The people

 Dr Maria Fotiadou is a linguist, evaluator, and researcher with over 10 years of experience specialising in Critical Discourse Analysis and Corpus Linguistics. She holds a PhD in Linguistics from the University of Sunderland, UK, and has built a career at the intersection of research, evaluation, and social impact.

Maria is an expert in corpus design, language analysis, and the interpretation of large-scale qualitative and quantitative datasets. Her work focuses on uncovering the deeper meaning behind participant feedback, enabling organisations to make informed decisions based on real-world insights.

She has worked extensively in the UK’s Third Sector, serving as a Research and Learning Consultant for a leading social enterprise. In this role, she co-designed the research strategy of a major EU-funded employability programme in North East England and delivered evaluations focused on unemployment, economic inactivity, employer engagement, and participant experiences.

Maria leads research projects that generate insightful, evidence-based reports and practical recommendations. She combines academic precision with real-world impact, supporting organisations to improve their services and demonstrate their outcomes.

Her published work includes peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, and two books:

• The Language of Employability (Palgrave Macmillan, 2022)
   
• Corpus Linguistics and Programme Evaluation (Palgrave Macmillan, 2025), which explores how language-based methods can enrich traditional evaluation practice by uncovering deeper emotional, relational, and experiential insights from participant feedback.

Key Skills and Areas of Expertise

• Designing and managing long-term academic and third-sector research projects
   
• Specialist in employability, skills, and partnership-based evaluation
   
• Experienced in programme review, impact evaluation, and performance improvement
   
• Skilled in analysing qualitative and quantitative feedback, including participant voice
   
• Expert in linguistic research methods using advanced academic tools and frameworks

Qualifications

PhD Linguistics 

BA (Hons) English Language and Literature 

MSc Constructions Management

BSc Civil Infrastructure Engineering 

Awards

Oct 2014 | University of Sunderland - Fully-Funded Three-year PhD Scholarship

Nov 2023 | UK Evaluation Society - Ipsos Early Career Evaluator

Publications 

• Fotiadou, M. (2025) Corpus Linguistics and Programme Evaluation: The Case of Wise Steps in the North East of England. Palgrave Macmillan. https://link.springer.com/book/9783031929823 
• Fotiadou, M. (2023) 'Analysing qualitative Feedback using Corpus Linguistics tools: The case of Wise Steps in the North East of England'.  Evaluation Practice. UK Evaluation Society.
• Fotiadou, M. (2022) The Language of Employability. Palgrave MacMillan. https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-10252-3 
• Fotiadou, M. (2021) ‘We are here to help you: Understanding the role of careers and employability services in UK universities’. Text & Talk. https://doi.org/10.1515/text-2019-0162 
• Fotiadou, M. (2020) Review of Keywords in the Press: The New Labour Years, by Lesley Jeffries and Brian Walker. Journal of Language and Politics, 19 (1), pp. 184-187.
• Fotiadou, M. (2020) ‘Denaturalising the discourse of competition in the graduate job market and the notion of employability: A corpus-based study of UK university websites’. Critical Discourse Studies. 17 (3), pp. 260-291. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17405904.2018.1546606 
• Fotiadou, M. (2017) ‘'Defending Ourselves': British Female Martial Arts Students in the 1970s’, in Smith, A. (ed.), Re-reading Spare Rib. London: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 137-157. https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-319-49310-7 
• Fotiadou, M. (2016) Review of Discourse and Democracy: Critical Analysis of the Language of Government, by Michael Farrelly. Critical Discourse Studies, 13 (3), pp. 356-358.

Conference Presentations 

• Fotiadou, M. (2025) 'Data in Context: Transforming Qualitative Data with Corpus-Assisted Discourse Analysis’. Presented at: UK Evaluation Society Annual Conference. 19 – 21 May 2025, Glasgow, UK.
• Fotiadou, M. (2023) ‘Analysing qualitative feedback using Corpus Linguistics tools: The case of Wise Steps in the North East of England’. Presented at: UK Evaluation Society Annual Conference. 2 - 4 October 2023, London, UK.
• Fotiadou, M. (2017) ‘Competitive job markets’ and ‘employable graduates’. A corpus-based critical discourse analysis of UK universities’ Careers and Employability web pages’. Presented at: The 9th International Corpus Linguistics Conference. 24 - 28 July 2017, Birmingham, UK.
• Fotiadou, M. (2017) ‘The Discourse of Careers ‘Experts’ in UK University Websites: A corpus-based critical discourse analysis’. Presented at: 12th Newcastle upon Tyne Postgraduate Conference in Linguistics. 31 March 2017, Newcastle, UK.
• Fotiadou, M. (2016) ‘Preparing Higher Education students for the ‘world of work’. Careers advisers’ expert roles in UK Universities: A critical corpus-based discourse analysis’. Presented at: Critical Approaches to Discourse Analysis Across Disciplines. 5 September 2016, Catania, Italy.
• Fotiadou, M. (2016) ‘We are here to help’: A diachronic study of careers services’ discourse in UK university websites. Poster Exhibited at: 11th Lancaster University International Postgraduate Conference in Linguistics and Language Teaching. 11 July 2016, Lancaster, UK.
• Fotiadou, M. (2016) ‘A Diachronic Study of the Discourse of Employability in UK University Websites.’ Presented at: Critical Approaches to Research: 2016 Postgraduate Conference at the University of Sunderland. 21 June 2016, Sunderland, UK.
• Fotiadou, M. (2016) ‘Careers Advisers’ Expert Roles in UK University Websites: A Critical Corpus-based Discourse Analysis’. Presented at: Discourse, Culture and Politics: An interdisciplinary symposium in the Humanities and Social Sciences. 18 May 2016, Newcastle, UK.
• Fotiadou, M. (2015) ‘Have you developed your entrepreneurial skills? Looking back to the development of a skills-oriented Higher Education’. Poster Exhibited at: 8th International Corpus Linguistics conference. 21-24 July 2015, Lancaster, UK.