The Australian Centre for Gender Equality and Inclusion @ Work is home to some of Australia's leading academics in gender equality and employment relations.
Rae Cooper AO, FASSA, Professor of Gender, Work and Employment Relations at the ±¬ÁÏÍõ Business School. She is President of the  (ILERA) and has published over 70 articles and chapters on employment relations, workplace policy and aspects of women's working lives.
Professor Cooper was made an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2019 recognition of her contributions to Australian higher education and her impact on workplace policy and practice.
She has undertaken numerous collaborative research projects within an array of industry sectors for some of Australia's most well-known organisations including the  (AICD), the , the , the  and she has worked as an advisor to key multi-lateral organisations, including the Ìý²¹²Ô»åÌýÌý(±õ³¢°¿).
Through these collaborations and her experience as a non-executive director and strategic advisor to industry and government, she is known for her clever and grounded approach. Professor Cooper is a globally recognized leader in the gendered dimensions of the workplace, and an expert in collaborative research programs that incorporate an evidence- based approach with world leading practice to identify practical, data-driven policies that achieve positive change.
Elizabeth Hill is a Professor in the Department of Political Economy at the ±¬ÁÏÍõ. She is co-convenor of the  and co-convenor of the Body@Work Project.
As a leading researcher on the future of women, work and care in Australia and the Asian region, she has collaborated on research into gender equality, work and care with leading national and international institutions, including the International Labour Organisation and UN Women.
Elizabeth’s research focuses on how economic institutions shape women’s paid work, unpaid care and the care workforce, especially as they evolve in response to the rapidly evolving dynamics of the global political economy.
Elizabeth has served as a non-executive director on a number of non-profit Boards and is an experienced media commentator and advisor to government, unions, and business. She is currently a member of theÂ
Nanda is a research leader with over 10 years of experience across the higher education and private sectors. She holds a PhD in Environmental Aesthetics from the ±¬ÁÏÍõ. During her career in the higher education sector, she has held roles across external engagement, research impact, strategy and general management.Â
Nicholas is a Research Fellow at the Centre and is an applied political economist specialising in labour market inequality. He is completing his PhD in the ±¬ÁÏÍõ's Discipline of Political Economy. His thesis employs heterodox theories of segmented labour markets and capitalist competition to explain the persistence of low-paid work in the Australian meat processing sector. His research interests include analysis of the structures that facilitate the existence of low paid work, the future of work, and the effective communication of visual data.
Dr Isabella Dabaja is a skilled qualitative researcher with expertise in public sector employment. Her research encompasses industrial relations, the political economy of the state, and the impact of public policy on workplace dynamics. Isabella recently completed her doctoral thesis in the discipline of Work and Organisational Studies at the ±¬ÁÏÍõ.
Dr Niamh Dawson’s research explores interpersonal inclusion processes in the workplace, with applications across diverse contexts, including employee recovery, hybrid work, and academia. She has a strong passion for research methods and enjoys applying innovative analytical approaches to address real-world organisational challenges. Niamh completed her PhD and Master of Organisational Psychology at the University of Queensland. She joined the ±¬ÁÏÍõ Business School, where she continues to advance research on workplace inclusion and employee wellbeing.
Dr Elsie Foeken is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Centre. Her disciplinary background is in sociology, and her research focuses on the intersections between gender, time, and paid and unpaid labour. She is a skilled qualitative researcher, with expertise on the Australian gig economy. Dr Foeken completed her PhD at Monash University.
Associate Professor Meraiah Foley is a researcher specialising in gender inequality at work, with specific focus on women's experiences working in male-dominated occupations, the gendered dimensions of workplace technological change, and how the concepts of merit and meritocracy shape inequality at work. Meraiah has published extensively in highly ranked journals, including Human Relations, Gender, Work & Organization, and the Journal of Industrial Relations.
Dr Natalie Galea is a 2024 ARC Discovery Early Career Fellow. Her research focuses on gender equality and human rights in male-dominated work sectors, as well as human rights in elite sports. Her most recent research examines the effects of a five-day workweek on the well-being of construction workers and their families, and the impact of flexible work at the coalface on construction sites. She has undertaken research into why gender equality and diversity policies in the Australian construction sector fail to attract, retain, and advance women professionals. She has examined the structural and institutional mechanisms that maintain and reinforce male dominance in the Australian construction sector. Natalie has studied the barriers to the inclusion of LGBTQ+ workers in the Australian construction industry.
Dr Laura Good is a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the Centre. She is an expert in gender dynamics in frontline service sector work, the impact of digitalisation and gender dynamics in workplaces and gender, skills and technology. She has established research expertise in sexual harassment and gendered customer interactions with service sector workplace contexts. Laura holds a Master’s degree in Public Policy from the London School of Economics and Political Science and is currently completing her PhD from the ±¬ÁÏÍõ.
Professor Dimitria Groutsis is Academic Director of the Athena Swan Science in Australia Gender Equity (SAGE) Program at the ±¬ÁÏÍõ and a leading scholar in the intersecting fields of migration, labour mobility and ethno-racial diversity in the business context. Her work appears in highly regarded journals and builds a bridge between the academy and business practice, engaging with industry partners, government and non-government entities. Her innovative applied work has been recognised by the Australian Business Deans Council (2023, ABDC Award for Innovation and Excellence in Research, Established Researcher) and the ±¬ÁÏÍõ Business School (2023, Research Engagement Award). She has received multiple fellowships.
Associate Professor Myra Hamilton is an ARC Mid-Career Industry Fellow in the Discipline of Work and Organisational Studies at the ±¬ÁÏÍõ. She is a sociologist and social policy scholar whose research focus is on gender, work and care over the lifecourse. Myra’s research explores how workplace and public policies and programs can build wellbeing and financial security in work and in care over the life course. She combines traditional academic research with applied policy research for government, industry and non-government organisations, including evaluations of policies and programs. She has close working relationships with the community sector including peak bodies in the areas of parents, carers and seniors, and sits on the NSW Carers Advisory Council and the Board of Council on the Ageing NSW. In her previous two roles she was Principal Research Fellow at the ARC Centre of Excellence in Population Ageing Research at the ±¬ÁÏÍõ, and prior to that Senior Research Fellow at the Social Policy Research Centre at the University of New South Wales.
Associate Professor Josh Healy is a mixed methods researcher and media commentator with expertise in industrial relations and the future of work, including the gig economy. His research spans employee well-being, labour market dynamics, and the workplace impacts of disruptive technologies, and he is pioneering approaches and policies that deliver decent employment and equality in the future of work. Josh has an extensive track record of internal and external research funding success, as a leading member of productive, multi-disciplinary teams. Josh is currently an Associate Editor of Labour and Industry: a journal of the economic and social relations of work and Vice-Chair of the Industrial Relations Society of NSW, Newcastle branch.
Dr Laura Jennings is a Research Fellow at the Centre, specialising in workplace diversity and inclusion. A behavioural scientist with expertise in qualitative research methods, her work examines the workplace behaviours that drive inclusion with a particular focus on male-dominated environments. Laura completed her PhD at Monash University. Before pursuing her academic career, she spent more than two decades as a senior executive, working across Australia, the USA, the UK and Europe. She is committed to bridging the gap between organisational practice and academic research, bringing evidence-informed thinking to real-world challenges.
Dr Hannah Kunst is a lecturer in leadership and organisational behaviour at the ±¬ÁÏÍõ School of Work and Organisational Studies. Her research focuses on emotions, well-being, and the regulation of others' emotions at work. Hannah is passionate about translational research and bridging the gap between research and practice. Her most recent research examines how to optimise support for new graduate nurses in healthcare settings across NSW to enhance well-being and retention outcomes. She also investigates the psychological cost of administrative burden on frontline government service employees, and examines how to better support equity students during their first year at university. Hannah conducted her interdisciplinary PhD at the ±¬ÁÏÍõ Business School and the ±¬ÁÏÍõ School of Psychology. She holds a Master’s degree in Psychopathology at the University of Maastricht, the Netherlands. She is Deputy Director of the Body, Heart and Mind in Business Research Group, an Associate Fellow of Advance HE, and a member of the Australian Compassion Council.
Dr Vanessa Loh is a quantitative researcher interested in helping organisations to create more inclusive and sustainable workplaces that better support employees in a rapidly changing world. A specific focus is on understanding how individual-level factors such as gender, age, knowledge, skills and attitudes, along with work-level factors such as HR policies, job demands and job resources, influence people’s work experiences and wellbeing across the life course. Vanessa is also a registered psychologist, an Associate Investigator with the ARC Centre of Population Ageing Research (CEPAR), and a member of the Body, Heart and Mind in Business Research Group at the ±¬ÁÏÍõ.
Dr Lilia Mantai completed her PhD at Macquarie University, focusing on the researcher identity development of doctoral students and the role of social support. Her research on doctoral education and academic career progression has contributed to global guidelines on doctoral education and earned her several awards, including a Research Award and an Award of Excellence. This work has led to media engagements, invited presentations and keynotes, thesis review invitations, references in European Commission guidelines, and invited memberships in professional and academic networks such the OECD's ReiCo Expert Advisory Group, and she is nominated Executive member for Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia (HERDSA).
As a qualitative researcher, Lilia has been working with colleagues from other institutions in Organisational Science – particularly on how AI reshapes manager roles and compensation based on job data analysis. She supervises domestic and international Master's and PhD students and formally mentors undergraduate researchers. Her role as Vice Chair of the Australasian Council for Undergraduate Research further acknowledges her impact on promoting early researchers and research advances.Â
Dr Suneha Seetahul is an applied microeconomist specialising in gender, labor markets, and development economics. She earned her PhD from the Bordeaux School of Economics and has held postdoctoral positions at the ±¬ÁÏÍõ's Department of Political Economy and the Australian National University's Crawford School of Public Policy. In 2021, she was awarded a World Bank Africa Fellowship to work with the World Bank Gender Group.
Dr Seetahul's research focuses on gender inequalities in labor markets across developing and industrialised countries. Her work also explores the intersections of gender with climate change, nutrition, and social protection systems. In her current role as a Senior Research Fellow, she is in charge of developing innovative metrics for measuring gender equality at work. With a strong commitment to evidence-based policymaking, she has provided expert advice to government bodies and consulted for World Bank Global Practices, including Social Protection and Jobs.
Leah Williams Veazey is ARC DECRA Research Fellow in the Sydney Centre for Healthy Societies in the School of Social and Political Sciences. She is the author of the award-winning book  (2021, Routledge) and has published widely in the areas of ,Ìý,Ìý, and experiences of Ìý²¹²Ô»åÌý. Her research uses qualitative methods, most commonly in-depth interviews, to explore contemporary social experiences, with a focus on the intersections of health, mobility and relational sociology. Leah's current research, funded by an Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) entitled "Future-proofing Australia's Care Economy", explores the intersections of work, migration and care in the lives of healthcare workers and healthcare students.Â
Helen M. G. Watt is Professor of Educational Psychology specialising in motivation research. Her influential longitudinal and international research addresses disparities in gender-typed fields of education and occupation, especially STEM, teaching, and the important socialising role of teachers. She has published extensively on these topics, edited books and special issues, held leadership roles in nationalÌý²¹²Ô»åÌýinternational associations, and is initiator of the international Network Gender & STEM to coordinate interdisciplinary researchers/policyworkers worldwide. Helen’s multiply-awarded research has been funded by the Australian Research Council (Discovery, Linkage, Fellowships), state and federal departments of education and Office of the Chief Scientist. She is frequently consulted concerning gender equity in educational pathways. Helen is elected Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia, Fellow of the American Educational Research Association, former Australian Research Council Future Fellow and Director of Research Development (Social Sciences) at USyd. She previously served at Monash (where she retains an Honorary Professorship) including as Head, Educational Psychology and Inclusive Education; Michigan; Western Sydney; Sydney; and Macquarie Universities.
Dr Ju Li Ng is a Senior Lecturer (Education-focussed) and the inaugural Academic Lead – Education-focused Community of Practice at the ±¬ÁÏÍõ Business School. Her research spans organisational behaviour (OB) and business education, with a particular interest in how individuals and teams learn, adapt and work effectively in organisational and educational contexts. Her OB research examines team processes and workplace relationships, with recent work exploring gender inequality and social capital in academic networks. Her educational research centres on pedagogical innovation, including self-regulated learning, feedback and reflective practice, authentic assessment, and the pedagogical use of generative AI.
Ju Li is particularly interested in translating research into evidence-informed practices that enhance learning, capability development and organisational outcomes. Her educational scholarship examines how pedagogical innovations can be rigorously evaluated, scaled and sustained through interdisciplinary co-design and collaboration, including research on student learning and capacity development in healthcare education. She has an established track record in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL), supported by competitive grants and interdisciplinary collaborations. She is also part of a multidisciplinary research team that was awarded AUD$2.1 million through the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS)’s Mainstream Capacity Building Grant aimed at building capacity to support people with communications disability.
Sydney is a Research Associate in the Discipline of Work and Organisational Studies and is a convenor of The Body@Work Project. Her research focuses on the relationship between gender equality, paid work and reproductive health across the life cycle.
Talara Lee is a PhD candidate with an interest in gender, workplace relations and the future of work. Talara's PhD investigates gender inequality in the legal profession, focussing on the role of the client in shaping legal careers, which employs a mixed-method approach to data collection on designing gender equality into the future of work in the law.
