Professor Etlyn Kenny

Department of Management
Professor of Human Resource Management and Organisational Behaviour

Contact details

Telephone: +44 (0)121 414 6219
Email: e.j.kenny@bham.ac.uk

Address: Birmingham Business School
University House
Birmingham
B15 2TY

Etlyn is a Professor in the Department of Management and is a member of the Organisations, Work and Employment Group. Etlyn's research interests are in the field of employee diversity and organisational careers. Her research and publications focus both on how employees experience organisations as minorities as well as the analysis of organisational practices and structures designed to facilitate equal access to career opportunities and progression.

Etlyn teaches on the MSc HRM and on the Executive MBA programme. Etlyn supervises a number of PhD students.

Staff details
Media information

Qualifications

BSc (Hons) Human Psychology, Aston University, Birmingham
MSc Occupational Psychology, Birkbeck, University of London
PhD Organizational Psychology, Birkbeck, University of London

Teaching

Human Resource Development - MSc Human Resource Management
Organizational Behaviour and Human Resource Management – Executive MBA
Dissertation Supervision – MSc Human Resource Management

Postgraduate supervision

Radost Dineva (PT)
Annalise Galea (FT)
Nazia Saeed (FT)
Danni Dorn (PT)
Marcelle Wright (PT)

Past PhD students

Dr Giulia Guinti (FT)

Research

Professor Kenny’s research focuses on how careers are influenced by demographic categories. Her current work focuses on:

Minority ethnicity and career-related experiences
Women and careers in technology and other male-dominated professions
Social class and entry to elite careers

Etlyn has conducted research with employees from a wide range of organisations including the military, civil service, technology industry, investment banks, and the media. Etlyn’s research is funded by a range of funders including the ESRC, British Academy and the UK Government. Etlyn is currently the PI for an ESRC-funded project on how minority ethnic doctors transition through the stages of a medical career.

Other activities

Professional Qualifications

Chartered Psychologist, Division of Occupational Psychology, British Psychological Society
Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development
Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

Professional Memberships

Member of British Academy of Management
Member of European Association of Work and Organizational Psychology
Member of the American Academy of Management

External Examining Roles

External Examiner at the University of Liverpool and at Swansea University

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Fernando, D & Kenny, E 2023, 'The identity impact of witnessing selective incivility: a study of minority ethnic professionals', Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, vol. 96, no. 1, pp. 56-80. https://doi.org/10.1111/joop.12408

Fernando, D & Kenny, E 2021, 'Negotiating a sense of fit in elite higher education: exploring the identity work of "widening participation" students', Academy of Management Learning and Education, vol. 20, no. 2, pp. 133-155. https://doi.org/10.5465/amle.2019.0358

Kenny, E & Donnelly, R 2020, 'Navigating the gender structure in information technology: how does this affect the experiences and behaviours of women?', Human Relations, vol. 73, no. 3, pp. 326-350. https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726719828449

Fernando, D & Kenny, E 2018, 'Navigating panethnic categorization in the workplace: a study of British Sri Lankan employees', Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, vol. 91, no. 4, pp. 769-797. https://doi.org/10.1111/joop.12224

Kenny, EJ & Briner, RB 2014, 'Stereotype Threat and Minority Ethnic Employees: What Should Our Research Priorities Be?', Industrial and Organizational Psychology, vol. 7, no. 3, pp. 425-429. https://doi.org/10.1111/iops.12173

Kenny, E & Briner, R 2013, 'Increases in salience of ethnic identity at work: The roles of ethnic assignation and ethnic identification', Human Relations, pp. 725-748. https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726712464075

Kenny, E & Briner, R 2010, 'Exploring Ethnicity in Organizations', Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, pp. 348-363. https://doi.org/10.1108/02610151011042402

Kenny, E & Briner, R 2007, 'Ethnicity and behaviour in organizations: A review of British research', Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, vol. 80, no. 3, pp. 437-457. <https://bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1348/096317906X156313>

Chapter (peer-reviewed)

Kenny, E 2017, Minority ethnic employees experiences in the workplace. in T Cornish & T Calvard (eds), The Psychology of Ethnicity in Organisations. Palgrave Macmillan Ltd., pp. 11-35.

Commissioned report

Ashley, L, Birkett, H, Duberley, J & Kenny, E 2016, Socio-Economic Diversity in Life Sciences and Investment Banking. Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission. <https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/549994/Socio-economic_diversity_in_life_sciences_and_investment_banking.pdf>

Conference article

Kenny, E & Donnelly, R 2018, 'Navigating the gender structure in IT: examining women’s experiences and behaviors', Academy of Management. Annual Meeting Proceedings, vol. 2018, no. 1. https://doi.org/10.5465/AMBPP.2018.176

View all publications in research portal

Expertise

Dr Kenny’s work has provided her with useful insight into the role of ethnicity, social class and gender in the workplace. Her research focuses on how employees experience organisations as minorities and analyses organisational practices designed to create more equal access to career opportunities and progression.

Dr Kenny has conducted work with employees from a wide range of public and private sector organisations including those in banking and IT, the military and the civil service.

Read Etlyn’s blog on representation in management

Areas of expertise

Career experiences of minority ethnic employees
Women and careers in technology and other male-dominated professions
Social class and entry to elite careers