Claudia's main area of teaching and research concerns migration studies, social theory and research methods (quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods).
Claudia completed her PhD (London School of Economics and Political Science, Sociology) in 2006 on German asylum policy and she has led and co-led several national and European research projects on migration and welfare since 2005, eg a longitudinal study on migration from the new European countries in the east of England (funded by the East of England Development Agency 2008-2011) and a project on migrants' needs as part of a wider European project (funded by Community Action Dacorum 2007). In 2012 she co-convened with Professor Madeleine Arnot at Cambridge University/ Faculty of Education the BAICE (British Association for International and Comparative Education) 2012 conference on 'Education, Mobility and Migration'.
Claudia is currently co-leading (with the Faculty of Education, Cambridge University) a research project on pupils who have English as an additional language (2013-2015; funded by the Bell Foundation). The project addresses social, linguistic and educational issues in the context of migrant children in schools. She’s published a number of research reports and articles on migration which were submitted to the REF in 2021 and 2014. She's the supervisor of several national and international PhD students and she's leading the FHEMS Core Research Group of Social Inclusion for which she has organised several international workshops over the past years.
Dr Claudia's research interests encompass different migration movements including forced migration (asylum seekers and refugees) and voluntary migration (for employment, education etc.). Since 2005, she has researched the employment, educational and social contexts of European citizens arriving from the Accession countries which joined the EU in 2004. She applies sociological theories (relating to structure and agency and systemic theory) to the context of migration and has developed conceptual frameworks for different contexts, e.g. policy making of admission policy (Schneider 2006). She has recently engaged with the concept of transnationalisation and linked social theory with transnational aspects of higher education (Schneider 2013) and school education. She applies quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods to her research and leads the mixed methods courses for the postgraduate research programme.
Claudia's research interests encompass different migration movements including forced migration (asylum seekers and refugees) and voluntary migration (for employment, education etc.). Since 2005 she has researched the employment, educational and social contexts of European citizens arriving from the Accession countries which joined the EU in 2004. She applies sociological theories (relating to structure and agency and systemic theory) to the context of migration and has developed conceptual frameworks for different contexts, e.g. policy making of admission policy (Schneider 2006). She has recently engaged with the concept of transnationalisation and linked social theory with transnational aspects of higher education (Schneider 2013) and school education. She applies quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods to her research and leads the mixed methods courses for the postgraduate research programme.
Currently supervising the following PhDs:
Migration and adult education: a comparative analysis of Germany and England (PhD ongoing)
The role of teachers with a migrant background in Germany (PhD ongoing)
Unaccompanied minors in Germany
An evaluation of evidence-based programmes in England (ProfDoc ongoing)
Analysis of poverty programmes and social work in Georgia (PhD ongoing)
Analysing online collective action in the context of care policies in England (successful completion 2014)
Comparative Social Policy and Social Welfare (MSc International Social Welfare and Social Policy); Theory workshops (MSc Major Project/ Dissertation); Mixed methods (Cross Faculty Research Training); modules on research methodology, migration and undergraduate dissertation (BA Social Policy).
Member of CAMMIGRES (The Cambridge Migration Research Network)