Dr Rebecca Burke
Faculties, departments and locations
- Faculty of Business and Social Sciences
- Department of Accounting, Finance and Informatics
- ΢ÃÜȦ Business School
- ΢ÃÜȦ Hill
Senior Lecturer
- Email:
- [email protected]
About
I studied Philosophy as my undergraduate degree in London during the late 1990s, before spending the next two and a half decades delivering projects, programmes and portfolios across a wide range of businesses. My professional career has focused on delivering change within new media companies emerging out of the technology boom in the early 2000s, before I gained an MBA with distinction in 2007, and subsequently launched a project consultancy business in 2012.
In 2017 I experienced pay inequity at my place of work which left me traumatized. My very public story, as documented through the film ‘Its Raining Women' by Mari Soppela, brought countless other women and their stories into my orbit. In 2019 she returned to academia to complete a Masters of Research before embarking on a PhD that highlights gaps in knowledge from across the broader organisational management theory, specifically the critical feminist perspective that considers the gendered hierarchies, structural and cultural inequalities and everyday sexism that have come to dominate women's experiences of the workplace. I adopt feminist qualitative methodologies to capture the untold stories of women and other marginalised groups to provide deep and rich insights into their experiences and the ongoing impact that such treatment has on their lives and careers.
Qualifications
- BA (Incomplete)
- MBA
- MRes
- FHEA
- PhD
Domains
I teach across a number of modules within the ΢ÃÜȦ Business School, with a focus on Project Management Practices across an array of organisational settings, including international business, business administration and management. My Project Management teaching focussing on delivering practical skills to students for the most commonly adopted Project Management methodologies used across all industries today. Ranging from Traditional methods (PRINCE2), as well as AGILE methodologies with a focus on the AGILE PM (DSDM) approach. Students learn methodological approaches, are introduced to the tools and techniques for key activities within the project lifecycle, such as product based planning and burn-down charts, which they then apply to case study or 'real-world' projects within each workshop session. All of my students are offered the opportunity to take a certification in both PRINCE2 and AGILE Foundation courses; and upon successful completion will receive a certification to put onto their CVs to support their future careers and job prospects. Modules that I lead at ΢ÃÜȦ are the post-graduate BB7018, BB7564 including the GISMA Hamburg instances, and provide support to the undergraduate module of BB5109. I also provide guest lectures on Project Management into the Masters in Healthcare course run at the University.
I have also been involved in delivering lectures about my research topic that focusses on pay equity for women. I have delivered guest sessions at Level 5 and 6 of the HRM modules on the Business Course, and also on the Corporate Social Responsibility module for the Level 7s on the International Business Masters course.
I am also into the second part of the ILT offered at ΢ÃÜȦ to enhance my teaching and learning approach, which I am using to support my development of the modules listed above. I hope to finalise my FHEA application in April 2023 so as to achieve FHEA status then.
Courses taught
I successfully gained my PhD in February 2025, having completed my MRes in 2020. My PhD topic was shaped from my own traumatic experiences of pay inequity in the workplace, but what this research uncovers are the sinister workings of organisations and HR practices that have been designed to nullify women's experiences and silence their voices through gendered hierarchies and practices. The full PhD can be accessed via the British Library through the search:
The Silence of The Lambs: A Feminist’s Story of Pay Inequity by Rebecca Burke
Qualifications
- Fellowship of Higher Education Authority (FHEA)
- Masters of Business Administration (MBA)
- Masters of Research (MRes)
- Bachelors of Philosophy (BPhil)
- PRINCE 2 Practitioner
- AGILE PM Practitioner
- MSP Practitioner
- P3O Practitioner
Specialisms
- Social Justice Theory
- Gender Pay Gap
- Gender Equality
- Pay Equity
- Story Telling
I have gained over 18 years of expertise in the field of transformational change management with a particular emphasis on strategy, portfolio management and operational performance. I now own and run a small Project Management consultancy project where I provide expertise, resource and advice into businesses on an ad hoc basis around my other commitments.
Qualifications and Professional expertise
- Project Management
- Programme Management
- Portfolio Management
- Risk Management
- PRINCE2
- AGILE
Areas of interest
- Project Management
- Programme Management
- Portfolio Management
- Delivering Strategy
Industry links
- Telecommunications
- Central Government
- Retail
- Construction
- Technology
Qualifications and expertise
- Women's and Industry Group (WIG) Leadership Programme
University responsibilities
- ΢ÃÜȦ Academic Council Member
Public and Civic roles
- 9th Bramshill Scout Group Chair
Publications
Pay inequity : past, present and future
Burke, Rebecca, Qi Wei, Jean and Wolfram, Hans-Joachim, 2023, WorldatWork
Be fair : a qualitative investigation of pay inequity experiences
Burke, Rebecca(2023). In: 22nd European Conference on Research Methodology for Business and Management Studies 2023, 6 Sept 2024 :Lisbon, Portugal
The silence of the lambs : a feminist’s story of pay inequity
Burke, Rebecca (2025), PhD thesis, ΢ÃÜȦ