A day in the life of a Reader of Law

Before moving into academia, I worked as a Solicitor for national and international firms, specialising in commercial property and particularly retail portfolios. Supporting trainee solicitors and work placement students with their professional development and career progression inspired my move into academia, and I’ve not looked back since!

When people ask what I do at the University, and I say that I’m a Reader, they often look puzzled, and ask what that entails – for me, it’s ‘a bit of everything’! One of the best ‘bits’ is that there is no ‘typical’ day –I’m usually involved in a mix of things, including research, teaching, assessment, coaching, mentoring, supervising/examining postgraduate research, sitting on the School’s Senior Leadership Team, and line management.

As a former property lawyer, and someone who really enjoys supporting others with their career progression, my research interests focus on place-making and professional development. I can often be found collaborating with academics, students, and external partners on multidisciplinary projects.

For me, research is good but research that does something is even better! Alongside my research projects, I’m always on the look out for opportunities to develop practice-based initiatives where we can draw on research, and work with communities, to explore what works, what doesn’t, and what’s possible. Recent examples include:

• Pracademia: a stream of work that explores the skills, experiences, and knowledge that practitioners bring with them into Higher Education, the barriers that they can face and potential strategies for overcoming them, and ways within which we can further build links between universities and external organisations. So far, the project has led to outputs including an edited collection (Professional Development for Practitioners in Academia), a project funded by the British Academy, and a series of professional development workshops for the Committee of the Heads of University Law Schools.
• Learning Landscapes: co-convening an international Symposia Series and co-editing a related Special Issue (involving 17 papers) for the Higher Education Research and Development Journal to drive conversations forward around the potential for the future of learning spaces across Higher Education.

Alongside my research, I lead on a module for first-year students to support them with their employability and skills development. Working with a fantastic team of colleagues across the university (including Beckett Careers, Library Academic Support, Wellbeing, Experiential Learning, alumni, and employers), we recently redesigned the module to build in simulation from Day 1, and we came second in the University’s Research and Knowledge Exchange Awards for Teaching Impact!

Example activities include speed networking, mock solicitor-client interviews, and simulated assessment centres. We also regularly hold panels with guest speakers from a range of fields, and at different stages of their careers. In those sessions, we discuss their career journeys, what worked for them (or not) and why, and tips for career progression.

It’s particularly powerful when we have alumni coming back to the university to share their stories around how they navigated their studies whilst at the university and went on to develop their careers from there.

When I’m not at work, I enjoy being outdoors - mainly cycling and walking, and I’ve also recently taken up paddleboarding!