Research Interests
Rutvica Andrijasevic, BA, MA (Trieste), MA (CEU/Budapest), PhD (Utrecht)Globalisation and work; impact of migration on labour relations and labour markets, with particular emphasis on gender and sexuality; relationship between migration, work and changes in citizenship in Europe; relationship between gender identity and labour organising; informal recruitment practices such as those in human trafficking; coercion, contract and free labour. |
Professor (Emeritus) David Ashton, BA (Leicester), DLitt (Leicester)The theory of skill formation; the impact of globalisation on national VET systems; the comparative analysis of skill formation systems; workplace learning; high performance work organisations; and the skill strategies of multi-national and trans-national corporations. |
Heidi Ashton, BSc (Open University), MSc (Birkbeck, London)Occupational identity; workplace learning and socialisation; career transitions; transitions of freelance dancers; socialisation in training; qualitative analysis. |
Vanessa Beck, BSc (Brunel), MPhil (Keele), PhD (Birmingham)Unemployment and redundancy; segregation in the labour market and in vocational education and training; employability; NEET groups; impact of gender and ethnicity on labour market status; diversity; labour market developments in transformation states; deprivation and social exclusion. |
Dan Bishop, BA (Cambridge), MA (Warwick), PGCE (Cardiff), PhD (Cardiff)Workplace learning; informal learning; training and development, particularly in small firms; networks and learning; the sociology of learning; economic sociology and the sociology of markets, particularly markets for vocational training. |
Paul Conville, BEd (QUB), MA (Warwick)Critical approaches to understanding the dynamics of organisational and institutional change; the interactions of different types of agents (e.g. think-tanks, consultants, private and philanthropic foundations, academics and so on) in the process of concept formation; the social theory of Pierre Bourdieu. |
Richard Courtney, BSc, MSc, PhD (Leicester)Entrepreneurialism, economic development, and labour market transformation; urban design, planning, and place identity; belonging, heritage, and the transformation of local labour markets and regional economic development in England. |
John Goodwin, BSc (Loughborough), PhD (Leicester), FRSA, FHEAAs a sociologist John’s research interests cover the sociology of work especially the transition from education to work and gender and employment; the sociology of Norbert Elias, C. Wright Mills and Pearl Jephcott; and the history of Sociology. He has methodological expertise in qualitative longitudinal research (QLR), restudies, biographical methods and archival research. John is currently working on articles exploring the transition to retirement, the biography of the Leicester sociologist Ilya Neustadt and the role of community in the Elias restudies. He is also co-authoring Norbert Elias’s Lost Research (Ashgate) with Henrietta O’Connor and editing a trilogy of books for SAGE – Biographical Methods, Secondary Analysis, and, with Dr. Jason Hughes (Brunel University) Human Documents and Archival Research. |
Sarah Hadfield, BA (Leicester)Sarah’s current research area is working with colleagues Dr Henritta O’Conner and Dr John Goodwin on the research project entitled 'Continuity and Change in 40 years of School to Work Transitions'. This project is a re-study of classic school-to-work transition data including Youth Labour Markets Young People’s Survey (1986 - Professor Ken Roberts) and Young Adults in the Labour Market (1983 - Professor David Ashton) with the overall aim of re-examining the transitional experience of young people. |
Nikolaus Hammer, Mag (Vienna), PhD (Cardiff)Fundamental labour rights and corporate social responsibility; international industrial relations and trade unionism; corporate governance; value chain analysis; restructuring of work and employment in Europe (electricity; public sector); equal opportunities and diversity; skills and vocational education. |
Nalita James, BA (Staffs), MA (De Montfort), EdD (Leicester)Identity, work and learning with a particular focus on teachers’ working lives and professional identities, and creative workers; disadvantaged young peoples’ learning transitions in both informal and formal learning settings; using the internet in qualitative research. |
Jane Nolan, BSc (Open University), PhD (Cambridge)The sociological study of finance and banking; China; Economic and organisational sociology; International human resource management; Transnational and national business networks; Corporate governance and corporate social responsibility; Globalisation and institutional change. |
Henrietta O'Connor, BA (London), MLitt (Trinity College, Dublin), PhD (Leicester)Young people’s transition from school to work and older workers transitions to retirement. Gender and employment, motherhood, work and childcare. Research methods, in particular, the secondary analysis of qualitative data, qualitative longitudinal research, community restudies and online qualitative research. |
Hilary Patterson, BSc, PGCE, MPA (Warwick)Transitions between higher education and employment, in particular the impact of the current trends in national policy, higher education, employment and economic climate on graduate entry into management roles; the employability agenda, graduate careers and the graduate labour market. Previous research includes undertaking an impact evaluation of a public sector fast-track graduate management development programme. |
Réka Plugor, BA, MA (Babeș-Bolyai University, Romania), MA (Central European University, Hungary)The relationship between higher education and the world of work, with a special emphasis on student experience and student transition from higher education to the world of work, but also how qualitative and quantitative research methods can be used in youth studies and educational settings. Past research projects focused on space usage and perception of (urban) space; youth culture and leisure (time) consumption at festivals; non-governmental organisations and active citizenship. |
Martin Quinn, BA, MSc (Leicester)Local and regional economic development; new regionalism; space and place; governance, particularly the role of local government and leadership in governance networks; public policy; political economy. |
Daniela Rudloff, MA (Wuppertal), PGCAPHE, PhD (Leicester)Cognitive psychology; critical thinking; volunteering and wellbeing; assessment and selection; mental health in the workplace; music: practice and performance. |
Eimer Sparham, Dip T&D (Leicester), MSc (Leicester), AHEANational Culture and studying via Distance Learning; High Performance Work Practices and issues of work intensification; breadwinning and how Women Breadwinners manage the competing demands of work and home. |
Professor Johnny Sung, BA (CNAA), MSc (Salford), PhD (Leicester)Comparative workforce development systems; role of the state in national HRD; high performance work practices and skills development in organisations. |
Katharine Venter, BSc, PhD (Leicester)Business systems and Chinese culture; the impact of culture on learning, training and development; qualitative research methodology. Gender and employment, women in management and the experiences of parents of chronically ill and disabled children seeking to combine work and care responsibilities. |
Glynne Williams, BSc (Open University), MA (Keele),PGCE (UWIC), PhD (Cardiff)Union organising and bargaining in multinational companies and their contractors; public service outsourcing and industrial relations; the growth of the 'social enterprise'; young workers and unions. |
Professor Stephen Wood, BSc, PhD (Manchester), AcSSEmployee involvement and its impact on well-being and organisational performance; teamworking; happiness at work; staff family-friendly management; work-non-work conflict; workplace aggression; job design; the social and economic challenges of new technologies such as nanotechnology. |
