Dr Mengyi Xu

• PhD in Human Resource Management & Industrial Relations
• MA in Human Resource Management
• PGcert in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education
• BSc in Public Administration 

Dr Mengyi Xu joined Birmingham Business School in 2024. Prior to this, she served as Assistant Professor in HRM & Employment Relations and Programme Director of the MSc Management & HRM at Cranfield University, and as Lecturer in HRM & Organisational Behaviour at Anglia Ruskin University. Before entering academia, she worked as an HR professional, bilingual teacher, and TV reporter and director.

Mengyi’s research centres on three areas: the work–life interface, new ways of working, and migrant work and career experiences. She examines how employees manage work and non-work boundaries to sustain wellbeing and performance, the implications of hybrid work and working-time reduction (e.g. four-day work week and compressed hours) for employees and organisations, and the experiences of East and Southeast Asian migrant workers in Western workplaces. Her work has been published in leading international journals, including the International Journal of Human Resource Management, and has been supported by the British Academy of Management, Forces in Mind Trust, and the Wellcome Trust ASPIRE programme.

She brings a broad teaching and supervision portfolio spanning Human Resource Management, Employment Relations, and Organisational Behaviour across undergraduate, postgraduate, MBA, and executive education levels. Her teaching is informed by her research, consultancy, and international experience across both Western and Eastern contexts. She is passionate about helping students connect theory to practice and supporting their professional development, and has been recognised through nominations and awards for Teaching Excellence and Outstanding Personal Tutorship.

Mengyi teaches a range of subjects related to HRM, work, and organisations, including:

• Full-time MBA | Change Management

• BSc Business Management (Singapore) | International Human Resource Management

Mengyi supervises doctoral research in Human Resource Management and the future of work. She has supervised PhD students working on topics related to artificial intelligence and algorithmic control, and their implications for HRM and organisations.

She welcomes PhD students interested in the following areas, using qualitative or mixed methods approaches:

• Work–life interface and boundary management
• Flexible working (e.g. hybrid and remote work); work-time reduction (e.g. four-day work week, compressed hours)
• Experiences of East Asian and Southeast Asian employees in Western workplaces
• The future of work in China

Prospective students are encouraged to email a CV and a brief research proposal to discuss potential supervision.

Mengyi’s research focuses on the following three areas: 

The work–life interface: examines how employees manage and integrate work and non-work domains to sustain wellbeing and performance. This includes a particular interest in work–life boundary management and its implications for individuals, managers, and organisations, drawing on research conducted in both the UK and China.

New ways of working: explores hybrid work, working-time reduction, and related changes in the future of work. She is particularly interested in how new working arrangements, including the four-day work week and compressed hours, shape employee experiences, organisational practices, and wider societal outcomes, especially in the context of AI and ongoing workplace transformation.

Work and career experiences of East and Southeast Asian migrant workers: explores how intersectionality (e.g. migration, race, gender, language, and organisational context) shapes their workplace inclusion, recognition, and career development.

She adopts a mixed-methods approach, combining qualitative methods such as interviews, diaries, and autoethnography with quantitative approaches including surveys and digital data analysis.

Recent projects include:

• Tackling Hidden Workplace and Career Barriers for East and Southeast Asians in the West, funded by the Wellcome Trust ASPIRE programme 
• The Four-Day Work Week: Perceptions, Experiences, and Work Outcomes, funded by Work Inclusivity Research Centre 
• Work–Life Boundary Management in the Context of Hybrid Working, funded by the British Academy of Management 

 Mengyi holds/held the following roles and affiliations:

• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA)
• Early Career Fellow & Experts Panel, Work-Family Researcher Network
• Academic Member (2023-), Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD)
• External Examiner (2023-2027), MSc HRM, University of Surrey
• Council Member (2022-2023), British Academy of Management (BAM); Events Officer & Committee Member (2021-2024), HRM Special Interest Group
• Working Member (2021-), Association of British Chinese Professors
• Member (2019-), Academy of Management
• Reviewer for ESRC New Investigator Grant, HRM Journal, Journal of Business Ethics, Work, Employment and Society, New Technology, Work and Employment, International Journal of HRM, Employee Relations, Asia Pacific of Business Review, HRM textbooks for SAGE Publication and Kogan Page Publishing