UEA

Biography

My curiosity in entrepreneurship and small business management was ignited in 1994 when I co-founded the Middle East Centre for Human Studies (MEC) in Amman – Jordan. During my years at the MEC, I successfully initiated and completed numerous projects for a variety of national and regional organisations as well as USAID, the United Nations, UNICEF, and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

Since then, my career encompassed a combination of academic and industry based activity, and I was awarded the highly competitive Senior Fulbright Scholar in Residence twice.

I joined the Norwich Business School as a Lecturer in Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management following the completion of my doctoral degree from the University of Strathclyde in 2007. In addition to my research, enterprise, engagement and teaching activity at the Norwich Business School, I am the Chair of the Women, Research and Enterprise Forum founded in 2008. 

Key Research Interests

My principle research focus is on gender, entrepreneurship and empowerment. More specifically, the overall research aim is the understanding of the intersectionality of these dimensions, and their collective impact on home-based and micro businesses predominantly owned by marginalised women including women in the Middle East region, women in deprived communities, and first generation migrant women. Additional areas of research include gender in family businesses, women social entrepreneurs and graduate enterprise. Generally but not exclusively, my research approach is embedded in feminist research methodology.

PhD Supervision

I’m particularly interested in supervising MPhil and doctoral researchers in the following areas:

• Gender and Entrepreneurship
• Migrants and Entrepreneurship
• Home-based and micro enterprises
• Gender and Family Business
• Gender and Entrepreneurship in the Middle East region
• Women and Social Entrepreneurship

Recently Awarded Grants

2011 - 2012: Art Made Man, European Union: Grundtvig MP TT AMM
(EURO 400,000, Co-Investigator)

2010 - 2012: Business Growth for Micro Enterprises, Norfolk County Council
(£45,000, Principle Investigator)

2010 - 2011: Student Enterprise Development at UEA, Enterprise and Engagement Development Fund at UEA
(£15,000, Principle Investigator)

2010 - 2011: Business Development for Graduate Enterprise, UEA Annual Fund
(£6,000, Principle Investigator)

2010: Women’s Enterprise Boosting the Economy, ESRC Social Science Festival
(£1650, Principle Investigator)

2009 - 2010: The impact of migrant workers on the functioning of labour markets and industrial relations, ESRC Seminar Series
(£15,000, Co-Investigator)

2009 - 2010: Graduate Enterprise Incubation Environments, Enterprise and Engagement Development Fund at UEA
(£6,000, Principle Investigator)

2009 - 2010: Entrepreneurial Skills and Women Science Researchers at UEA, EPSRC
(£5,000, Principle Investigator)

2009: Outside In: Enterprising Approach to Community Development, ESRC Social Science Festival
(£2,000, Principle Investigator) 

Teaching Interests

At NBS, my teaching is predominantly focused on entrepreneurship and small business management. I am the module organiser for the NBS 3M4Y module entitled Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management offered to third year undergraduate students.

Doctoral Supervision:

2009 – present: 2nd supervisor for Ms. Arabella Beckett at Norwich Business School, UEA. Topic: A Poststructuralist Analysis of Women Social Entrepreneurs

2009 – present: 2nd supervisor for Ms. Madina Subalova Norwich Business School, UEA. Topic: The impact of Micro-Financial organizations on the incidence and characteristics of Kazakhstani entrepreneurship: agents of change and/or complement to the informal economy?

MSc Disseration Supervision 2011:

• Miss Wenwen Fan
• Mr Keifeng Yu
• Mr Marat Rybalko
• Ms Lauretta Ibe 

External Activities and Indicators of Esteem

• ‘Outstanding Reviewer' award from the Emerald Literati Network 2011 Awards for Excellence for services to the International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship throughout 2010.
• Winner of the ‘Jeff Rothstein Award for the Most Creative Research Paper' at the International IFERA Conference – Limassol, Cyprus, 2009.
• Senior Fulbright Scholar in Residence at Chestnut Hill College, Philadelphia, 1996–1997.
• Senior Fulbright Scholar in Residence at California State University, Stanislaus, 1995–1996.

 

Professional Activities

• Editorial Board Member of the International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship
• Editorial Board Member of the new Journal of Family Business Management
• Founding Member, Gender and Enterprise Network Organising Committee, ISBE Special Interest Group
• Expert Panel Member at the International Women's Organisation, Liverpool
• Founding Member, UK Women in Family Business Network
• Member, East of England Women's Enterprise Steering Group, East of England Development Agency (EEDA)

Key Responsibilities

Chair of the Women, Research and Enterprise Forum (WREF): sponsored by the Norwich Business School, WREF was launched in March 2008 to coincide with International Women's Day and aims to ‘actively bridge the gap between academia and enterprise for women – and in particular, to share knowledge and seek opportunities for researchers and commercial enterprises to collaborate for mutual benefit'. Since its launch, WREF continues to secure funding from awarding bodies such as the ESRC to network the networks and deliver regular events and activities in collaboration with other women's research and / or enterprise networks. The steering group includes representatives from UEA and local and regional successful women entrepreneurs.