Dr Juliet E. Kele

• ESRC Funded Doctoral Research Studentship, Leeds University Business School PhD, University of Leeds (2017)
• MSc International Business, University of Nottingham Business School, University of Nottingham (2012)
• BA Hons Modern Languages (French & Spanish) with Business, University of Nottingham (2011)

Dr Juliet Kele is a research fellow in HRM at Lloyds Banking Group Centre for Responsible Business at the Birmingham Business School. Given her research specialisms, she is also based in the Department of Management (Organization, Work and Employment).

Prior to joining Birmingham Business School, Juliet was a Teaching Fellow in HRM at the University of Leeds for just under two years. She was a module leader and lecturer for ‘Gender and Equality at Work in Comparative Perspective’ (LUBS3001). She recently received the Dean’s Award for Teaching Excellence 2017/18 for this module. She was also lecturing on the module ‘Management, Work and Organization’ (LUBS2000). Juliet has additional experience as a seminar tutor for two years prior to her Teaching Fellow appointment; with topics including: management consulting, research methods for consultants and internal communications and change management.

Following completion of her PhD and teaching experience at the University of Leeds, Juliet has developed a keen interest in researching the areas of equality, diversity and inclusion in the workplace. Her doctoral research examined how career progression occurs in small and medium-sized firms in the legal profession; the factors affecting this progression; and how and whether diversity within the smaller workforce is managed. Juliet used intersectionality theory to examine gendered practices within the smaller law firm context. Her principal research contribution is the concept of ‘aesthetic diversity’.

As part of her research within the Centre for Responsible Business, she aims to primarily contribute to the Sustainable Development Goal related to ‘Reduced Inequalities’ through her work on intersectionality.

Dr Kele has presented research stemming from her doctoral studies to a wide range of academic audiences at international conferences; including BAM and WES.

Research interests

Research interests include gender, ethnicity, social class and how these correlate with (in)equalities in work, economies and societies. I am interested in the evolving notions of intersectional thinking. I am keen to research equality, inclusion and diversity policies and practices.

Current projects

Research papers include:

• “Face Of The Firm: Aesthetic Diversity”
  This new concept provides a reframing of diversity management practices, while reflecting upon marketing literatures. 
  2017: Best Full Paper Prize for the Human Resource Management Track at the British Academy of Management (BAM) Conference

• “Intersectional Fusion and Fission”
  Using intersectionality, this methodological paper examines the relationship between the discourses of diversity and how language and power manifest during interviews within a professional setting. Presented at the BAM Conference, Sept 2018

• “Prolonged progression and pronounced barriers: careers in small- and medium-sized law firms in England and Wales”
  This paper examines career progression in the legal profession and asks whether a smaller law firm size is beneficial to the career progression of employees. Presented at the WES Conference, Sept 2018

Juliet is also involved in several other research projects including:

• The second stage of an ESRC-funded grant, ‘Raising the Ceiling on Diversity and Inclusion: A Corporate Retail Case Study’ – working with Professor Catherine Cassell in partnership with the University of Leeds and University of Durham
• ‘BAME Career Progression at West Yorkshire Police’ – working in partnership with the University of Leeds and University of Durham
• Shared Parental Leave (SPL) project with Dr Holly Birkett and Dr Sarah Forbes at the University of Birmingham

• 2016 – present: Elected Group Secretary for the British Academy of Management (BAM) Research Methodology Special Interest Group
• Professional memberships with:The Academy of Management (AoM), The British Academy of Management (BAM) and The British Sociological Association (BSA)
• Reviewer for the BAM Conference since 2015 for various research streams, including Research Methodology, Human Resource Management and Organizational Psychology.