Dr Catherine Carroll-Meehan is head of the School of Education and Sociology at the University of Portsmouth. She is a principal fellow of the Higher Education Authority. Catherine has worked in education for over 30 years in Australia and the UK. Her professional education is as a teacher specialising in children from birth to eight years. Catherine’s research interests are in both early childhood and higher education, with a recent focus on working with parents and Being, Belonging and Becoming, and transitions into higher education.