Teaching Associate, Department of Sociology, University of Cambridge

Matthew Sparkes is a Teaching Associate in the Department of Sociology at the University of Cambridge. He lectures on quantitative and qualitative research methods, and social class in modern Britain. His research examines debt and consumer society, the impact of credit use and problem debt on personal identity, and the links between social class, identity and debt. Part of his research has been carried out with the debt charity StepChange, involving interviews with people who are struggling to manage their debt.

Matthew holds a PhD in Sociology and an MA in Social Research, both from the University of York, and a BA in Sociology from Leeds Metropolitan University. He is also an Associate Fellow at the Higher Education Academy.