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Staff Profile

Dr Sara Zaeemdar

Lecturer in Organisation Studies

Background

I joined Newcastle University Business School in September 2018. My research is focused on use of theatre-based interventions and their outcomes, specifically those concerned with identity construction of organisation members in contemporary organisations. I am also interested in exploring gender and gendered identities in the context of work and organisation, in particular, through the lens of feminist studies. 

I have been involved in teaching at undergraduate and postgraduate levels in Organisation Studies, Organisational Behaviour and Cross Cultural Management in different institutions such as University of Wollongong and University of New South Wales in Australia, and Northumbria University since moving to the UK.


Education

  • PhD in Management, Macquarie Graduate School of Management, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
  • M.Sc. in Management and Economics of Innovation, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden
  • B.Sc. in Industrial & Systems Engineering, Sharif University of Technology (SUT), Tehran, Iran


Academic Leadership:

  • PGR Convenor for the Leadership, Work and Organisation group, Newcastle University Business School since 2021
  • Deputy Director of PGR at the Business School since 2023
  • Degree Programme Director - MSc Management since 2024


Professional Membership

  • Fellowship of The Higher Education Academy


Board membership:

  • Standing Conference on Organizational Symbolism (SCOS)
Research

I am interested in research related to:

 

  • Self and Identity: Investigating identity regulation and identity work in and around organisations
  • Gender, Work and Organisation: Gendered work in the neoliberal era, emergence of neoliberal feminism and postfeminism and their implications for working women’s self-construction
  • Dramaturgy: dramaturgical framing of social life in organisational settings, frame analysis, artistic interventions in organisations
  • Management Learning and Development: Use of art-based methods such as theatre in management training and development and their implications for construction of managerial identities
  • PGR Research Culture and Academic Identity: Community building with and for doctoral students in the context of the neoliberal universities (with a focus on business schools), PGR research culture and academic identities and careers


PhD Supervision

I am interested in supervising qualitative projects with a critical approach to organisation and management, related to:

  • gender, feminism, identity and work & organisation
  • art-based methods in management training and development
  • narrative, drama and theatre in and around organisations


Current PhD students


Current Projects:

  • Developing an Inclusive Future for Management Studies: Feminist Academic Community-Building with Doctoral Students and Early Career Researchers. Funder: Society for the Advancement of Management Studies (SAMS). Lead investigator. With Prof Alison Pullen (Macquarie University) and Dr Alexia Panayiotou (University of Cyprus). 2024-2027
  • Developing the Management Studies Community through Enhancement of Business and Management Doctoral Students' Research Culture. Society for the Advancement of Management Studies (SAMS). Lead investigator. With Newcastle University colleagues Prof Susan Kirk, Prof Tracy Scurry, Prof David Lain, and Dr Marti Lopez-Andreu.2023-2026
  • The Second Newcastle University Inclusivity Game Jam: An innovative student-led event exploring gender and intersectionality through creative forms. Newcastle University EDI Fund. Co-Investigator. With Dr Ken Pierce (Newcastle University) as Lead. 2024-2025


Previous Projects:

  • Inclusivity Game Jam: An Experimental Student-focused Workshop Facilitating Collective Design of Games about Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI). Funded by the Catherine Cookson Foundation. Leader investigator, in collaboration with Dr Ken Pierce. 2023-2024
  • AIRAANZ: Symposia Funding. Funded by the Association of Industrial Relations Academics in Australia and New Zealand. Co-investigator with Dr Mahan Poorhosseinzadeh and Dr Parth Patel (Australian Institute of Business), Prof Christine Naschberger (Audiencia Business School), and Dr Maranda Ridgway (Nottingham Business School).
  • Enhancing the PGR Culture at the Business School. Funded by Newcastle University's Research Culture Fund. Lead Investigator, with Prof David Lain, Prof Tracy Scurry and Prof Susan Kirk.
Teaching

BUS3033- Critical Organisation Studies

BUS2019- Understanding Work and Organisations

BUS2021- Work and Organisation 

NBS8326- Managing Organisations and People


 

Publications