UEA

Biography

I love my job.  I am a Senior Lecturer in Norwich Business School at the University of East Anglia.  Education is important for life success and happiness. My educational background is in Applied Psychology (BSc Hons; D Phil), and Professional Development (PGCTHE with commendation; M Ed with distinction).  I had to study hard, teach effectively, and publish my research to become a Senior Lecturer. Everyday I am grateful to the teachers who inspired me to follow my chosen career.

Values, i.e. what one stands for, are critically important. Regarding my job, my credo is to make a positive difference in students’ lives. Confucius is right: I hear and I forget, I see and I remember; I do and I understand. Hence my students learn through critical self-reflection and doing, not just looking and listening. This approach may be why some of them have won national and regional business competitions beating students from many other Universities.  I hope in some small way I have inspired those whom I have taught.

Family and friends are everything else to me. My sons are my heroes.  My life would not be full without my 4 sons and their families.

Key Research Interests

My job is not just about teaching students from all over the world, it is also about researching topics of interest. My research interests reflect the nature of my qualifications in Applied Psychology, as well as my present and previous lecturing topics. My doctoral research in the area of women's health, used research methods from a number of disciplines: spectrophotometry; psychometrics; ethnography; narrative interview; in-depth interviews; and participant observation. Also I have worked as a Research Fellow statistically analysing large data sets and writing academic articles on Perceived Competence in Children. Using my psychometric knowledge, I have devised and conducted large scale surveys in the Behavioural Accounting field and written academic papers. More recently I have become interested in celebrity endorsement, evolutionary psychology influences in advertising, and personality stereotypes in banking.

I taught Research Methods for almost 25 years as well as supervised undergraduate (BA Hons; BSc Hons) and postgraduate (MA; MSc; MBA) projects and dissertations for almost 30 years. I have also successfully supervised MPhil and PhD students. Indeed I enjoy research. Research is like a jigsaw puzzle.  You set out the borders (theoretical framework), gather your matching pieces (identify the apposite methods to suit your theoretical framework), insert them into the framework (test) and display the finished picture (present the findings). There is nothing as sweet as inserting that final piece of the jigsaw except the identifying the answer to the research question.

The theme that has sustained my research interests across 30 years of researching is gender. While the contexts in which I apply gender considerations to research questions may have changed across the years, gender has been my abiding passion and so remains.

Consultancy

Building on my career as a business woman and an academic in business and management, I have worked as a coach/consultant since 1989 in areas such as developing emotional intelligence: self-managed learning; management development; time management; interviewing; enhancing teams; leadership effectiveness and creating the agile organisation. As such I have engaged at all levels within organisations. Typical comments are: "My colleagues have noticed the difference in my approach."; "I've been promoted as a consequence of what I've learned from you."; "I'm now a lifelong learner"; "I understand myself more and I now manage my staff more effectively"; and "Thank you, I really enjoyed learning with you."

The Management Consultancy students that I teach and supervise have had the privilege of working with a number of businesses in Norfolk.  These include: Bernard Mathews; Norwich International Airport; The Point; Jarrold The Store; The Norfolk Showground; Adnams; The Forum; Breckland District Council; and Pilch. Very often these consultancy projects include large market research surveys which the companies find very useful in their future planning.  Typical is this comment from a satisfied consultancy client

"Just to reiterate how impressed we all were with the quality, creativity, passion and enthusiasm exhibited by all your students today."

Teaching Interests

During my academic career in Higher Education, I have taught the following modules in a number of Universities: Adolescence to Youth and Community Professionals; Assessment and Learning in Higher Education to fellow academics in Higher Education; Developmental Psychology to psychology undergraduates; Health Psychology to undergraduate podiatrists; Human Resource Management to business undergraduates, as well as MSc and MBA postgraduates; Introduction to Psychology to psychology undergraduates; Learning Theory to psychology undergraduates as well as fellow academics in Higher Education; Management to DMS/MBA students; Management Communications to MBA students; Organisational Behaviour to both computing and agricultural studies undergraduates; Personality to psychology undergraduates; Professional Development to business management undergraduates; Psychometrics to psychology undergraduates; Race, Gender and Disability to undergraduate social workers; Sexual Dysfunction to psychology undergraduates; and Research Methods to psychology and business undergraduates as well as MSc and MBA postgraduates.

Currently, at undergraduate level, I lecture in Human Resource Management, and Management Consulting and Development. At postgraduate level, I lecture in Coaching and supervise Masters' dissertations. I also supervise PhDs.

External Activities and Indicators of Esteem

Elected December 1997 to December 2005 to the Research Steering Committee of the Association of Business Schools, 344/354 Gray's Inn Road, London, WC1X 8BP.

Elected to the Editorial Board of the international journal "Accounting Education" beginning 1.1.1998 to 1.1.2006.

Chartered Psychologist: 1990-2010.

Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society:1989 -2010.

I have served as an academic referee for many academic Journals.

I have also reviewed academic papers for academic Conferences.

Key Responsibilities

Currently I have the privilege of being the Senior Academic Advisor in Norwich Business School. This affords me the role of being the person to whom students can come when they experience difficulties in their studies and or their personal lives. It's very rewarding to be able to help students achieve their full potential in spite of, upon occasion, very difficult circumstances. There is nothing as heartening to see a student graduate at Congregation and know that you have played a small part in their achievement.