Dr. Colin Mills

Biography

Colin Mills is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Oxford. His research interests primarily focus on quantitative social research, including social stratification, social mobility, assortative mating, and the measurement of social class. He emphasizes the importance of serious quantitative work and strives to supervise doctoral candidates who are committed to conducting rigorous research in these areas. Mills has a methodical approach and avoids purely methodological research that lacks substantive social content. He is particularly interested in the interplay between family background and life-course outcomes, as well as issues related to social inequality, partnership formation, fertility, and employment relations. He advocates for a strong intellectual ownership of research projects, pushing his students to take responsibility and engage critically with their work. Mills is also keen on supervising theses that access primary materials in original languages, grounded in a strong understanding of the specific time and place of sociological processes. He seeks students who are prepared for the competitive academic job market and emphasizes the need for clear and original research proposals.

Research Interests