Phil is Professor in Sociology. Previosuly he has served as Associate Pro-Vice Chancellor Researcher Development and Dean of Aston Graduate School, Associate Dean Research in the College of Business and Social Sciences, Associate Dean Research in the School of Social Sciences and Humanities, and Head of Department of Sociology and Policy after joining Aston 2014 from the University of Warwick where he was Deputy Head of Department Sociology. Phil is currently a member of the REF 2029 Sociology sub-panel (Criteria and Assessment) and Co-Chair of the REF 2029 People, Culture and Environment Pilot sub-panel for Social Work and Social Policy and the REF 2021 Sociology sub-panel.

Phil is currently (2025-2029) the lead for a £3.4m Research England funded project exploring innovation and challenges in the use of publicly available artificial intelligence tools across the doctoral ecosystem – the Artificial Intelligence Researcher Development Network (AI.RDN+) – in partnership with the University of Leeds. Phil also has a long-standing research interest in children and young people with a particular interest in child work and youth labour, the informal sector, political protest and qualitative research methodology. He is currently writing a research monograph Street Life as Labour under contract to the University of Bristol Press. He has published three books, over 40 peer review journal and book chapters and his been PI and Co-I on a range of research projects that as well as his current Research England project include a British Academy funded project on children’s working lives in an urban informal settlement in Ghana; a European Union funded project examining young people’s political activism; and a large programme of research funded by ESRC exploring young people's precarious pathways from education into the labour market. 

Phil is currently a member of the editorial board for the international journal Adolescents. He previously served two terms as member of the editorial board of Work, Employment and Society, including for two years its Deputy Chair. Phil is also currently a member of the Research Experts Forum of the Consortium of Street Children, a global alliance of NGOs supporting the rights and welfare of street children. 

Phil has taught at all levels from first year undergraduate modules through to advanced-level post-graduate research training. He has supervised 16 doctoral students through to completion and is currently supervising students researching young people’s use of illegal drugs and the professional development of academic researchers. Phil has also examined PhD research degrees at the universities of Aston, Warwick, Essex, Sheffield, Portsmouth, Sydney, the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur and the Open University.