Academic profile

Peter Elias studied in the sciences before undertaking his doctoral studies in applied labour economics at the University of California at Berkeley. He is a Professor at the Institute for Employment Research, University of Warwick, where he has worked across a wide variety of research areas over the last 30 years. These have ranged from the evaluation of large-scale government programmes, statistical monitoring of the status of particular groups in the labour market, the study of occupational change and the relationship between further and higher education, vocational training and labour market outcomes. Related to these research areas, he has developed methods for the measurement and analysis of labour market dynamics and has a keen interest in the classification of labour market activities. He is a Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society.

From October 2004 he has acted as the Strategic Advisor for Data Resources to the UK Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) , assisting the ESRC and other research funding councils and agencies with plans to develop data resources for research across the social sciences and at the boundaries between the social sciences and other disciplines.

On 1st November 2013 he was appointed as the Deputy Director for Life Study (the new birth cohort study funded by the ESRC, MRC and University College (UCL), London) and was appointed as an honorary professor at UCL.From 1st April 2014 he becomes Deputy Chair of the Administrative Data Research Board of the UK Statistics Authority.

Peter was awarded a CBE for services to social science in the Queen's birthday honours list in June 2011, and conferred as Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in 2019.

Current projects

• Developing a Skills Taxonomy; with Jeisson Cardenas-Rubio, Andy Dickerson, Neil Bachelor, Luke Bosworth, Rosie Day, Stef Poole and Lynne Marston; Funded by the Department for Education; Project duration: March 2024 - March 2026
• Improving UK job quality data; ReWAGE subgroup; Funded by the Warwick University’s Research & Impact Services; Project duration: July 2021 - June 2022
• Public engagement research for the SPF UK Population Laboratory. With Clare Lyonette and Erica Kispeter. Funded by ESRC. Project Start Date: 01/11/2018 - Project End Date: 31/05/2020 [details]
• Research into Migration in the UK Construction and Built Environment Sector. With Daria Luchinskaya. Funded by Royal Society. Project Start Date: 26/01/2017 - Project End Date: 30/06/2018 [details]
• Precarious pathways to employment for young people? Unpaid, temporary and involuntary part-time work in transitions from education to employment. With Kate Purcell, Gaby Atfield, Peter Elias, Anne Green. Funded by ESRC. Project Start Date: 01/01/2014 - Project End Date: 30/09/2017 [details]

All projects

Selected publications

• Elias, P., Dickerson, A. and Bachelor, N. (2023). A Skills Classification for the UK. Plans for development and maintenance. Department for Education.
• Elias, P., Purcell, K., Atfield, G., Kispeter, E., Day, R. and Poole, S. (2021) Ten Years On - the Futuretrack Graduates. Coventry: Institute for Employment Research, University of Warwick.
• Elias, P. (2021) Promoting public engagement with longitudinal research. A report to the Economic and Social Research Council.
• Purcell, K., Elias, P., Atfield, G, Kispeter, E., Day, R. and Poole, S. (2021) Covid 19 and graduate careers. Coventry: Institute for Employment Research, University of Warwick.
• Purcell, K, Elias, P., Atfield, G. and Kispeter, E. (2021) What a difference a year makes: the impact of Covid 19 on graduate careers. Coventry: Institute for Employment Research, University of Warwick.
• Purcell, K., Elias, P., Green, A., Mizen, P., Simms, M., Whiteside, N., Wilson, D., Robertson, A. and C. Tzanakou (2017) Present Tense, Future Imperfect? Young People's pathways into work. Coventry: Institute for Employment Research.
• Elias, P. and K. Purcell (2012) 'Higher Education and Social Background' in Understanding Society Findings 2012 Link: http://research.understandingsociety.org.uk/files/research/findings/Understanding-Society-Findings-2012.pdf, p.23 - 24, Editors: Institute for Social and Economic Research
• Elias, P. (2009) 'A revised UK national strategy for data resources for social and economic research, 2009-2012 (report)', [Report]
• Purcell, K. and Elias, P. (2009) 'Achieving equality in the knowledge economy' in Women and employment: changing lives and new challenges, 19 - 53, Editors: Scott, J., Dex, S. and Joshi, H., Cheltenham: Edward Elgar
  Guimarães, N. A, Cardoso, A., Elias, P. and Purcell, K. (2008) Mercados de trabalho e oportunidades: reestruturação econômica, mudança ocupacional e desigualdade na Inglaterra e no Brasil Editors: Guimarães, N. A, Cardoso, A., Elias, P. and Purcell, K., Rio de Janeiro: FGV
• Purcell, K., Wilton, N. and Elias, P. (2007) 'Hard Lessons for Lifelong Learners? Mature graduates and Mass Higher Education' Higher Education Quarterly 61 (1), 57 - 82

All publications

All conference presentations