Rate My Professor Phil Mizen

Phil Mizen's research specializations encompass the sociology of children and young people, with particular emphasis on child work and youth labour, the informal sector, political protest, and qualitative research methodology. He has authored three books, including The Changing State of Youth (1999), and over 40 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters. Notable publications include "Bringing the street back in: Considering strategy, contingency and relative good fortune in street children's access to paid work in Accra" (Sociological Review, 2018), "Agents of transition? Young workers experiences of using private employment agencies in three Midlands cities" (Journal of Youth Studies, 2021), "Unofficial truths and everyday insights: understanding voice in visual research with the children of Accra's urban poor" (Sociology, 2010), and The Sociology of Occupy. His funded projects include a British Academy study on children’s working lives in an urban informal settlement in Ghana, a European Commission project on young people’s political activism (MYPLACE), and an ESRC programme exploring young people's precarious pathways from education to the labour market. Mizen directs the £3.4 million Artificial Intelligence Researcher Development Network (AI.RDN+), funded by Research England in collaboration with the University of Leeds (2025). He is a member of the REF 2029 Sociology sub-panel, having previously served on the REF 2021 Sociology sub-panel.