Professor Vanessa A Beck

I am interested in individuals and groups at the margins of the labour market, including those who are unemployed or underemployed, and who experience multiple and complex barriers to (decent) employment. My work centres on the interrelationship between individual experiences and social or structural contexts, with a particular focus on gender and age. 

Most recently, I lead an ESRC-funded project entitled: "A sociological investigation of underemployment and the lived experiences of underemployed workers" (see https://underemployment.info). In this project, we analysed the intersectionality of characteristics and effects of underemployment using qualitative and quantitative data in an iterative manner. By fully understanding lived experiences of underemployment the aim was to improve circumstances for underemployed people, their families and communities, and also importantly employers and the economy, who might not be making best use of the labour force abilities or skills.

In the past, I have undertaken extensive research into unemployment and redundancy, as well as the management of older workers, in particular in relation to menopause transitions in the workplace. My research has been funded by the European Commission, the UK Government’s Equality Office, ACAS, the Independent Social Research Foundation and the ESRC. I publish in journals such as Work, Employment and Society, Human Resource Management Journal, Organization, Education + Training, and the Journal of Education and Work.