About
Research
Biography
Mike has operated at the nexus of practice, theory and policy making for over 35 years in the multiple disadvantage, homeless and youth and community work sectors, and concurrently within higher education. His research interests sit at the intersection of education, social justice, youth and community work, and the experiences of people facing marginalisation or multiple disadvantage. He has a strong emphasis on co-productive and participatory research, critical and queer pedagogy and transformative educational practice.
He is currently Professor of Critical Pedagogy and Participatory Praxis at St Mary’s University, the inaugural Chair and Director of the Thea Bowman Centre for Educational Research, and Associate Head of School for Education (Research). Concurrently, he serves as Professor of Critical Pedagogy at Birmingham City University and a freelancer. He is also a Visiting Professor and Council Member of the Freire Institute, dedicated to critical pedagogy, popular education, and transformative learning, and a member of the Strategic Development Committee of the Professional Association for Lecturers in Youth and Community Work and co-convenor of the British Educational Research Associations Youth Studies and Informal Education Special Interest Group.
A National Teaching Fellow and Principal Fellow of Advance HE, he has authored more than 100 articles, books, and professional reports. His doctoral supervision portfolio includes six PhD and eleven EdD candidates, and he has successfully supervised five doctoral theses to completion. He has served as both internal and external examiner, as well as chair, for numerous doctoral vivas.
He has led or contributed to more than 55 externally funded research projects, serving as Principal Investigator on 40 of them, with a cumulative value exceeding £5.5 million. These projects have been commissioned by a diverse range of funders, including the British Council, Erasmus+, the European Commission, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), health authorities, charitable organisations, and local and national government bodies.
His research portfolio spans a broad range of socially impactful themes, including
- co-produced studies with people on probation, within the prison system, and in drug rehabilitation services;
- investigations into youth violence;
- Muslim participation in public life;
- multiple exclusion and entrenched rough sleeping;
- The experiences of Global Majority, LGBTQ+, and disabled students in higher education.
He has provided more than 75 consultancy assignments across over 10 countries, delivered presentations at more than 120 conferences, and organised over 30 conferences, symposiums, and seminar series.
Research
Research profile
Latest Publications
- Friis Søgaard, T, Andell, P , Coomber R , Chomczyński P, Bowden, M, Oppen Ingebrigtsen Gundhus, H Przemysław Frąckowiak, P, Szykut M,Tollin, K, Windle, J, Hansen Löfstrand , C & Seal, M (2026) Criminal exploitation and vulnerability in drug markets: A six-nation comparison of its recognition in international policy discourses and criminal justice systems, European Journal of Criminology
- Lohmeyer, B. A., Seymour, K., Corney, T., Seal, M., Downing, T., & Baker, D. (2025). The obligations and opportunities of ‘friendship as method’ in youth mentoring research: investigating the intersections with youth work epistemologies. Journal of Youth Studies, 1–18.
- Gormally, S., Maguire, A & Seal, M. (2025) Higher Education: Community Connections and Collaborations, Bloomsbury, London and New York.
- Cullen, F., Seal, M, & Whelan, M. (2025) Pedagogies of Discomfort- spaces for working with challenging conversations and topics, Bloomsbury, London and New York.
- Seal, M and Harris, P, (2023) Youth Work and Gangs in Andell, P & Pitts, J (2023) The Palgrave Handbook of UKGangs, London Palgrave.
- Seal, M, (2022) Class, Race, Disability and Mental Health in Higher Education: Questioning the Access, Success and Progression of Disadvantaged Students, Bloomsbury Press, London and New York.
- Seal, M and Smith, A, (2021) ‘The Contested Terrain of Critical Pedagogy and Teaching Informal Education in HigherEducation’ in Education Science Special Issue "Educating Informal Educators" Professor. Dr Pam Aldred and Dr Frances Howard (eds). 11(9), 476.