Melanie Bartley

Bartley completed her undergraduate studies in sociology and philosophy at the University of Reading. After several years of research, she completed a master of science degree in medical sociology at Bedford College, London, and worked outside of academia for a number of years, including time as a research assistant at the British Regional Heart Study. She then completed a doctorate at the University of Edinburgh under the supervision of Adrian Sinfield; her PhD was awarded in 1988 for her thesis "Unemployment and health 1975–1987: a case study in the relationship between research and policy debate". She eventually took up a position at University College London in 1996; she was appointed to a personal chair in medical sociology in 2001; she retired in 2012 but remains at UCL as an emeritus professor as of 2018.^[1][2]

According to her British Academy profile, Bartley specialises in "unemployment, social inequality, gender and other social determinants of health over the life course".^[3] In a book review for the International Journal of Epidemiology, Mary Shaw described Bartley as one of the "key researchers, who is an intellectual force, in the field of health inequalities ... [she] has played a distinguished role in this field for a number of years".^[4]

In 2015, Bartley was elected a Fellow of the British Academy (FBA), the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and social sciences.^[3]

• Authorities and Partisans: The Debate on Unemployment and Health (Edinburgh University Press, 1992).
• Health Inequality: An Introduction to Concepts, Theories and Methods (Polity Press, 2003).
• Work, Non-Work, Job Satisfaction and Psychological Health: Evidence Review (Health Development Agency, 2005).

Bartley is the daughter of actress Deborah Kerr and film and television executive, and ace RAF fighter pilot, Tony Bartley.