Department of Work and Employment Studies

Hello and welcome to the Department of Work and Employment Studies (WES). Established in 1994 as one of 4 constituent academic departments in the business School, WES’s scholarship in Personnel Management, Industrial Relations and Work Psychology extends back to the very foundation of the University in 1972. Today WES comprises 24 members of faculty and staff who are committed to excellence in teaching, research, service and community engagement. A values-driven Department, we champion decent, inclusive, and sustainable work and employment. In association with our colleagues here at the Kemmy Business School, we are committed to excellent and impactful teaching and to frontier research focused on major contemporary challenges. Our work addresses several sustainable development goals and with a particular focus on Healthy lives and Well-being (Goal 3), Quality Education (Goal 4), Decent Work (Goal 8), Gender Equality and Inclusive Societies (Goals 5 & 10).

Our team of leading academics work across a number of disciplinary fields including human resource management, employment relations, organisational behaviour, work psychology, leadership and learning and development. Together, we deliver a suite of programme and module offerings and impactful research outputs aimed at shaping sustainable, inclusive and equitable work and workplaces, and influencing national policy on a wide range of areas related to sustainable work, employment and societies.

Our work is underpinned by three overarching objectives:

  • To develop our students through evidence-based teaching that will facilitate their effective participation in business, community and society
  • To conduct rigorous impactful research that advances knowledge in our field and that positively shapes work, employment and society
  • To engage with our stakeholders and community through the provision of specialist knowledge and expertise

You can find details on the broad range of programmes we offer under the Programmes tab; our impactful and diverse research outputs and projects are captured under the Research tab; while our faculty and staff biographies, subject matter expertise, teaching and research activities, and engagements can be accessed under the Faculty and Staff profile tab.

Please feel free to contact us if you would like to know more about the Department and our work:

Head of Department

Prof Noreen Heraty 
Tel:   +353-61-202643/202380
Email: noreen.heraty@ul.ie

Department Co-ordinator

Julianne O'Brien
Tel:  +353-61-202380
Email: julianne.obrien@ul.ie

Location

The Department office is located on the third floor of the KBS Building; room KB3-16a.