Prior to my appointment as Associate Professor in Sociology at the University of Bergen, I taught and conducted research in the UK. For several years, I worked as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Warwick. I got my PhD in Sociology from the University of Essex. I was also a Visiting Researcher at the Stanford Graduate School of Education in the US.

SOS120 Newer sociological theories 

SOS340 Project Development (MA research)

See a complete overview of publications in NVA.

Books

Baltaru, R.D. (2026). Inclusion Organisation in Universities – How commitments work. Palgrave Macmillan.

Research Articles

Baltaru, R.D. (2026). Universities reacting to Confucius institutes: a window into how institutional and financial autonomy matter. Higher Education. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-026-01663-9.

Baltaru, R.D. (2026). The Display of Inclusionary Commitments in a Norwegian and an English University: (De)regulation, Culture and Organization. European Review. doi:10.1017/S106279872610074X.

Baltaru, R.D. (2023). Minority Ethnic Staff in Universities: Organisational Commitments, Reputation and the (Re)structuring of the Staff Body. Sociology. https://doi.org/10.1177/00380385231163107.

Baltaru, R.D., Manac, R.D., Miruna, I. (2022). Do Rankings affect Financial Sustainability? Financial Vulnerability to Rankings and Elite Status as a Positional Good. Studies in Higher Education, 2323-2335.

Soysal, Y., Baltaru, R.D., & Cebolla-Boado, H. (2022). Meritocracy or Reputation? How University Rankings Matter. Globalization, Societies and Education. 

Soysal, Y., and Baltaru, R.D. (2021). University as the producer of knowledge, and economic and societal value: the 20th and twenty-first century transformations of the UK higher education system. European Journal of Higher Education, 11(3):312-328.

Baltaru, R.D. (2020). The rise of agentic inclusion in the UK universities: reputation through (formal) diversification. Studies in Higher Education. 10.1080/03075079.2020.1739015.

Baltaru, R.D. (2019). – UK Universities’ Pursuit of Inclusion and Its Effects on Professional Staff. Higher Education 1-16. doi:10.1007/s10734-018-0293-7.

Baltaru, R.D. (2018). Do Non-Academic Professionals Enhance University Performance? Reputation vs Organisation. Studies in Higher Education, 1-14. doi:10.1080/03075079.2017.1421156.

Baltaru, R.D. & Soysal, Y. N. (2017). Administrators in Higher Education - Organizational Expansion in a Transforming Institution. Higher Education, 1-17. doi:10.1007/s10734-017-0204-3.

Chapters

Baltaru, R.D. (2026). Universities Committing to Inclusion. In: Inclusion Organisation in Universities. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-02184-7_1

Baltaru, R.D. (2026). Inclusion Organisation in the UK Higher Education Sector. In: Inclusion Organisation in Universities. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-02184-7_2 

Baltaru, R.D. (2026). The Two-Way Function of Organisational Commitments. In: Inclusion Organisation in Universities. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-02184-7_3 

Baltaru, R.D. (2026). ‘Talking Inclusion’: The Institution-Centred Function. In: Inclusion Organisation in Universities. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-02184-7_4

Baltaru, R.D. (2026). ‘Walking the Talk’: The People-Centred Function. In: Inclusion Organisation in Universities. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-02184-7_5

Baltaru, R.D. (2026). How Organisational Commitments to Inclusion Work. In: Inclusion Organisation in Universities. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-02184-7_6. 

Baltaru, R.D. (2022). Borderlessness between Academic and Non-Academic Professionals– an Analysis of Occupational (re)Classifications in the UK. In: Research Handbook on Academic Careers and Managing Academics. Sarrico, C.S., Rosa, M.J., Carvalho, T. (Eds). Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd, p. 99-110. Collection: Sociology, Social Policy and Education.

Blogs

Baltaru, R.D. (2023). What do universities’ commitments to inclusion actually achieve? LSE Impact Blog. Available at: What do universities’ commitments to inclusion actually achieve? - LSE Impact.

Baltaru, R.D. (2023). Academic precarity undermines the Race Equality Charter. LSE Impact Blog Academic precarity undermines the Race Equality Charter | Impact of Social Sciences (lse.ac.uk).

Baltaru, R.D. (2022). Rankings affect the financial sustainability of English universities, just not for the elite. LSE Impact Blog Rankings affect the financial sustainability of English universities, just not for the elite | Impact of Social Sciences (lse.ac.uk).