Dr Phillips studied Geography at University College London (BA), the University of British Columbia (MA) and the University of Cambridge (PhD). She has taught geography at the University of Leeds since 1990, where she continues to contribute to the teaching and research programme. She was deputy director of the Centre for Ethnicity and Racism Studies at the University of Leeds from 1998-2008.

Dr Phillips came to the University of Oxford in 2008 as a Visiting Reader in Geography and became a member of Jesus College in 2009. Dr Phillips’ research interests focus on ethnic segregation, racial inequalities in housing, social integration and geographies of citizenship and belonging. She is currently undertaking research on the impact of new migration on community relations at the neighbourhood level in the UK, using participatory research methods.