• 1990 - 1996 Professor of Child Development and Primary Education University of London, Institute of Education
  
• 1988 - 1990 Professor of Primary Education University of Warwick
  
• 1977 - 1988 University Lecturer in Applied Social Studies: Psychology University of Oxford, Department of Social and Administrative Studies
  
• 1974 - 1977 NICHD Post-doctoral Research Fellow, University of Oxford, Department of Experimental Psychology

Awards

• Nisbett Award for ‘Outstanding Contribution to Educational Research’, British Ed Research Assoc, 2014
  
• Order of the British Empire (OBE) 2008, ‘for services to children and families’
  
• Elected Fellow, the British Psychological Society, 2006
  
• Elected Fellow, Academy of the Social Sciences, 2004
  
• Honorary Doctorates: Oxford Brookes University, 2005; Open University, 2002; University of Gothenburg, 2015, University of Jvyskyla, 2023