Brendan Burchell is the Professor of the Social Sciences in the Department of Sociology at the University of Cambridge and is currently the President of Magdalene College. Brendan Burchell’s first degree was in Psychology from the University of Birmingham from 1977-80. From there he went to Warwick University to take a PhD in Social Psychology.
His career then took a change of direction when, in 1985, he was appointed to the Department of Applied Economics at Cambridge as a Research Officer to assist in a project entitled the Social Change and Economic Life Initiative, working collaboratively with economists, social psychologists and sociologists on a variety of aspects of labour markets and their effects on individuals. In 1988 Professor Burchell transferred to take a Lectureship in the Faculty of Human, Social, and Political Science.
Professor Burchell’s main research interests centre on the effects of labour market conditions on wellbeing. Recent publications have focussed on reduced hours working, unemployment, job insecurity, work intensity, part-time work, gig work and occupational gender segregation. He works in interdisciplinary environments with psychologists, sociologists, economists, geographers, lawyers and other social scientists. He is currently involved in large-scale trials of the ‘four day week’.