- Leadership and management in Higher Education
- Leadership and gender in Higher Education
- Cross-cultural understandings of educational leadership
- The dynamics of insider research
- The industrial relations of educational institutions
- Human resource management (HR) in education
My own doctoral thesis investigated the power dynamics inherent in faculty appraisal, using a grounded theory approach. Since then, I have conducted research into the impact of CPD in schools; English and Russian understandings of educational leadership, and the role of the manager-academic in Higher Education.
I joined the University of Warwick in January 2010, and, for many year, led the MA in Educational Leadership (Teach First). Prior to this, I worked for five years at the University of Leicester in the School of Education, and for 15 years before that, I worked as a British Council project manager, Ministry of Education advisor, and Higher Education lecturer in Thailand, Turkey, China, Hungary, Oman and the United Arab Emirates. Not surprisingly, I am particularly interested in cross-cultural understandings of educational leadership, and was fortunate enough to lead two partnerships with Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia under the auspices of the British Degrees in Russia (BRIDGE) programme.
I was an elected Council member of the British Educational Leadership, Management and Administration Society (BELMAS). This is the foremost professional association for Educational Leadership in the UK and I would urge anyone with an interest in Educational Leadership to join. You gain access to a wide range of excellent events and to two of the best journals in the field, namely, Educational Leadership and Management (EMAL) and Management in Education.
My publications to date include articles on Higher Education leadership, cross-cultural collaboration, and the dynamics of insider-research. In 2010, I co-authored a Routledge book on Human Resource Management in Education and this remains the subject about which I am most passionate. Currently, I am writing up joint research into industrial relations in the HE sector and the UK professoriate.
I have supervised 15 doctoral students to completion (eight PhDs and seven EdDs). Nine of them conducted their research overseas (in Barbados, Kenya, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman and Vietnam). I have also worked with school business managers and middle leaders in the independent sector.
I have been the External Examiner for the EdDs run by the University of Birmingham, the University of Lincoln, and the British University in Dubai. I was also the External Examiner for the MSc Management and Leadership in Education run by the University of Strathclyde.
I believe a teacher's primary role is to ask challenging questions, rather than provide comprehensive answers, and I am particularly interested in helping learners deepen their understanding of what constitutes rigorous research. I also appreciate how hard it can be to juggle part-time study with other professional and personal commitments, having myself completed two MAs and a doctorate whilst holding down a demanding full-time job and raising three children.
- Mercer, Justine, 2021. Mapping the leadership development of UK (full) professors in terms of cognitive, experiential, humanist and social learning. Higher Education Research & Development, 40 (4), pp. 795-809
- Mercer, Justine, 2013. Responses to rejection : the experiences of six women early career researchers in the Education department of an English university. Women's Studies International Forum, 38, pp. 125-134
- Mercer, Justine, Pogosian, Victoria, 2013. Higher education leadership in Russia : a case study of mid-level academic management at an elite State university. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, 43 (2), pp. 184-202
- Mercer, Justine, Zhegin, Andrey, 2011. Developing a postgraduate dual-award in educational leadership : a Russian pelican meets an English rose. International Journal of Educational Development, Vol.31 (No.2), pp. 109-117
- Mercer, Justine, 2009. Junior academic-manager in higher education : an untold story?. International Journal of Educational Management, Vol.23 (No.4), pp. 348-359
- Mercer, Justine, 2007. The challenges of insider research in educational institutions : wielding a double-edged sword and resolving delicate dilemmas. Oxford Review of Education, 33 (1), pp. 1-17
- Stevenson, Howard, Mercer, Justine, 2015. Education reform in England and the emergence of social movement unionism : the National Union of Teachers in England. In Bascia, Nina (ed.), Teacher unions in public education : politics, history and the future, New York, Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 169-187
- Thomas-Gregory, Annette, Mercer, Justine, 2014. Investing in our education? Leading, learning, researching and the doctorate. In Taysum, Alison; Rayner, Stephen (eds.), Investing in our Education: leading, learning, researching and the doctorate, UK, Emerald, pp. 213-232
- Mercer, Justine, 2012. Leading and managing staff. Brundrette, Mark (ed.), Principles of School Leadership, London, Sage Publications Ltd
- Mercer, Justine, Barker , Bernard, Bird, Richard, 2010. Human resource management in education : contexts, themes, and impact. London, Routledge
- Mercer, Justine, 2010. Book review : Rethinking educational leadership : from improvement to transformation : by John West-Burnham, London: Continuum Press, 2009, ISBN 9781855396586 (pbk) 24.99. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, pp. 515-516
Title | Funder | Award start | Award end |
---|---|---|---|
Leadership Development for College Principals in the Further Education Sector | British Educational Leadership Management and Administration Society (BELMAS) | 01 Jan 2014 | 31 Dec 2014 |
Small Scale Research Award 2012: The Devil in the Detail? A comparative analysis of Teachers working conditions in different types of schools | British Educational Leadership Management and Administration Society (BELMAS) | 01 Sept 2012 | 31 Aug 2014 |
Leadership Foundation (lead: Leeds): Professional academic leadership in turbulent times: the professoriates perspectives | Leadership Foundation for Higher Education (LFHE) | 01 Mar 2012 | 28 Feb 2013 |