Dr Ola Thomson
- Lecturer in Human Resources and Organisational Behaviour
- Dorset House D135, Talbot Campus, Fern Barrow, Poole, BH12 5BB
Biography
I am a social science academic with an interest in human resource management, qualitative research and participatory methods. My particular research interests relate to equality, diversity and inclusion, and gender equality, knowledge work and scientific careers, and how employees thrive in work organisations.
I have been involved in a Horizon 2020 project, ACT on Gender, a multi-partner consortium working together to create communities of practice to accelerate gender equality in higher education and research careers in EU and beyond. You can read about this project and its outcomes here: https://act-on-gender.eu/.
More recently, I have worked on a project funded by Wellcome Trust at the Elizabeth Blackwell Institute for Health Research, University of Bristol. I co-authored a book about practical ways for nurturing research careers. I also worked to promote equality, diversity and inclusion in health and biomedical research careers at Bristol and more widely with collaborators such as EDIS (Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in Science and Health), and DORA (Declaration on Research Assessment)...
I am a Management Committee Member for COST Action VOICES funded by the EU. I lead the Mentoring subgroup within Working Group on Employment, Career Development and Mobilities, tasked with mapping mentoring programmes and establishing good practice that can be shared. VOICES aims to increase the visibility of inequalities faced by Early Career Researchers and Innovators from a gender perspective. It promotes a sustainable dialogue between researchers and stakeholders in the research ecosystem at the systemic level (European & national policy-makers) and at the institutional level (senior researchers, academic managers). We achieve this by creating a community of gender equality practitioners composed of various stakeholders (researchers, independent researchers, academic managers, organizations) across Europe. You can find more information here: https://gendervoices.eu/.
My PhD focused on the experiences of women knowledge workers, flexible work arrangements, and theories relating to agentic practices, organisational structures, gender, ideal worker norms, and institutional change.
I have a Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) and I am Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
moreExpertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person's work contributes towards the following SDGs:
Decent work and economic growth
"Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all"
