About
Dr Thomas studied at North Staffordshire Polytechnic, Queen Mary College, University of London, University of British Columbia and University of Bristol. He achieved his PhD in economics from the University of Bristol in 1996 on the role of information and uncertainty in pupil decisions and won the Lionel Robbins fellowship in education. He has taught at the University of Bristol, University of British Columbia, and University of the West of England before joining Swansea University in 2019. In addition, Dr Thomas was employed at the Institute for Employment Research from 1988-1990.
Dr Thomas’ research interests are predominantly driven by his own experiences as a pupil and then student and centre on the role played by inequality of access to information and peer group effects in educational decision making. In addition to this Dr Thomas has recently become interested in the economics of happiness.
In addition to his academic work, Dr Thomas also was chef/owner of a successful vegetarian restaurant from 2007 until 2017.