SHAW is supported by a knowledge network of researchers affiliated with various institutions.

Professor Carol Atkinson

Decent Work and Productivity (University Centre for Research and Knowledge Exchange), Business School, Manchester Metropolitan University

Carol's research focuses on creating high quality employment in areas such as: people management and employment in small and medium sized enterprises; job quality in adult social care; and gender, age and careers (particularly gender pay gaps and menopause in the workplace).

She is currently Co-investigator on an ESRC Good Employment Learning Lab project that focuses on how to upskill line managers to create good employment.

Dr Vanessa Beck

Reader in Work and Organisation, University of Bristol

Vanessa's work focuses on: those at the margins of the labour market (unemployed or underemployed; multiple and complex barriers to 'good' employment); the interrelationship between individual experiences and social or structural contexts, focus on gender/age.

Activities relating to menopause include:

  • 2017 GEO Report with J. Brewis, A. Davies, and J. Matheson, 'The effects of menopause transition on women's economic participation in the UK'
  • Projects with TUC Education, NHS Trust, City Council, Tertiary Menopause Service, Library Services, Theatre and Arts
  • Surveys and follow-up interviews
  • 2021 Report on Financial Services Industry with Fawcett Society, 'Menopause in the Workplace: Impact on Women in Financial Services
Marleen Damman

Marleen Damman

Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, Utrecht University

Currently Marleen is working on a research project about retirement processes of solo self-employed individuals.

Key areas of interest/expertise:

  • Life course research
  • Older workers
  • Retirement processes
  • Self-employment
  • Unpaid productive activity engagement

Marleen is also affiliated with the Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute (NIDI-KNAW).

Dr Sajia Ferdous

Lecturer in Organisational Behaviour, Queen's Management School, Queen's University Belfast

Sajia previously held positions at the University of Manchester, and has keen interests in gender equality, diversity, and inclusion-related workplace issues which she pursues through her teaching, research, and ATHENA SWAN activities.

Her research includes a special focus on the ageing workforce and older workers, particularly ethnic minority elderly groups within the UK/European labour market contexts. In her latest research, she explored how older ethnic minority female groups remained invisible within the UK's extended working lives policy landscape and how their age, gender, ethnicity/race, social class, and religion intersected to marginalise them in the UK labour market. She mainly deploys qualitative techniques with specific interests in applying intersectionality, life-course, and interview methods.

Martijn Huisman

Martijn Huisman

Professor of Epidemiology of Ageing, Department of Epidemiology and Data Science, Amsterdam UMC, the Netherlands, and Department of Sociology, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Key areas of interest:

  • Social epidemiology
  • Ageing
  • Longitudinal studies
  • Health inequalities
  • Resilience
  • Psychiatric epidemiology
Hayley James

Dr Hayley James

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, School of Social Policy, Social Work and Social Justice, University College Dublin

Hayley is currently a post-doc researcher on the DEEPEN project, a project examining how governments, regulators, and labour market actors govern funded pensions and the extent to which participants are satisfied with outcomes of this governance across six European countries.

Her thesis, completed at the University of Manchester, examined the impact of automatic enrolment into workplace pensions in the UK on individual decision making using a qualitative research methodology. Her research interests concern anthropological and sociological perspectives on money, finance and value in everyday life, and how these phenomena intersect with experiences of ageing and the life-course. She has expertise in qualitative and mixed-method methodologies.

Divya Sivaramakrishnan

Dr Divya Sivaramakrishnan

Chancellor's Fellow, Scottish Collaboration for Public Health Research and Policy, Department of Nursing Studies, School of Health in Social Sciences, University of Edinburgh

Research interests and experience:

  • Development and evaluation of public health interventions
  • Coproduction approaches
  • Healthy ageing
  • Physical activity and sedentary behaviour across varied populations

Projects:

  • Stand Up for Health Project (NIHR funded): aimed to reduce sedentary behaviour in contact centres
  • Developing a yoga intervention for older adults in Scotland

Emma Walker

Regional Manager, auticon Scotland

Emma is the Regional Manager for auticon Scotland and has been leading and growing auticon's presence north of the border since auticon opened their office in Edinburgh in March 2019. The company is a global IT consultancy and training provider, established as a social enterprise over 10 years ago and employing over 200 autistic adults with IT-related skills, and supporting them in clients' technology projects.

Emma has a background working in a variety of sectors in HR, business development, and IT consultancy type roles. With qualifications in autism and coaching, Emma is well-equipped to support a growing number of consultants, in addition to providing sound support and advice to clients.

Emma has an autistic son, so has seen first-hand the challenges he faces in the job market as well as the skills and abilities he has to offer, so is passionate about helping organisations to become more inclusive and understand the benefits of a neurodiverse workforce.