Dr Myrtle Emmanuel

Dr Myrtle Emmanuel PhD, MSc, BA (Hons), SFHEA, MCIPD, CMBE

Associate Professor in HRM & Organisational Behaviour; Academic Lead for Race Equity

Key details

Dr Myrtle Emmanuel

Associate Professor in HRM & Organisational Behaviour; Academic Lead for Race Equity

Dr. Myrtle Emmanuel is an Associate Professor in Human Resource Management and Organisational Behaviour with the Greenwich Business School.  She also serves as the Academic Lead for Race Equity in a seconded university-wide role within the Vice Chancellor’s Office.   

Myrtle holds a PhD in Management from Henley Business School, with her doctoral research exploring career management strategies of graduates.  Her research and academic practice are rooted in social and racial justice, focusing on the lived experiences of marginalised groups. Her scholarly work spans several critical areas including the historical narratives of Windrush Nurses, mental health disparities among African-Caribbean communities, and the employment outcomes of racially minorities graduates.

Myrtle has managed collaborative research and knowledge exchange projects, including the development of a mental health toolkit funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). She is also involved in activities related to employability and leads the Decolonial Antiracist Pedagogies Group, which works on inclusive teaching practices across disciplines. Her research has been featured by BBC’s New Thinking and continues to influence national policy and practice.

As Academic Lead for Race Equity, she has been instrumental in shaping institutional change through leading the creation of the University’s Race Action Plan and contributing to its submission to the Race Equality Charter. Her efforts have focused on closing the BAME awarding gap, embedding inclusive curricula, and organising student-centred initiatives such as the Reimagining HRM Unconference and the BME Early Career Researchers Conference.

In recognition of her contributions to racial equity and inclusion in higher education Myrtle has received the Greenwich Excellence Staff Award (2023) and the Inclusivity Champion Award (2021). She is widely respected for her commitment to transformative education and continues to inspire colleagues and students through her leadership, scholarship, and advocacy for racial equity.

Human resources

Responsibilities within the university

    University-Wide Roles
    2020 - 2024 EDI Race Business Partner, Leading the development and implementation of the University's Race Action Plan

    2025 - Current:

    • Academic Lead for Race Equity
    • Leading Special Interest Group: Decolonising Academic Pedagogy
    • Leading Allyship in Action: Leading senior leaders as Allies for Race Equity.

    Recent Taught Modules within GBS

    • Developing Professional Practice in HRM (Module Leader - Level 7 CIPD qualification),
    • Strategies for Resourcing & Talent Management – (Module Leader - Level 7 CIPD qualification),
    • Career & Professional Practice (Module leader - Level 6 CIPD Immediate qualification),
    • PG dissertation supervision for MA HRM & International HRM students.

    PhD Supervision

    • 2021: Muhammed Aziz - VC Scholarship (First Supervisor), University to Work Transitions: Closing the Employment Gap for BAME Graduates.
    • 2021: Ibiyemi Akinkuade - (First Supervisor), Hybrid Employee Onboarding (First Supervisor).

    Other Roles:

    • 2018-2022 – Programme Leader for MA HRM (CIPD Accredited)
    • 2015 – 2018 – Department Employability lead tutor.

Awards
  • 2023 - University of Greenwich Excellence Staff Award
  • 2022 - Student Learning & Teaching Award for The Office Choice Award work
  • 2021 - University of Greenwich Inclusivity Champion Staff Award

Recognition
  • 2023 - Present: External Examiner for the London School of Economics & Robert Gordon University
  • 2025 - Nominated by St Lucian’s High Commissioner to attend The King's Garden Party at Buckingham Palace to celebrate and recognise those working on Education and Skills
  • 2024 - University Alliance Braveheart Award (Finalist)
  • 2025 - Evenfields Black Talent Award for Excellence in Education  Finalist)

Research / Scholarly interests

Graduate university-to-work transitional experiences and outcomes, Work-based learning: Working lives from Race & Intersectional lens, Race equity within public sector organisations.

PHD Completions:

  • 2020: Joanne Gosling, Work-Based Learning: The Acquisition of Skills and Expertise for Higher Educational Professional Practice. Current PhD Student:
  • 2025: Catherine Emeordi-Okeke - (First Supervisor) ‘Investigating the employability and career progression of trainees following the Degree Apprenticeships route into management positions in England’

Key funded projects

  • 2023:  National Lottery funding (£9,860K). Principal-Investigator for Windrush Diamond Jubilee public engagement event: GRE Windrush 75: Connecting Generations. Aim: Filming of a new Windrush film and panel discussion to strengthen local community engagement by encouraging shared understanding of the Windrush Story between those of different age groups and ethnic backgrounds.
  • 2023:  Arts & Humanities Research Council Funding (39,520K). Principal Investigator for Re-igniting Windrush Folk stories and songs to improve African-Caribbean mental health disparities in the local community of Greenwich & Lewisham.
  • 2022: Under-employment in university STEM graduates in Trinidad & Tobago Project (12K). Co-Investigator for Centre for Research
  • in Employment & Work funding Towards an entrepreneurial solution which included visit to Trinidad and Tobago by to conduct interviews with 40 graduate participants and stakeholders.
  • 2019: Local Government funding (10K).  Co-Investigator for project to develop a new dramatised production on the working lives and
  • legacy of Windrush Nurses, to further develop the pioneering work of the Caribbean nurses and allied health professional in the NHS.
  • 2017 - University of Greenwich Business Faculty Development Fund (£5K).  Principle Investigator for Project on the Development of
  • an innovative customised online diagnostic tool for final year HR and Business Management students to leverage their networks and enhance their employability.
  • 2012: Centre for Career Management Studies, Henley Business School, University of Reading (7K). Principle Investigator for Project: ‘The relational nature of undergraduates’ career management’.

Media activity

Recent publications

Presentations

Recent Research and Knowledge Exchange Events

  • June 2025 - Co-led ‘The Windrush legacy: Celebration Community Voices’ as part of a Windrush Summit hosted by University of Greenwich  & National Windrush Museum.
  • June 2025 -‘Echoes of Care: The Windrush Nurses Legacy in the NHS’.  Invited Speaker for Financial Conduct Authority’s Windrush Event
  • Feb 2025 – ‘University of Greenwich Race Action Plan: Our Journey’. Invited speaker for Kent Police Race Action Plan Conference

Conference Presentations

  • July 2024 - Principal organiser for 8th BME Early Career Researcher Conference hosted by the Greenwich University and co-hosted by another university ECR Conference
  • Emmanuel, M. & Rauseo, S. (2024). Beyond Boarders: Gender, Work, Migration in the Lens of intersectionality: Insights from the Voices of Windrush Nurses. The 48th Annual Caribbean Studies Association, Saint Lucia.
  • Emmanuel, M & Owusu-Kwarteng, L .(2023). Unpacking decolonisation and recentring the student experience in Higher Education.  Paper presented at the Learning and Teaching Medway Conference.
  • Vandekerckhove, W & Emmanuel, M. (2023). Inherent normativity of metaphors: ethics, organisations, and moral imagination:  Paper presented at European Academy of Management Conference in June.  Dublin.
  • Emmanuel, M. (2022). Principal Organiser and speaker for Windrush Festival public engagement event to take a wider global perspective in exploring at how the UK and US immigration policies shape black communities in the context of the law, work and lived experiences and to commemorate the contribution of the Windrush generation and their descendants.Windrush Day Seminar & Festival: And Still I Rise was a huge success - UoG Article in June
  • Emmanuel, M. & Rauseo, S. (2021a). ‘The working lives of Windrush Nurses in post-war Britain: A postcolonial-intersectional perspective’ Paper presented at the Work, Employment and Society Conference 2021 (online UK) in August 2021
  • Emmanuel, M., Linton, K. & Rauseo, S. (2021) ‘Decolonising Greenwich: Moving Beyond Reading Lists’, Workshop at the British Academy Conference 2021 Annual Conference (Online UK) in September 2021.
  • Emmanuel, M. (2021). ‘Workplace Resilience of the Windrush NHS Nurses: An Intersectional Approach’, Paper presented at the CIPD Applied Research Conference (Online UK) in January 2021.
  • Emmanuel, M.  & Henry L.  & Reynolds, T. (2020).‘Windrush Day 2020:  Across the Seas’:  Working in partnership with The National Maritime Museum and the Caribbean Social Forum.
  • Emmanuel, M. (2020). Invited speaker: ‘Windrush Day: The Invaluable & Lasting Contribution of the Windrush Generation to the NHS’: Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy. (attended by 1,100delegates).
  • Emmanuel, M. (2019). Touched by black hands: Windrush nurses speak out | Articles | University of Greenwich
  • Emmanuel, M.  & Henry L., Reynolds, T  & Solonke, A. (2019): ‘Voices of the Windrush Nurses: reflections on a dramatisation of the oral histories of Caribbean Nurses’. Oral History Conference, Swansea University.