Steven graduated with a first class BA (Hons) degree in Sport and Leisure Management from the University of Salford, before then completing both an MSc in the Sociology of Sport and Exercise and a PhD at the University of Chester. Steven worked as a visiting lecturer at the University of Chester whilst completing his PhD and also undertook a PG Cert Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, gaining recognition as a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA) in 2011. Steven joined York St John University in 2014 and is currently Senior Lecturer in Business & Management in York Business School. Steven's research is underpinned by a sociological approach. His doctoral thesis examined the long-term emergence and development of swimming as a modern competitive sport in the period c.1595-1908. His current research interests include examining: (a) long-term processes of organisational structure and change in the sport and leisure industry; (b) the emergence, development and history of modern sport and leisure activities; (c) how people’s attitudes regarding ‘acceptable’ forms of social behaviour (such as manners, etiquette and forms of violence) have changed over time; and (d) the sociology of knowledge and use of research methods in the social sciences.