Rachel Brooks is Professor of Sociology and Head of the Sociology Department at the University of Surrey in the UK and co-editor of Sociological Research Online. She has carried out a wide range of research projects on different aspects of education, with a particular focus on higher education and lifelong learning. Most recently, her research has focussed on: international student mobility; the funding of higher education; and a cross-national comparison of the experiences of university students with parental responsibilities. Rachel also has a strong interest in research methods. She co-authored Researching Young People’s Lives (Sage, 2009), and co-edited Negotiating Ethical Dilemmas in Youth Research (Routledge, 2013) with Kitty te Riele.