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Associate Professor Fran Collyer

BA Flinders, BA (Hons) ANU, PhD Flinders
Associate Professor

A26 - R.C. Mills Building
The University of Sydney

Telephone +61 2 9351 2653

Website Contact Details

Biographical details

Associate Professor Fran Collyer has significant experience in the use of both qualitative and quantitative methods, and her research is informed by a sociological perspective and the sociological classics. Prior to joining the University of Sydney, Fran enjoyed a career in the provision of consultancy research for both government and industry, including the evaluation of health and welfare programs and the social impact of technological change. During her academic career, she has sustained an interest in the healthcare sector, focusing on the invention and development of medical technologies, the relationship between the state and the private sector, the privatisation and contracting-out of public assets and services, and the tensions inherent in marrying private with public services. She is currently involved in three major programs of research. The first involves the institutional history of the discipline of sociology in Australia: the importation of sociological knowledge in a post-colonial setting and the effects of market processes on knowledge practices. The second program examines the production and exchange of organised knowledge in the global context. It compares knowledge practices in the countries of the ‘global south’ with those of the ‘metropole’. The third program focuses on the increasing privatisation of Australian healthcare services and the barriers to achieving access and equity in health service provision.

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Teaching and supervision

Teaching Areas

  • The Sociology of Knowledge
  • The Sociology of Health and Illness
  • Research Methods

Post-Graduate Students (Primary Supervision)

  • Jeremy Simpson (current PhD candidate)
  • Toby Rogers (current PhD candidate)
  • Shawna Tang (PhD awarded 2013))
  • Naomi Berman (PhD awarded 2010)
  • Sofia Lopez (MPhil awarded 2008)
  • Janki Shankar (PhD awarded 2001)
  • Sofia Lopez (MPhil awarded 2008)
  • Janki Shankar (PhD awarded 2001)
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Associations

  • The Australian Sociological Association
  • The British Sociological Association
  • The International Sociological Association
  • The Health Governance Network
  • Associate Editor, Sociology (A BSA journal)
  • Series Editor, Health Sociology, Anthem Books
  • Senior Editorial Advisor,Health Sociology Review
  • Editorial Board,Health Sociology Review
  • Editor in Chief,Health Sociology Review(2004-2009)
  • Editorial Board,Electronic Journal of Sociology(1998-2001)
  • Editorial Advisory Panel,Electronic Journal of Sociology(1994-1998)
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Supervision

I have supervised postgraduate students in the areas of health, welfare and medicine (including the marketisation and privatisation of health services), the sociology of risk, gender and sexuality (and transsexuality), science and technology, urban transport and development, mental health, and youth studies. I welcome enquiries from students in these areas, but also in the history and institutional development of the academic disciplines, the processes of knowledge production and exchange in either national or global contexts, and the sociology of knowledge.

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PhD and master's project opportunities

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Selected grants

2013

  • Global Arenas of Knowledge: Centre/Periphery Relations and Change in Knowledge Production on a World Scale; Morrell R, Maia J, Connell R, Collyer F; Australian Research Council (ARC)/Discovery Projects (DP).
  • How Australians navigate the healthcare maze: the differential capacity to choose; Willis K, Short S, Collyer F, Harley K, Gabe J, Calnan M; Australian Research Council (ARC)/Discovery Projects (DP).
  • How Australians navigate the healthcare maze: the differential capacity to choose; Willis K, Short S, Collyer F, Harley K, Gabe J, Calnan M; Australian Research Council (ARC)/Discovery Projects (DP).

2012

  • 50th Anniversary History Project; Collyer F; The Australian Sociological Association (TASA)/Research Support.

2006

  • School of Philosophic and Historical Inquiry; Collyer F, Elliot A; Australian Research Council (ARC)/Research Support.

2004

  • The Australian Health Care System; Collyer F; University of Sydney/Seed Funding Grant.

2003

  • Survey of hospital pharmacists; Collyer F; Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia/Research Grant.
  • Survey of hospital pharmacists; Collyer F; University of Queensland - Faculty of Pharmacy/Research Grant.
  • Failed Privatisation and Occupations in Transition; Collyer F; University of Sydney/Seed Funding Grant.

2002

  • Linkage 2002 - Sailing into the Future: Training Australia's digital generation for the future deman; Finkelstein J, Collyer F, Berman N, Rose A, Van Krieken R; Dept of Defence: Young Endeavour Youth Scheme/Project Support.
  • Occupations in transition: Allied health professionals and privatisation in the Australian health care system.; Collyer F; DVC Research/Research and Development Scheme: Research and Development (R&D).
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Selected publications

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Books

  • Collyer, F. (2012). Mapping the Sociology of Health and Medicine: America, Britain and Australia Compared. Houndmills, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Collyer, F., McMaster, J., Wettenhall, R. (2001). Public Enterprise Divestment: Australian Case Studies. Fiji: Pacific Institute of Management and Development, University of the South Pacific.

Edited Books

  • Collyer, F. (2015). The Palgrave Handbook of Social Theory in Health, Illness and Medicine. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Collyer, F. (2006). So We Write Star Authors: Another Anthology of the Society of Women Writers. South Australia: The Society of Women Writers South Australia.

Book Chapters

  • Collyer, F. (2015). Karl Marx and Frederich Engels: Capitalism, Health and the Healthcare Industry. In Fran Collyer (Eds.), The Palgrave Handbook of Social Theory in Health, Illness and Medicine, (pp. 35-58). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. [More Information]
  • Collyer, F., Harley, K., Short, S. (2015). Money and markets in Australia’s healthcare system. In Gabrielle Meagher, Susan Goodwin (Eds.), Markets, Rights and Power in Australian Social Policy, (pp. 257-291). Sydney: Sydney University Press.
  • Collyer, F., Scambler, P. (2015). The Sociology of Health, Illness and Medicine: Institutional Progress and Theoretical Frameworks. In Fran Collyer (Eds.), The Palgrave Handbook of Social Theory in Health, Illness and Medicine, (pp. 1-15). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Collyer, F. (2004). Medical Technology: From Drugs To Genetics. In Carol Grbich (Eds.), Health in Australia : sociological concepts and issues, (pp. 46-73). Sydney: Pearson Education Australia.
  • Collyer, F. (2004). The Corporatisation And Commercialisation Of Complementary And Alternative Medicine (CAM). In Philip Tovey, Gary Easthope, and Jon Adams (Eds.), The Mainstreaming of Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Studies in Social Context, (pp. 81-99). New York: Routledge imprint of Taylor & Francis.
  • Collyer, F., McMaster, J., Wettenhall, R. (2001). Privatisation and Public Enterprise Reform in Australia. Privatization or Public Enterprise Reform?: International Case Studies With Implications For Public Management. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press.

Journals

  • Willis, K., Collyer, F., Lewis, S., Gabe, J., Flaherty, I., Calnan, M. (2016). Knowledge matters: producing and using knowledge to navigate healthcare systems. Health Sociology Review, 25(2), 202-216. [More Information]
  • Collyer, F., Willis, K., Franklin, M., Harley, K., Short, S. (2015). Healthcare choice: Bourdieu's capital, habitus and field. Current Sociology, 63(5), 685-699. [More Information]
  • Collyer, F. (2015). Practices of conformity and resistance in the marketisation of the academy: Bourdieu, professionalism and academic capitalism. Critical Studies in Education, 56(3), 315-331. [More Information]
  • Collyer, F. (2014). Sociology, Sociologists, and Core-Periphery Reflections. Journal of Sociology, 50(3), 252-268. [More Information]
  • Collyer, F. (2013). Schools of sociology? The structuring of sociological knowledge in the sociology of health and medicine since 1960. Health Sociology Review, 22(4), 338-352. [More Information]
  • Collyer, F. (2013). Sociologists and their Work: Inter-Country Comparisons in the Sociology of Health and Medicine. New Zealand Sociology, 28(1), 62-82.
  • Collyer, F. (2013). The Production of Scholarly Knowledge in the Global Market Arena: University Ranking Systems, Prestige and Power. Critical Studies in Education, 54(3), 245-259. [More Information]
  • Collyer, F. (2012). The birth of a speciality: The sociology of health and medicine in Australia. Health Sociology Review, 21(1), 116-130. [More Information]
  • Harley, K., Willis, K., Gabe, J., Short, S., Collyer, F., Natalier, K., Calnan, M. (2011). Constructing health consumers: Private health insurance discourses in Australia and the United Kingdom. Health Sociology Review, 20(3), 306-320. [More Information]
  • Collyer, F. (2011). Reflexivity and the Sociology of Science and Technology: The Invention of 'Eryc' the Antibiotic. The Qualitative Report, 16(2), 316-340.
  • Collyer, F., White, K. (2011). The Privatisation of Medicare and the National Health Service, and the Global Marketisation of Healthcare Systems. Health Sociology Review, 20(3), 238-244.
  • Collyer, F. (2011). The Sociology of Health and Medicine in Australia. Politica Y Sociedad, 48(2), 259-276. [More Information]
  • Collyer, F. (2010). Origins and canons: medicine and the history of sociology. History of the Human Sciences, 23(2), 86-108. [More Information]
  • Collyer, F. (2008). Max Weber, historiography, medical knowledge, and the formation of medicine. Electronic Journal of Sociology, 2008, 1-15.
  • Collyer, F. (2007). A sociological approach to workforce shortages: Findings of a qualitative study in Australian hospitals. Health Sociology Review, 16(3-4), 248-262.
  • Collyer, F. (2004). Ethics And Institutional Reform. Nexus, 16(2), 18-19.
  • Collyer, F., Crowston, J. (2004). Welfare Reform and its Impact on the Employment Prospects of Individuals with Psychiatric Disabilities. Journal of Social Work in Disability and Rehabilitation, 3(4), 19-44.
  • Collyer, F. (2003). TASA’s Ethical Code For Research. Nexus, October(11).
  • Collyer, F., Wettenhall, R., McMaster, J. (2003). The privatisation of public enterprises: Australian research findings. Just Policy, 31, 14-23.
  • Collyer, F. (2003). Theorising privatisation: policy, network analysis, and class. Electronic Journal of Sociology, 7, 1-28.
  • Shankar, J., Collyer, F. (2003). Vocational rehabilitation of people with mental illness: the need for a broader approach. Australian e-Journal for the Advancement of Mental Health, 2(2), 1-13.
  • Collyer, F., Heal, C. (2002). Patient Satisfaction with sex re-assignment surgery in New South Wales, Australia. Australian Journal of Primary Health, 8(3), 9-19.
  • Shankar, J., Collyer, F. (2002). Support needs of people with mental illness in vocational rehabilitation programs-the role of the social network. International Journal of Psychosocial Rehabilitation, , 13-26.
  • Collyer, F., White, K. (2001). Corporate Control of Healthcare in Australia. Australia Institute Discussion Papers, No.42, Oct 2001, 1-34.

Conferences

  • Harley, K., Marcus (nee Verma), K., Willis, K., Short, S., Collyer, F. (2013). Navigating Australias healthcare maze: analysis of newspaper messages, 2011-2013. The Australian Sociological Association (TASA) Conference, Melbourne, Australia: The Australian Sociological Association (TASA).
  • Harley, K., Calnan, M., Collyer, F., Gabe, J., Short, S., Willis, K. (2012). Choosing health care: a view from the sociological literature. ISA Forum on Sociology, Social Justice and Democratization, Argentina.
  • Collyer, F. (2012). Institutional Development, Sociological Knowledge, Disciplinarity and Identity: A Study of Three Countries. Changing Universities: Changing Sociology, Ireland: International Sociological Association.
  • Collyer, F. (2012). Knowledge, Institutions, Prestige and Power. Changing Universities: Changing Sociology, Ireland: International Sociological Association.
  • Harley, K., Willis, K., Short, S., Collyer, F., Gabe, J., Calnan, M. (2011). Navigating public/private healthcare boundaries: choice and healthcare capital. Annual Conference of the Australian Sociological Association 2011: Local Lives/Global Networks (TASA 2011), Newcastle, Australia: University of Newcastle.
  • Harley, K., Gabe, J., Willis, K., Short, S., Collyer, F., Natalier, K., Calnan, M. (2011). Partnership with the state: private health insurance in the United Kingdom and Australia. 2011 The British Sociological Association Annual Conference, United Kingdom: The British Sociological Association.
  • Collyer, F. (2011). Theorising Disciplines and Their Specialities. Annual Conference of the Australian Sociological Association 2011: Local Lives/Global Networks (TASA 2011), Newcastle, Australia: University of Newcastle.
  • Harley, K., Collyer, F. (2010). Healthy consumers? A comparative analysis of private health insurance. Australian Sociological Association Annual Conference, Australia: Australian Sociological Association.
  • Harley, K., Short, S., Willis, K., Collyer, F., Gabe, J. (2010). Researching the Social Experience of Healthcare: The Concept of Boundaries. Menzies Centre for Health Policy Emerging Health Policy Conference, Australia: Menzies Centre for Health Policy.
  • Collyer, F., Short, S., Harley, K., Willis, K., Bandyopadhyay, M. (2010). Social Values, Private Health Insurance. Australian Sociological Association Annual Conference, Australia: Australian Sociological Association.
  • Collyer, F. (2009). The Rise and Fall of Theoretical Paradigms in Health and Medical Sociology: 1960 - 2009. The Annual Conference of The Australian Sociological Association TASA 2009, Australia: TASA.
  • Collyer, F. (2009). Work Environments: Their Impact on Theorising in the Sociology of Health, Illness and Medicine. The Annual Conference of The Australian Sociological Association TASA 2009, Australia: TASA.

Magazine / Newspaper Articles

  • Parer, J., Harley, K., Aird, R., Collyer, F., Cook, P., Dellemain, J., Hart, B., Rodriguez, L., Short, S. (2013). Teaching health sociology in Australia. Nexus, Newsletter of the Australian Sociological Association, 25(3), 12-18.

Report

  • Collyer, F., Kyme, K. (2004). The National Survey of Hospital Pharmacists 2003-4.
  • Collyer, F. (2003). TASA Ethical Code For Research Review and Revision of the Code.

2016

  • Willis, K., Collyer, F., Lewis, S., Gabe, J., Flaherty, I., Calnan, M. (2016). Knowledge matters: producing and using knowledge to navigate healthcare systems. Health Sociology Review, 25(2), 202-216. [More Information]

2015

  • Collyer, F., Willis, K., Franklin, M., Harley, K., Short, S. (2015). Healthcare choice: Bourdieu's capital, habitus and field. Current Sociology, 63(5), 685-699. [More Information]
  • Collyer, F. (2015). Karl Marx and Frederich Engels: Capitalism, Health and the Healthcare Industry. In Fran Collyer (Eds.), The Palgrave Handbook of Social Theory in Health, Illness and Medicine, (pp. 35-58). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. [More Information]
  • Collyer, F., Harley, K., Short, S. (2015). Money and markets in Australia’s healthcare system. In Gabrielle Meagher, Susan Goodwin (Eds.), Markets, Rights and Power in Australian Social Policy, (pp. 257-291). Sydney: Sydney University Press.
  • Collyer, F. (2015). Practices of conformity and resistance in the marketisation of the academy: Bourdieu, professionalism and academic capitalism. Critical Studies in Education, 56(3), 315-331. [More Information]
  • Collyer, F. (2015). The Palgrave Handbook of Social Theory in Health, Illness and Medicine. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Collyer, F., Scambler, P. (2015). The Sociology of Health, Illness and Medicine: Institutional Progress and Theoretical Frameworks. In Fran Collyer (Eds.), The Palgrave Handbook of Social Theory in Health, Illness and Medicine, (pp. 1-15). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

2014

  • Collyer, F. (2014). Sociology, Sociologists, and Core-Periphery Reflections. Journal of Sociology, 50(3), 252-268. [More Information]

2013

  • Harley, K., Marcus (nee Verma), K., Willis, K., Short, S., Collyer, F. (2013). Navigating Australias healthcare maze: analysis of newspaper messages, 2011-2013. The Australian Sociological Association (TASA) Conference, Melbourne, Australia: The Australian Sociological Association (TASA).
  • Collyer, F. (2013). Schools of sociology? The structuring of sociological knowledge in the sociology of health and medicine since 1960. Health Sociology Review, 22(4), 338-352. [More Information]
  • Collyer, F. (2013). Sociologists and their Work: Inter-Country Comparisons in the Sociology of Health and Medicine. New Zealand Sociology, 28(1), 62-82.
  • Parer, J., Harley, K., Aird, R., Collyer, F., Cook, P., Dellemain, J., Hart, B., Rodriguez, L., Short, S. (2013). Teaching health sociology in Australia. Nexus, Newsletter of the Australian Sociological Association, 25(3), 12-18.
  • Collyer, F. (2013). The Production of Scholarly Knowledge in the Global Market Arena: University Ranking Systems, Prestige and Power. Critical Studies in Education, 54(3), 245-259. [More Information]

2012

  • Harley, K., Calnan, M., Collyer, F., Gabe, J., Short, S., Willis, K. (2012). Choosing health care: a view from the sociological literature. ISA Forum on Sociology, Social Justice and Democratization, Argentina.
  • Collyer, F. (2012). Institutional Development, Sociological Knowledge, Disciplinarity and Identity: A Study of Three Countries. Changing Universities: Changing Sociology, Ireland: International Sociological Association.
  • Collyer, F. (2012). Knowledge, Institutions, Prestige and Power. Changing Universities: Changing Sociology, Ireland: International Sociological Association.
  • Collyer, F. (2012). Mapping the Sociology of Health and Medicine: America, Britain and Australia Compared. Houndmills, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Collyer, F. (2012). The birth of a speciality: The sociology of health and medicine in Australia. Health Sociology Review, 21(1), 116-130. [More Information]

2011

  • Harley, K., Willis, K., Gabe, J., Short, S., Collyer, F., Natalier, K., Calnan, M. (2011). Constructing health consumers: Private health insurance discourses in Australia and the United Kingdom. Health Sociology Review, 20(3), 306-320. [More Information]
  • Harley, K., Willis, K., Short, S., Collyer, F., Gabe, J., Calnan, M. (2011). Navigating public/private healthcare boundaries: choice and healthcare capital. Annual Conference of the Australian Sociological Association 2011: Local Lives/Global Networks (TASA 2011), Newcastle, Australia: University of Newcastle.
  • Harley, K., Gabe, J., Willis, K., Short, S., Collyer, F., Natalier, K., Calnan, M. (2011). Partnership with the state: private health insurance in the United Kingdom and Australia. 2011 The British Sociological Association Annual Conference, United Kingdom: The British Sociological Association.
  • Collyer, F. (2011). Reflexivity and the Sociology of Science and Technology: The Invention of 'Eryc' the Antibiotic. The Qualitative Report, 16(2), 316-340.
  • Collyer, F., White, K. (2011). The Privatisation of Medicare and the National Health Service, and the Global Marketisation of Healthcare Systems. Health Sociology Review, 20(3), 238-244.
  • Collyer, F. (2011). The Sociology of Health and Medicine in Australia. Politica Y Sociedad, 48(2), 259-276. [More Information]
  • Collyer, F. (2011). Theorising Disciplines and Their Specialities. Annual Conference of the Australian Sociological Association 2011: Local Lives/Global Networks (TASA 2011), Newcastle, Australia: University of Newcastle.

2010

  • Harley, K., Collyer, F. (2010). Healthy consumers? A comparative analysis of private health insurance. Australian Sociological Association Annual Conference, Australia: Australian Sociological Association.
  • Collyer, F. (2010). Origins and canons: medicine and the history of sociology. History of the Human Sciences, 23(2), 86-108. [More Information]
  • Harley, K., Short, S., Willis, K., Collyer, F., Gabe, J. (2010). Researching the Social Experience of Healthcare: The Concept of Boundaries. Menzies Centre for Health Policy Emerging Health Policy Conference, Australia: Menzies Centre for Health Policy.
  • Collyer, F., Short, S., Harley, K., Willis, K., Bandyopadhyay, M. (2010). Social Values, Private Health Insurance. Australian Sociological Association Annual Conference, Australia: Australian Sociological Association.

2009

  • Collyer, F. (2009). The Rise and Fall of Theoretical Paradigms in Health and Medical Sociology: 1960 - 2009. The Annual Conference of The Australian Sociological Association TASA 2009, Australia: TASA.
  • Collyer, F. (2009). Work Environments: Their Impact on Theorising in the Sociology of Health, Illness and Medicine. The Annual Conference of The Australian Sociological Association TASA 2009, Australia: TASA.

2008

  • Collyer, F. (2008). Max Weber, historiography, medical knowledge, and the formation of medicine. Electronic Journal of Sociology, 2008, 1-15.

2007

  • Collyer, F. (2007). A sociological approach to workforce shortages: Findings of a qualitative study in Australian hospitals. Health Sociology Review, 16(3-4), 248-262.

2006

  • Collyer, F. (2006). So We Write Star Authors: Another Anthology of the Society of Women Writers. South Australia: The Society of Women Writers South Australia.

2004

  • Collyer, F. (2004). Ethics And Institutional Reform. Nexus, 16(2), 18-19.
  • Collyer, F. (2004). Medical Technology: From Drugs To Genetics. In Carol Grbich (Eds.), Health in Australia : sociological concepts and issues, (pp. 46-73). Sydney: Pearson Education Australia.
  • Collyer, F. (2004). The Corporatisation And Commercialisation Of Complementary And Alternative Medicine (CAM). In Philip Tovey, Gary Easthope, and Jon Adams (Eds.), The Mainstreaming of Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Studies in Social Context, (pp. 81-99). New York: Routledge imprint of Taylor & Francis.
  • Collyer, F., Kyme, K. (2004). The National Survey of Hospital Pharmacists 2003-4.
  • Collyer, F., Crowston, J. (2004). Welfare Reform and its Impact on the Employment Prospects of Individuals with Psychiatric Disabilities. Journal of Social Work in Disability and Rehabilitation, 3(4), 19-44.

2003

  • Collyer, F. (2003). TASA Ethical Code For Research Review and Revision of the Code.
  • Collyer, F. (2003). TASA’s Ethical Code For Research. Nexus, October(11).
  • Collyer, F., Wettenhall, R., McMaster, J. (2003). The privatisation of public enterprises: Australian research findings. Just Policy, 31, 14-23.
  • Collyer, F. (2003). Theorising privatisation: policy, network analysis, and class. Electronic Journal of Sociology, 7, 1-28.
  • Shankar, J., Collyer, F. (2003). Vocational rehabilitation of people with mental illness: the need for a broader approach. Australian e-Journal for the Advancement of Mental Health, 2(2), 1-13.

2002

  • Collyer, F., Heal, C. (2002). Patient Satisfaction with sex re-assignment surgery in New South Wales, Australia. Australian Journal of Primary Health, 8(3), 9-19.
  • Shankar, J., Collyer, F. (2002). Support needs of people with mental illness in vocational rehabilitation programs-the role of the social network. International Journal of Psychosocial Rehabilitation, , 13-26.

2001

  • Collyer, F., White, K. (2001). Corporate Control of Healthcare in Australia. Australia Institute Discussion Papers, No.42, Oct 2001, 1-34.
  • Collyer, F., McMaster, J., Wettenhall, R. (2001). Privatisation and Public Enterprise Reform in Australia. Privatization or Public Enterprise Reform?: International Case Studies With Implications For Public Management. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press.
  • Collyer, F., McMaster, J., Wettenhall, R. (2001). Public Enterprise Divestment: Australian Case Studies. Fiji: Pacific Institute of Management and Development, University of the South Pacific.
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