This edited volume is the first to exclusively feature the work of doctoral graduates themselves. Critical Perspectives on Educational Policies and Professional Identities offers an important example of doctoral study within the field of education policy, emphasising the impact and transferability of findings across a range of educational sectors.

The collection features the cutting-edge work of 14 doctoral graduates from the University of the West of England (UWE), generally writing in collaboration with an experienced academic from their supervisory team. The volume explores the issue of education policy and its impact on the professional identities of those working across the sector, including the changing professional and policy contexts currently confronting doctoral candidates and their peers. The chapters are arranged into three thematic sections, each featuring work from a wide range of educational settings: Constructions of the Professional and Society; Interrogating Approaches to Becoming, Being and Developing as Education Professionals; and Challenging Education Policy and Practice.

The doctoral graduate is lead author in all instances, and the process of curating and developing the collection to offer Early Career Researchers a supported pathway into academic publication is outlined in the editors’ opening contribution. In the concluding chapter, Prof Meg Maguire (KCL) reflects upon the role of professional doctorates in aiding our understanding of educational policies and professional identities across the sector.

Richard Waller is Professor of Education and Social Justice in the School of Education and Childhood at UWE.

Jane Andrews is Professor of Education in the School of Education and Childhood at UWE.

Timothy Clark is Director of Research and Enterprise in the School of Education and Childhood at UWE.