Staff profile

Professor Rille Raaper (BA, MA, Ph.D, PgCAP, FHEA)

Rille is Professor and the Director of Research in the School of Education. In 2023/2024, Rille acted as the Co-Director of the Institute of Advanced Study at Durham University. In 2022, Rille held a Visiting Scholar position at the Centre for Studies in Higher Education, UC Berkeley.

Rille’s research interests lie in the sociology of higher education. Her research is primarily concerned with marketisation of higher education, and the particular implications market forces have on current and future students. The two strands of Rille's research relate to: a) student identity and experience in consumerist higher education; b) student agency, citizenship and political activism. As a critical scholar of higher education, Rille's work challenges the normative understandings of student identity and voice, and it introduces new forms of student agency related to sudent advocacy on social media, student complaints and consumer rights. Her work is theoretically inspired by critical social theory, including the works of Michel Foucault, Hannah Arendt and Bernard Stiegler. Methodologically, Rille tends to use qualitative research methods and critical discourse analysis.

Rille is currently co-leading a large-scale longitudinal project entitled 'Does higher education politicise today's students?' together with Professor Rachel Brooks and Dr Tom Fryer (funded by ESRC, 2025-2028). This project will track undergraduate students from four English universities to examine the impact of university studies (if any) on students' political knowledge, views and behaviour. 

Rille is also a PI on a research project funded by Forum for Access and Continuing Education (FACE) to conduct a critical discourse analysis of social media content that may promote negative perceptions of higher education among young people. This analysis is conducted together with Dr Michael Priestley and forms a part of a larger project by FACE: 'Discouraged by discourse? A social media discourse analysis on attitudes toward higher education' (2025-2026).

Rille’s most recent monograph ‘Student Identity and Political Agency: Activism, Representation and Consumer Rights’ (Routledge) examines the intersections of education, sociology and politics to provide a unique account of the contemporary student identity and political agency in market-driven higher education. Her recently edited volumes 'Contemporary Dynamics of Student Experience and Belonging in Higher Education' (Routledge) and 'The Bloomsbury Handbook of Student Voice' (Bloomsbury Publishing) both tackle the themes of what it means for students to belong (or not) to higher education, and what opportunities they have to exercise their voice.

Rille’s further research projects build on this, exploring students in a variety of new and altered settings: student influencers on social media platforms such as TikTok (PI, IAS major project ‘Risks to Youth and Studenthood in Digital Spaces’) and students as complaint-makers in consumerist higher education. 

Rille is regularly invited to share her research and expertise with various academic and public audiences. Recent examples include: Teacher Talk Radio, the Mahindra Humanities Centre at Harvard University, and the Centre for Studies in Higher Education at UC Berkeley. She also publishes her research findings with Wonkhe , the University World News, the Higher Education Policy Institute.

Since 2019, Rille is an editor of the journal Critical Studies in Education. She is also an editorial board member of the journala British Journal of Sociology of Education and Teaching in Higher Education.

She currently teaches on the undergraduate module ‘Higher Education: Issues of Exclusion and Inclusion’, and the postgraduate module ‘Conceptual Perspectives, Theories and Frameworks in Education'

Rille graduated with a BA (Cum Laude) and MA (Cum Laude) in Adult Education from Tallinn University (Estonia) and a PhD from the School of Education, University of Glasgow.  Prior to Rille's academic career, She worked at the Estonian National Agency of European Lifelong Learning Programme and led and developed the activities of adult education programme Grundtvig in Estonia.

 

Completed Supervisions

"Being estranged doesn't have to stop you from doing anything": A longitudinal study exploring the experiences of estranged students in UK higher education (2025)

An institutional ethnographic inquiry into the everyday work of course leaders for college-based higher education (2025)

Teachers’ digital practices within the context of digitalisation: An exploratory case study of private education in rural and urban Punjab, India (2025)

Developing a comprehensive quality model in higher education: Medical employers' perspective (2022)

A phenomenographic study to explore tutors' perceptions of the role of written feedback in promoting self-regulated learning at Durham University (2021)

The social construction of dyslexia in the UK media: School as a site of failure (2021)

Two trajectories, one destination: Exploring Chinese urban and rural students' access to Chinese elite universities (2020)

Recovery as a troublesome concept: A phenomenographic study of mental health nursing students’ learning experiences (2019)

Graduating from care: A narrative study of care leavers' journeys into and through university (2019)

         

Information for Prospective Doctoral Research Student Supervisions

I would be pleased to hear from potential research students with an interest in conducting research in matters relating to student experience of higher education, issues of inclusion and exclusion in higher education, student voice, representation and politics and consumerism in higher education. 

• Student experience, identity and agency
• Higher education policy and practice
• Politics of higher education and student movements
• Consumerism in higher education
• Widening participation in higher education
• Assessment policy and practice
• Critical theory and critical discourse analysis

• 2024: Expert Evaluator for the European Commission ERA Talents scheme:
• 2024: Member of ESRC Peer Review College :
• 2024: Editorial board member for the British Journal of Sociology of Education:
• 2022: Visiting Scholar at UC Berkeley, Centre for Studies in Higher Education:
• 2022: Associate Fellow of the Institute of Advanced Study (IAS):
• 2021: Awards: Outstanding Paper in the 2021 Emerald Literati Award on my article 'The Covid-19 pandemic and the dissolution of the university campus: implications for student support practice'
• 2019: Editor of Critical Studies in Education:
• 2018: Editorial board member for the journal Teaching in Higher Education:
• 2018: Awards: British Journal of Sociology of Education (BJSE) Best Early Career Paper Award 2018 on my article ''Peacekeepers’ and ‘machine factories’ tracing Graduate Teaching Assistant subjectivity in a neoliberalised university''
• 2017: Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA):

Chapter in book

• Introduction: Institutionalizing Student Voice through Governance Structures
  
  Raaper, R. (2023). Introduction: Institutionalizing Student Voice through Governance Structures. In J. Conner, R. Raaper, C. Guzmán-Valenzuela, & L. Gauthier (Eds.), The Bloomsbury Handbook of Student Voice in Higher Education (pp. 251-254). Bloomsbury. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781350342484.pt-004
• Introduction
  
  Conner, J., Raaper, R., Guzman-Valenzuela, C., & Gauthier, L. (2023). Introduction. In J. Conner, R. Raaper, C. Guzmán-Valenzuela, & L. Gauthier (Eds.), The Bloomsbury Handbook of Student Voice in Higher Education (pp. 1-6). Bloomsbury. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781350342484-007
• Freedom, fragmentation and student politics: tracing the effects of consumerism in English students’ unions
  
  Raaper, R. (2022). Freedom, fragmentation and student politics: tracing the effects of consumerism in English students’ unions. In R. Watermeyer, R. Raaper, & M. Olssen (Eds.), Handbook on Academic Freedom (pp. 288-303). Edward Elgar.
• Student Politics: Resistance, Refusal and Representation
  
  Raaper, R., & Burke, C. (2020). Student Politics: Resistance, Refusal and Representation. In M. Murphy, C. Burke, C. Costa, & R. Raaper (Eds.), Social theory and the politics of higher education. Critical perspectives on institutional research (pp. 187-197). Bloomsbury Academic.
• Contesting student identities: making sense of students’ positioning in higher education policy
  
  Wright, A., & Raaper, R. (2019). Contesting student identities: making sense of students’ positioning in higher education policy. In A. Bagshaw & D. McVitty (Eds.), Influencing higher education policy : a professional guide to making an impact. (pp. 65-77). Routledge.
• Assessment Policy and “Pockets of Freedom” in a Neoliberal University. A Foucauldian Perspective
  
  Raaper, R. (2019). Assessment Policy and “Pockets of Freedom” in a Neoliberal University. A Foucauldian Perspective. In C. Manathunga & D. Bottrell (Eds.), Resisting neoliberalism in higher education. Volume II. Prising open the cracks. (p. 155--175). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95834-7_8
• Education and Political Theory: Prospects and Points of View
  
  Raaper, R., & Olssen, M. (2016). Education and Political Theory: Prospects and Points of View. In M. A. Peters (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Educational Philosophy and Theory (pp. 1-5). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-532-7_251-1

Edited book

• Contemporary Dynamics of Student Experience and Belonging in Higher Education
  
  Raaper, R. (Ed.). (2023). Contemporary Dynamics of Student Experience and Belonging in Higher Education. Routledge.
• The Bloomsbury Handbook of Student Voice in Higher Education
  
  Conner, J., Raaper, R., Guzmán-Valenzuela, C., & Gauthier, L. (Eds.). (2023). The Bloomsbury Handbook of Student Voice in Higher Education. Bloomsbury. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781350342484
• Handbook on Academic Freedom
  
  Watermeyer, R., Raaper, R., & Olssen, M. (Eds.). (2022). Handbook on Academic Freedom. Edward Elgar Publishing.
• Social Theory and the Politics of Higher Education. Critical Perspectives on Institutional Research
  
  Murphy, M., Burke, C., Costa, C., & Raaper, R. (Eds.). (2020). Social Theory and the Politics of Higher Education. Critical Perspectives on Institutional Research. Bloomsbury.

Journal Article

• #Studytalk in marketised higher education: Student influencers as emerging support providers
  
  Raaper, R., Hardey, M., & Aad, S. (2025). #Studytalk in marketised higher education: Student influencers as emerging support providers. Studies in Higher Education, 50, 1501-1513. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2024.2385614
• Negotiating authenticity: experiences of student influencers on social media
  
  Raaper, R., Hardey, M., Tiidenberg, K., & Aad, S. (2024). Negotiating authenticity: experiences of student influencers on social media. Journal of Youth Studies. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/13676261.2024.2419085
• The making of the activist disabled subject: disability and political activism in English higher education
  
  Peruzzo, F., & Raaper, R. (2024). The making of the activist disabled subject: disability and political activism in English higher education. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 45(2), 173-186. https://doi.org/10.1080/01596306.2023.2271406
• Disabled students doing activism: Borrowing from and trespassing neoliberal reason in English higher education
  
  Raaper, R., Peruzzo, F., & Westander, M. (2023). Disabled students doing activism: Borrowing from and trespassing neoliberal reason in English higher education. Power and Education, 15(2), 132–149. https://doi.org/10.1177/17577438221117772
• COVID-19: A Neoliberal Nirvana?
  
  Watermeyer, R., Raaper, R., & Borras Batalla, M. (2022). COVID-19: A Neoliberal Nirvana? Critical Criminology, 30(3), 509-526. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10612-022-09652-x
• Physical Separation, Social Distance, and Kinship Sentiments: An Exploration of Rural Parent–Teacher Relations in China
  
  Xu, J., & Raaper, R. (2022). Physical Separation, Social Distance, and Kinship Sentiments: An Exploration of Rural Parent–Teacher Relations in China. Rural Sociology, 87(3), 1088-1110. https://doi.org/10.1111/ruso.12441
• Student support as social network: Exploring non-traditional student experiences of academic and wellbeing support during the Covid-19 pandemic
  
  Raaper, R., Brown, C., & Llewellyn, A. (2022). Student support as social network: Exploring non-traditional student experiences of academic and wellbeing support during the Covid-19 pandemic. Educational Review, 74(3), 402-421. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131911.2021.1965960
• Students as ‘Animal Laborans’? Tracing Student Politics in a Marketised Higher Education Setting
  
  Raaper, R. (2021). Students as ‘Animal Laborans’? Tracing Student Politics in a Marketised Higher Education Setting. Sociological Research Online, 26(1), 130-146. https://doi.org/10.1177/1360780420952810
• Contemporary Dynamics of Student Experience and Belonging in Higher Education
  
  Raaper, R. (2021). Contemporary Dynamics of Student Experience and Belonging in Higher Education. Critical Studies in Education, 62(5), 537-542. https://doi.org/10.1080/17508487.2021.1983852
• Doctoral students navigating the borderlands of academic teaching in an era of precarity
  
  Rao, N., Hosein, A., & Raaper, R. (2021). Doctoral students navigating the borderlands of academic teaching in an era of precarity. Teaching in Higher Education, 26(3), 454-470. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2021.1892058
• Constructing Political Subjectivity: The Perspectives of Sabbatical Officers from English Students’ Unions
  
  Raaper, R. (2020). Constructing Political Subjectivity: The Perspectives of Sabbatical Officers from English Students’ Unions. Higher Education, 79(1), 141-157. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-019-00400-9
• Students’ Unions and Consumerist Policy Discourses in English Higher Education
  
  Raaper, R. (2020). Students’ Unions and Consumerist Policy Discourses in English Higher Education. Critical Studies in Education, 61(2), 245-261. https://doi.org/10.1080/17508487.2017.1417877
• The Covid-19 pandemic and the dissolution of the university campus: implications for student support practice
  
  Raaper, R., & Brown, C. (2020). The Covid-19 pandemic and the dissolution of the university campus: implications for student support practice. Journal of Professional Capital and Community, 5(3/4), 343-349. https://doi.org/10.1108/jpcc-06-2020-0032
• Students as consumers? A counter perspective from student assessment as a disciplinary technology
  
  Raaper, R. (2019). Students as consumers? A counter perspective from student assessment as a disciplinary technology. Teaching in Higher Education, 24(1), 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2018.1456421
• 'Peacekeepers’ and ‘machine factories’: tracing Graduate Teaching Assistant subjectivity in a neoliberalised university
  
  Raaper, R. (2018). ’Peacekeepers’ and ‘machine factories’: tracing Graduate Teaching Assistant subjectivity in a neoliberalised university. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 39(4), 421-435. https://doi.org/10.1080/01425692.2017.1367269
• In Conversation with Mark Olssen: On Foucault with Marx and Hegel
  
  Raaper, R., & Olssen, M. (2017). In Conversation with Mark Olssen: On Foucault with Marx and Hegel. Open Review of Educational Research, 4(1), 96-117. https://doi.org/10.1080/23265507.2017.1334575
• Tracing assessment policy discourses in neoliberalised higher education settings
  
  Raaper, R. (2017). Tracing assessment policy discourses in neoliberalised higher education settings. Journal of Education Policy, 32(3), 322-339. https://doi.org/10.1080/02680939.2016.1257160
• Academic perceptions of higher education assessment processes in neoliberal academia
  
  Raaper, R. (2016). Academic perceptions of higher education assessment processes in neoliberal academia. Critical Studies in Education, 57(2), 175-190. https://doi.org/10.1080/17508487.2015.1019901
• Developing a Guiding Protocol for the Moderation of Summative Assessments
  
  McGuire, W., & Raaper, R. (2016). Developing a Guiding Protocol for the Moderation of Summative Assessments. Journal of Perspectives in Applied Academic Practice, 4(1), 36-43. https://doi.org/10.14297/jpaap.v4i1.197
• Mark Olssen on neoliberalisation of higher education and academic lives: An interview
  
  Raaper, R., & Olssen, M. (2016). Mark Olssen on neoliberalisation of higher education and academic lives: An interview. Policy Futures in Education, 14(2), 147-163. https://doi.org/10.1177/1478210315610992

Monograph

• Student Identity and Political Agency: Activism, Representation and Consumer Rights
  
  Raaper, R. (2023). Student Identity and Political Agency: Activism, Representation and Consumer Rights. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003253648

Other (Print)

• Discourse Analysis of Assessment Policies in Higher Education: a Foucauldian Approach
  
  Raaper, R. (2016). Discourse Analysis of Assessment Policies in Higher Education: a Foucauldian Approach. SAGE Research Methods Cases.

Working Paper

• The changing role of students in British higher education governance: Partners, consumers and digital users
  
  Raaper, R., & Komljenovic, J. (2022). The changing role of students in British higher education governance: Partners, consumers and digital users.