Duncan’s educational background is interdisciplinary, including degrees in History (Aberdeen), Japanese Language and Society (Sheffield), and Social Science Research (Glasgow). He gained his PhD in Sociology (Teesside) in March 2021. Duncan’s thesis investigated the perceptions and experiences of young adults employed in adult social care work. The study reflects his research interests in gender, care, and care work, and in how work – more broadly – drives and sustains social inequalities.
Following his PhD, Duncan worked at The University of Sheffield’s Centre for International Research on Care, Labour and Equalities (CIRCLE) analysing alternative models of homecare provision. He then worked with Professor Mary Daly at the University of Oxford on a project examining the work attitudes of care home workers. Prior to commencing his PhD, Duncan’s work experience included spells in teaching, educational support and advice, and social care work.
In the Centre for Care, Duncan works with Dr Liam Foster in the Care Workforce Change research group. They are currently researching care workers’ organising activities, including their role in trade unions, campaign groups and community organising. This piece introduces the study.
Research interests
- Care and care work, particularly the conditions and practices of paid care work
- Socio-economic inequalities, especially relating to gender and age (the latter focusing on youth)
- Sociology of work
Publications
- Fisher, D. U. and Simpson, D., 2025. Who still cares? Gendered and classed ‘care trajectories’ into paid adult social care and childcare work. International Journal of Care and Caring, online first
- Fisher, D. U. and Foster, L., 2025. Paid care worker organizing in England: priorities and progress? Frontiers in Sociology, 2025(10), pp.1-15.
- Fisher, D. U., 2025. Young adults as paid care workers: gendered and classed transitions, trajectories, and experiences. Journal of Youth Studies, online first
- Fisher, D. U., 2024. Ethel Tungohan (2023) Care Activism book review. International Journal of Care and Caring, online first
- Daly, M. and Fisher, D. U., 2023. The Job and Work Orientations of Workers in English Care Homes. Working Paper 23-01, May 2023, Barnett Papers in Social Research. Oxford: Department of Social Policy and Intervention, University of Oxford
- Burns, D., Hamblin, K., Fisher, D. U. and Goodlad, C., 2023. Is it time for job quality? Conceptualising temporal arrangements in new models of homecare Sociology of Health and Illness, 45(7), pp.1541-59.
- Fisher, D. U., 2020. Ken Loach’s Sorry We Missed You: When Care and the Gig Economy Collide. Futures of Work, Issue 11 [online] 3 February
- Fisher, D. and Rees, E., 2018. Caring for the Community? The Case of Hartlepool United. The Sociological Review blog, [online] 8 October
Care, Social Care and Sociology – a short film
Dr Duncan Fisher presents a film for the British Sociological Association, produced for A-level students, aiming to raise awareness of, and give context to, care and care work in relation to sociology, press play below or click here to read Duncan’s brief introduction to the film: