Role
Dean is Course Leader for MSc Economics, MSc Economics and Investment Banking and MSc International Finance, a Divisional Quality Representative (DQR) and is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA).
Dean teaches economics at a variety of levels, including modules in macroeconomics, applied economics and career development for economists.
Dean is an Associate of the Economics Network which helps to promote quality teaching practice. He has been involved in several projects promoting a problem-based approach in the teaching of economics especially in incorporating the use of economic and financial data.
In 2006 he was awarded the Outstanding Teaching Prize by the Economics Network. The award is given in recognition of exemplary teaching practice that deepens and inspires interest in economics. In 2013, Dean won the student-nominated Nottingham Business School teacher of the year award.
Dean is a co-author of three leading and influential undergraduate texts:
- Economics
- Essentials of Economics
- Economics for Business
Research areas
Dean is a well-established contributor to a series of highly-regarded undergraduate economics textbooks:
- Co-author with John Sloman and Jon Guest (previously Alison Wride) of Economics
- Co-author with John Sloman of Essentials of Economics
- Co-author with John Sloman, Jon Guest and Elizabeth Jones of Economics for Business
Dean's primary research interest is in the economics of the residential property market. He is especially interested in issues surrounding the affordability of owner-occupied housing. Dean other research interests are in the area of public expenditure growth, political business cycles, the determination of household spending and the economic impact of financialisation.
External activity
As well as his textbook activities, Dean is a keen promoter of the importance of teaching practice in economics and of engaging students in economics. In 2007 Dean became an Associate of the Economics Network. As an Associate Dean promotes the activities of the Economics Network and helps to run events, including running workshops for Graduate Teaching Assistants and those new to teaching in UK higher education.
Dean is an academic assessor for the Government Economic Service (GES) helping to assess candidates at Economic Assessment Centres (EACs). In this role Dean is assessing candidate looking to join the GES, the UK’s largest employer of professional economists.
Dean runs sessions on HM Treasury’s Graduate Development Programme (GDP). These sessions cover principles in policymaking, applying economics principles and ideas to analyse policy issues and contemporary developments in macroeconomics.
Dean has a wealth of experience as an external examiner on economics and business management programmes. Recent duties have included undergraduate courses at the University of Derby and the University of Worcester and both undergraduate and postgraduate courses at the University of Bradford.
Dean is a contributor to the Sloman Economics News site. The blog, which is widely used by lecturers and tutors of economics and business in the classroom, is aimed at engaging students and the wider publics with economics.
Press expertise
Dean can offer comment on the current macroeconomic environment and on the UK housing market. In particular, he is interested in trends in house prices and the wider affordability issues around owner-occupied housing.