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Valerie Caven

Valerie Caven

Senior Lecturer

Nottingham Business School

Staff Group(s)
Department of Human Resource Management

Role

Valerie is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Human Resource Management and a member of the College Ethics team. As Valerie is on a fractional contract (0.2) her role comprises primarily the supervision of doctoral students and reviewing applications for ethical approval of proposed research projects. She is also a module tutor, project supervisor and mentor on the NBS Online MBA programme.

Valerie continues to maintain a research profile and is Principal Investigator on a funded research project examining gendered jobs for a large local employer. She researches and writes research articles and has recently edited a collection of three books on hidden inequalities in the workplace with her colleague Dr Stefanos Nachmias for Palgrave Macmillan.

Prior to joining NTU Val was Course Leader for MSc Human Resource Management and Training (Singapore) at the University of Leicester. Her early career was in the private sector where she worked as a Quantity Surveyor in both private practice and client organisation environments. Her knowledge and experience of the construction industry has significantly influenced her research interests of construction industry careers, women in male-dominated work environments and diversity issues. Her international teaching experience has enabled her to develop cross-national comparative perspectives to her work having carried out studies in France, Lithuania and Spain with Marie Diop, Dr Vita Urbanavičienė and Dr Elena Navarro Astor.

Career overview

Prior to joining NTU Val was Course Leader for MSc Human Resource Management and Training (Singapore) at the University of Leicester. Her early career was in the private sector where she worked as a Quantity Surveyor in both private practice and client organisation environments. Her knowledge and experience of the construction industry has significantly influenced her research interests of construction industry careers, women in male-dominated work environments and diversity issues. Her international teaching experience has enabled her to develop cross-national comparative perspectives to her work having carried out studies in France, Lithuania and Spain with Marie Diop, Dr Vita Urbanavičienė  and Dr Elena Navarro Astor.

Research areas

As an active researcher Val has authored and co-authored a number of academic, peer-reviewed publications, including conference papers, book chapters and journal articles which enhance her capability as a lecturer by ensuring that her subject knowledge remains current and also through enabling engagement with and reflection on different approaches to teaching and learning. Current and recent research includes:

The transfer of EU diversity and equality into practice by Member States (with Professor Rob Ackrill, also of NBS).

Equality and Diversity at Work, the success or otherwise of initiatives in the construction industry

An edited book titled ‘Hidden Inequalities’ (with Dr Stefanos Nachmias) to be published May 2017 by Palgrave Macmillan.

Cross-national comparative study of architectural careers in UK, France, Lithuania and Spain, in conjunction with Dr Elena Navarro Astor, Universidad Politecnica de Valencia, Spain and Marie Diop (formerly of NTU) from 2010 ongoing.

Work-Life Balance among construction industry professionals, with Dr Ani Raiden, Nottingham Business School and Professor Christine Raisanen, Chalmers University, Sweden, 2009-2012.

The socialisation of students into the architecture profession, with Dr K Sang, Norwich Business School, University of East Anglia, 2010.

She frequently reviews papers for academic journals including Gender, Work and Organization, Personnel Review and British Journal of Management. Val is a member of the ARCOM (Association of Researchers in Construction Management) Scientific Committee and Stream Convenor for the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and Gender, Work and Organization Conferences in 2016.

External activity

External examiner at Bournemouth University

Press expertise

Dr Caven can offer comment on working in the construction industry; diversity issues in the construction industry; work-life balance in the construction industry; women in construction.