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Professional Learning and Management Education (PLME) Research Group

The Professional Learning and Management Education (PLME) Research Group at Northumbria University is a vibrant and developing cross-faculty research community within the Faculty of Business and Law. The group focuses on practice-led research in professional learning and management education, with high ambitions for influencing policy and practice.

Our PLME Convenors extend a warm welcome to you.

 

Key Ambition

The PLME Research Group is a supportive and developmental community of interdisciplinary researchers from across academic, doctoral student and professional support areas interested in professional, legal, management learning, education, and scholarship. 

The group is ambitious in developing high quality research and scholarship across both the quantitative and qualitative paradigms, aided by internal and external funding grants and will be innovative in exploring knowledge exchange opportunities to support the development of policy and practice.



Research Focus

 Our research is driven by the question:

How can research and innovation in Professional Learning and Management Education impact policy and practice, especially within the disciplines of Business-Management and Law?

This central question shapes our projects and collaborations, ensuring our work is relevant and impactful.


Research Environment

The PLME Research Group provides a friendly and supportive environment for those interested in developing their pedagogical research. We aim to support colleagues across the Research Group through a programme of Researcher Development workshops, as well as our “Learn at Lunch” and “Seminar Series”.

Follow us on X (formerly known as Twitter) for the latest news, updates, and events.


NBS Research

PLME Development Support

Our PLME Researcher Development programme is a six-month initiative designed to support participants across all phases of the research cycle, from generating a research idea to submitting a manuscript to a journal and responding to reviewers’ comments. The programme typically comprises:

  • Workshops on research methodologies and techniques
  • Sessions on academic writing and publishing
  • Peer review and feedback mechanisms
  • Opportunities to present and refine research ideas

Achievements and Impact

The group has made significant contributions through practice-led research, publications, conferences, and workshops. We aim to offer evidence-based policy recommendations to support the Department of Business and Law and inform good practice in UK Higher Education more generally.

Our members lead and influence sector-leading bodies such as the British Academy of Management's Management Knowledge and Education community [hyperlink to https://www.bam.ac.uk/bam-community/management-knowledge-and-education.html], the University Vocational Awards Council HE Tripartite Professionals network [hyperlink text to https://uvac.ac.uk/higher-education-tripartite-professionals/], and the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development Northern Policy Forum [hyperlink to https://www.cipd.org/uk/about/where-we-work/north-england/]. We also host the International Journals of Clinical Legal Education (IJCLE )and Public Legal Education, as well as the IJCLE annual conference.

Our research methods incorporate both qualitative and quantitative approaches. We actively collaborate with industry partners, educational institutions, and policymakers to ensure our research has practical relevance and a positive impact.



Areas of Research and Current Projects

Members of the group are engaged in research that is wide ranging, across all areas of Business and Law. This includes:

  • Contemporary innovations in management and legal education
  • Professional and manager learning and identity formation
  • Supporting learners' skill and competency development
  • Intersections of formal and informal learning


 

Our members are currently involved in a range of projects, including:

  • Later career working, bridge jobs and identity work (Professor Kate Black
  • Placements as a site for students' professional identity formation (Professor Kate Black and Dr Phil Oliver)
  • Navigating the Post Pandemic University (Dr Emma Thirkell)
  • Integrating on-and-off the job learning in apprenticeship education (Professor Kate Black and Dr Emma Thirkell)
  • Gamification in responsible management education (Dr Helen Tracey and Dr Emma Thirkell)
  • The emergent new role of ‘tripartite practitioner’ (i.e. apprenticeship coach) across the English and Welsh apprenticeship sector (Dr Helen Charlton)
  • Perceptions and implications of AI detectors on various stakeholders in HE and Testing the performance of AI detectors to against various evasion techniques (Dr Tadhg Blommerde)
  • Investigating the gap between the data skills taught to students and the skills which are required by industry (Dr Liz Cunningham)
  • Entrepreneurship education and explorations of neurodivergent student experiences of an experiential entrepreneurship education programme (Dr Kellie Forbes-Simpson)

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