Stephen H. Jones

Biography

Stephen is a Senior Lecturer in Criminology and Sociology in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences and the University’s research lead for Social Work and Social Policy (UoA20).

He joined Keele in 2023 from the University of Birmingham, where he was a Lecturer and then Associate Professor in the School of Social Policy. Before this, he worked in research-focused positions at Newman University, the University of Bristol and in private research consultancies. From 2018 to 2024, Stephen was co-Primary Investigator of ‘Science and Religion: Exploring the Spectrum’, an eight-country multidisciplinary study of how personal belief influences public perceptions of science. During the same period, he was co-Primary Investigator of a global academic network-building and grant distribution project, the ‘International Network for Science and Belief in Society’.

Stephen’s PhD, completed at Goldsmiths, University of London, in 2011, examined Muslim community development in the UK. In 2011, he joined a major ESRC/AHRC project at the University of Bristol, ‘Muslim Participation in Contemporary Governance’ (2011-2013). He was subsequently appointed as General Secretary of the Muslims in Britain Research Network (2014-2017) and he has led various quantitative and qualitative projects researching British Muslim minorities, notably ‘Science and British Muslim Religious leadership (2020-2023) and ‘The Nature of Islamophobia in Contemporary Britain’ (2021-2022).

Stephen has had leadership roles on projects with a total value of circa £5.7 million. He is the author of over 30 journal articles and book chapters, as well as four edited collections, one single-author book and reports to public bodies and government departments. His research has been featured in outlets including ITV, Sky News, The New Statesman and The Guardian, and he and has been interviewed for the BBC and numerous other radio, television and print media.

Research and scholarship

Stephen’s research has covered a range of criminological and sociological themes, with his recent publications covering anti-Muslim discrimination and hatred, security and counter-terrorism policy, religious change and integration, Muslim political participation, Islamic education, Muslim arts, and public understanding of science. Stephen’s primary area of expertise is the study of Islam and Muslims in the West and their treatment by Western societies and states. His book Islam and the Liberal State, published in 2021, is a study of British Muslims’ engagement in family law, education and political activism over three decades.

Across his research career, Stephen has maintained an interest in how we talk about religion – and particularly Islam – in public, and how religious belief and identity may be misrepresented and misperceived. Employing qualitative and quantitative methods, his most recent research projects have examined the prevalence and effects of stereotypes about Islam in science careers and communication, as well as among elite social groups in the UK more generally. He has argued for importance of religious literacy and the value of religious talk in public, including in a 2010-2011 project and in publications on religious literacy in higher education. He is currently working on a book on this theme, provisionally entitled Islamophobia and the Art of Talking About Prejudice.

Research profiles:

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2761-8882

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=T8VA-HAAAAAJ&hl=en

https://keele-repository.worktribe.com/person/574295/stephen-jones 

Teaching

Stephen has taught across Religious Studies, Politics, Sociology, Criminology and Criminal Justice degrees in his career, including modules on social theory, research methods and specialist topics such as political Islam and Islamophobia. At Keele he currently leads modules on hate crime, quantitative social research, murder and homicide and evidence-based practice in criminal justice. 

Supervision

Stephen has supervised eight PhD students during his career and he was regional lead for the North West Social Science Doctoral Training Partnership Criminology, Social Policy and Social Work Pathway in 2023/24. He is currently supervising two PhD students and is happy to receive enquiries about PhD supervision in areas including the sociology of religion; prejudice, racism and Islamophobia; religious minority engagement with politics; religion-state relations; and public perceptions of science.

Collaborations and grants awards

Stephen's most recent grant awards include:

2025: ‘Building Security and Resilience among SMEs and Young People in Tamworth’, funded by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government Community Recovery Fund (Co-Investigator, £26,000)

2022: ‘Diversity and Inclusion in STEMM and Innovation: Evidence Review’, funded via competitive application to University of Birmingham UKRI QR fund (Co-Principal Investigator, £26,148)

2021-2022: ‘The Nature of Islamophobia in Contemporary Britain: Dissemination and Impact Support’, funded by the University of Birmingham College of Arts and Law Impact and Research Fund (Principal Investigator, £2,550)

2020-2023: ‘Science and the Transmission of Islamic Knowledge in Britain’, funded by the Templeton Religion Trust/Issachar Fund as part of the ‘Sociology of Science and Religion’ subgranting scheme, Rice University (Principal Investigator, £137,000)

2019-2022: ‘The Nature of Islamophobia in Contemporary Britain’, funded by the British Academy/Leverhulme Trust (Principal Investigator, £9,600)

2019-2023: ‘International Research Network for the Study of Science and Belief in Society’, field development subgranting scheme funded by the Templeton Religion Trust (Co-Principal Investigator, £2.2million)

2018–2023: ‘Science and Religion: Exploring the Spectrum: A Global Perspective’, funded by the Templeton Religion Trust (Co-Investigator and Co-Principal Investigator since 2021, £1.7 million plus £1.7 million in-kind funding)

2015–2018: ‘Evaluation of Christians in Science project: “Equipping and Supporting the Next Generation of Christians in Science”’ (Principal Investigator, £12,500)

2014-2015: ‘Public Faith and Financial Services Industry’, funded by the Barrow Cadbury Trust (Co-Investigator, £30,000)