Alison Park

Park grew up in a literary family, with an academic as a father and a mother who worked in publishing.[5] She studied sociology at A-Level and decided that she wanted to better understand what society looks like.[5] She studied social science at Bristol Polytechnic[3] before moving to Nuffield College, Oxford as a graduate student, where she completed a Master of Philosophy (MPhil) degree in sociology.[6] For her dissertation she explored data from a survey of academic careers overseen by A. H. Halsey and the career progression of women academics.[3]

Park joined Social and Community Planning Research, now known as the National Centre for Social Research,[7] in the early nineties and later went on to set up its Scottish office, ScotCen Social Research. She worked for a number of years on the British Social Attitudes survey and the British Election Study as well as overseeing, designing and analysing other major UK surveys.[8]

Park joined the UCL Institute of Education as Director of Cohort and Longitudinal Studies Enhancement Resources (CLOSER) project in 2015 as Professor of Social Research.[9][10] CLOSER brings together the British Library and UK Data Service to coordinate longitudinal surveys and maximise understanding of social and biomedical issues.[11]

Park became director of research of the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) in 2019.[12] She was appointed interim Executive Chair in 2021.[13][14]