Personal statement
My academic interests address the social and strategic contexts of low skills employment, with particular focus on hospitality and tourism. This interest stems from over 30 years of experience in the strategic planning and development of vocational and professional education and training, as a research director within the public sector, as an educator in universities and as consultant to the private sector and to public sector, internationally funded projects across five continents. A key focus of my work addresses the role of public and private stakeholders in planning and HRD for the diverse employment environment of hospitality and tourism. Much of my strategic development work in this area has been located in developing country contexts in Asia and Africa. I also collaborate in research which addresses related areas of employment including migrant work and episodic, events volunteering.
I am currently the Head of Department in the Department of HRM and have previously spent 7 years heading up the former Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management and The Scottish Hotel School. I led the development of overseas partnership programmes in Hong Kong and Iran. I have published extensively on themes relating to people and work within hospitality and tourism and am regularly invited to address international conferences worldwide. I has also supervised in the over 35 successful PhD students working in this and related areas of HRD in tourism and hospitality and has been an examiner for over 50 candidates. I hold or have held visiting appointments to universities in Australia, Estonia, Finland, France, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Spain and Switzerland and have been a panel member for institutional and programme reviews in 12 countries.