Keele Management School

I worked for the printing unions for 26 years, initially in a research role and from 1997-2005 as Equality Policy Adviser.  In research I was responsible for supporting all national negotiations in the printing, paper and publishing sectors with employers’ associations, most notably, the British Printing Industries Federation.  I also supported negotiations at enterprise and plant level where required.  Beyond these duties, I was required to respond to a wide variety of research requests at short notice; undertake speech writing, articles for trade journals, submissions to government consultation exercises and the Monopolies and Mergers Commission inquiries.  In addition I supported trade union training for both union members and international sister unions.

In the latter role, I was responsible for all equalities, developing and implementation of policies, training for groups of under-represented members, political lobbying on equality issues, developing internal networks for groups generally absent from mainstream structures.  In addition, I moved from supporting negotiations to being a negotiator on equality issues both nationally and at enterprise and plant level.  I presented at and facilitated many conferences during this period.  I also gave evidence to the government select committee investigation into gender discrimination and to the Women and Work Commission.  This work informed my choice of PhD subject: women and pay in the printing industry, completed in 2007.  Both my Master’s degree and my PhD were taken at Keele.

As an academic from 2005 onwards, I have taught at the University of Westminster and Ruskin College, Oxford before coming to Keele University in 2012.  I have taught Human Resource Management, Employment/Industrial Relations and International Labour Relations to both undergraduate and post-graduate students.

My research interests lie in employment, pay and gender.  I have presented at many conferences including, International Labour Process Conference; British Universities Industrial Relations Association Conference; Work, Employment and Society Conference; Working Lives Conference;  Gender, Work and Organisation Conference, as well as numerous workshops – the most recent as part of a European-funded project on bullying at work.

I have recently completed a two-year project funded by the EU Leonardo Fund, along with colleagues from Norway, France, Lithuania, Hungary and Spain on the prevention of bullying in SMEs.

I am currently in discussions about research into gender and pay during a time of austerity with a major trade union partner.

‘Out of sight, Out of Pocket: Women’s Invisibility in the British Printing Industry and its Effect on the Gender pay Gap’ in Historical Studies in Industrial Relations No. 29/30 (2010)

‘Pay Inequality in Manufacturing Industry: the case of the printing industry’ in Gower Handbook of Discrimination, Gower, London. (2011)

‘Collective bargaining and the Gender Pay Gap in the Printing Industry’ in Gender, Work and Organisation (forthcoming).