Tag Archives: Business Economics and Informatics

Professor Jagjit S. Chadha, Director of the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) gives 2023 Ronald Tress Memorial Lecture

Embracing Equity: the School of Business, Economics and Informatics celebrates International Women’s Day with a roundtable discussion

Dr Pamela Yeow, Assistant Dean in the School of Business, Economics and Informatics shares her thoughts on the roundtable webinar on this year’s International Women’s Day theme, Embracing Equity.

We were joined by Nicola Bentham, Dr Uracha Chatrakul Na Ayudhya, Dr Libby Drury, Dr Wendy Hein, Dr Vanessa Iwowo, Prof Helen Lawton-Smith, Dr Tinghua Yu, and Dr Pamela Yeow, who chaired the panel discussion. We were so pleased that such an excellent collective of women’s voices came forward to share their research and engagement with the broad and inclusive themes of gender equality and sustainable development.

Equality refers to equal opportunity and suggests that the same levels of support are required for all people, regardless of difference or opportunity. On the other hand, equity goes a step further and reminds us that we are individuals and need varying levels of support to achieve goals.

It is notable that the focus of sustainable development is far broader than just the environment. The UN Sustainable Development Goals established in 2015, recognize that to protect the planet, strategies to transform our world, including ending poverty, must work together with strategies that build economic growth and address a range of societal needs including education, health, and social protection. At the core of it, sustainable development is very much about ensuring a strong, healthy and just society. Therefore, an investment in gender equity is also an investment in Earth’s future. We cannot save the planet without women.

Our panelists talked about their research, work and impact and how it was important to understand multiple perspectives about the issues around embracing equity. Importantly, there is an urgent need to acknowledge multiple identities that individuals carry around and about them, and the intersectionalities between gender, age, race, and abilities. Libby summarised it well when she says that international women’s day provides us with the opportunity to consider all types of women and how their experiences might differ for different reasons. There should not just be the focus on white, middle class, middle aged, heterosexual western women who are mothers, but also those of different ethnicities, classes, age, sexuality, parental status and those in different contexts such as cultures, work sectors and work roles. In addition to inequality between men and women, there are also many inequalities within women.

Our audience also had many questions and comments, including how we can bring the topic of gender equality and equity to audiences who are content with the status quo. Helen suggested that researchers and practitioners continue to engage in ‘engaged scholarship,’ where it involves constant and sustained interaction between researchers and practitioners in order to share best practices and ideas (Ram et al, 2012).

Furthermore, Uracha was clear that this problem requires all stakeholders at the table, not just women. As these issues are often complex, Wendy encourages all stakeholders to unpack these interactions more so as to be able to develop holistic solutions, and Tinghua felt strongly (as did several audience members) that we need men to also join in the conversations to enact change in this arena. Vanessa advocated the importance of such dedicated days, such as IWD as they open up the spaces for such conversations. However, we need to be mindful that these days do not disappear into the ether and instead, they need to find their way into our meeting agendas, our action points and into our day-to-day discursive spaces and thus be intentional. Nicola summarized it succinctly by saying we need a collective effort with all stakeholders.

Further Information:

Watch our collection of videos featuring inspiring women from the school: BEI International Women’s Day Playlist.
Watch the roundtable recording: International Women’s Day Round Table

Changing careers: from coffee shop manager to finance administrator

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When Alba DeCarlo left school at 18 she never imagined she would get a degree. Despite that statement, this week she graduates from Birkbeck with a degree in BSc Business and has changed careers from a coffee shop manager to a Finance and Administrator lead for NBC Universal. This is her #BBKgrad story.

Alba DeCarlo (R) with her sister Anna Rita DeCarlo (L) who is also graduating this year with a degree in BSc Marketing.

Alba first came to the UK from Italy aged 19, with very little English. She found a job as a waitress and eventually worked her way up to being the manager of a coffee shop from the ages of 21 to 25. While she enjoyed the social atmosphere and physicality of her job, Alba began to feel in need of a change. “I needed to escape the industry, just do something different. Then my mum said, ‘Why don’t you just go to university?’ I had not considered it an option for me but after doing some research I found Birkbeck.”

Since she could not give up work to study, Alba found Birkbeck’s evening model perfect for her: “It was the only university I applied for, so I put all my eggs in one basket!” Luckily Alba was accepted on to the business course that she hoped would expand her career options: “I wanted to study business because I had already gained skills working as a manager but I needed the theory. I wanted to know how businesses are created and run, so that maybe one day I could open my own.” She was so enthused by Birkbeck’s offer that Alba convinced her younger sister to start a marketing degree in the same year.

Alba found the opportunity to study again an enriching experience, “I learned how important it is to socialise and meet people, because before Birkbeck all I did was work, so most of my friends were from there. At Birkbeck I was able to meet people and go to the library and have access to books, everything was just right there for me.” She also benefitted from technology support from the College which enabled her to get a free laptop to use for her studies.

Like many students who come to the College, Alba encountered challenges along the way. She changed jobs a number of times to adapt to studying, even taking jobs abroad at times to earn enough money. In her final year, she decided to go back to working in a coffee shop and was eventually promoted to the Operational Training Manager of a number of premises. After a year she found out she was pregnant. Not discouraged by this, Alba did the maths and decided that she would still be able to complete her degree without pausing her studies. “I was lucky in a sense because I gave birth during the pandemic when classes and exams were held online which meant I could do everything at home and study – albeit while being very tired!”

True to form, Alba made the leap closer to her business ambitions to a job as a Finance and Administrator lead at NBC Universal before she had even graduated. She started out in the company as a Catering and Event Manager and because of her eye for numbers was eventually asked by the Account Manager to become an Administrator. “The degree has helped me get into finance, and I think it will help me get to where I want to be in the future.”

This week she celebrates completing this phase of her journey and looks forward to learning more and continuing to grow in her field.

FURTHER INFORMATION:

Study Business at Birkbeck

Department of Management Welcomes Professor Vijay Pereira for first Meet the Editor Session

Journal of Business Research

The Journal of Business Research (JoBR) is a UK ABS 3* and ABDC ‘A’ journal. Firstly, Professor Pereira highlights the importance of understanding the scope of the journal in which you wish to publish. In the case of JoBR, in addition to the theoretical rigour, the journal aids the application of empirical research to practical situations and theoretical findings to the reality of the business world. This practical underpinning is reflected by JoBR’s broad target audience, which includes executives alongside scholars and researchers.

JoBR has a somewhat unique organisational structure, with two Editors-in-Chief, three to four Deputy Editors-in-Chief, five Special Issue Editors and 65 Associate Editors covering sixteen discipline areas – this number is large but unsurprising considering that JoBR receives 4,500 -5,000 submissions a year! While publication is competitive, the journal’s 6% acceptance rate represents a significant number of papers, so Professor Pereira warns not to be discouraged from applying.

There are three key points to consider when submitting to JoBR:

The quality of the theory
Robust data or concepts
Real-world implications for business or management situations

There are also three key points to consider in terms of the journal’s positioning:

JoBR is international in scope, looking for work from new contexts and new scholars and continuing to grow globally
The journal has moved from being marketing focused to being interdisciplinary covering a wider range of management disciplines, such as international business and innovation
JoBR has a key focus on impact – it is the number one cited marketing journal according to Google Scholar’s H Index

Keeping the three I’s of international, interdisciplinary and impactful in scope is key for researchers submitting to this journal.

Journal of Knowledge Management

In the second part of this presentation, Professor Pereira discussed the Journal of Knowledge Management, a leading journal in this field with an ABS 2* and ABDC ‘A’ rating.

To Professor Pereira’s knowledge, the Journal of Knowledge Management is the first journal to have a Global Real Impact Editor and has also recently appointed Regional Real Impact Editors.

Putting impact at the front and centre of the work it looks to publish, the Journal of Knowledge Management invites pieces by scholars, academics and individuals from industry. It is similarly international in scope, with articles from China, India, Brazil, France and the UK in the pipeline. The journal looks to maximise the diversity of its output without compromising on quality, and a focus on impact from the beginning of the process enables it to do this.

A focus on the practical impact and applicability of research is therefore key when submitting to this journal.

We would like to thank Professor Pereira for his time and for an insightful and informative start to our Meet the Editor Series. All are welcome to join us for our upcoming Meet the Editor events: