Activities
Institute members are involved in a variety of other activities and events.
2024/25
Researching equality at work and in society in a hostile political context
On 16 July 2025, the WEI and the Centre on the Dynamics of Ethnicity (CoDE) held a workshop on ‘Researching equality at work and in society in a hostile political context’. This workshop discussed and reflected on the challenges faced by academics and researchers working on equality, inclusion and social justice in “hostile” contexts, namely those increasingly characterised by a systematic attack to freedom of research and expression. This specific event was based on a roundtable discussion after short presentations considering the implications of current US politics and policies on the individual experiences of scholars, as well as for academic research more generally. It also reflected on the emerging outcomes in terms of social inclusion and social justice.
We were pleased to host Shamus Rahman Khan, Willard Thorp Professor of Sociology and American Studies, Department of Sociology, Princeton University and Nelarine Cornelius, Professor of Organisation Studies and Associate Dean for Academic Staff Development in the School of Business and Management, to present at this workshop.
AI, Law, Climate Justice & Workplace Inequalities Workshop: Exploring the role of Large Language Models (LLMs)
On Monday, 14 July 2025, the WEI and the Climate and Justice Group hosted an interdisciplinary, in-person and online workshop that explored how AI, especially large language models like ChatGPT, can be used in research and action around climate justice, legal accountability, and workplace inequality.
The workshop focused on three key questions:
- How AI is affecting academic work in the humanities – including teaching, writing, and the evolving nature of our roles.
- How AI is shaping research priorities and subjects – particularly in relation to climate justice, nature-society relations, global value chains/trade, inequalities, and the future of work.
- How AI is being integrated into research methods and analysis – focusing on the creative, messy, or uneasy ways we are currently experimenting with these tools.
Read more about the Climate and Justice Group.
Intersectional inequalities in work and employment (relations)
On 10 June 2025, Stefania Marino chaired a workshop focusing on the meanings of intersectional research in the study of work and employment including the way in which intersectionality is embedded in industrial relations analysis. The workshop included examples of the application of the intersectional approach to empirical research as well as more theoretical reflections on the impact of such an approach in promoting inclusion and social justice.
Presenters included visiting research fellow with the WEI Lucia Amorosi, Jenny Rodriguez and PhD student Shreya Roy Choudhury with comments from discussants Anne McBride and Miriam Ronzoni (SoSS).
How to create a good food revolution with Prof. Kevin Morgan
On 25 June 2025, the WEI along with MIOIR and SCI hosted the event ‘How to Create a Good Food Revolution’, a talk and panel discussion exploring how public food policies can promote social justice, public health and ecological integrity. We were pleased to welcome Professor Kevin Morgan (Cardiff University), a leading voice on sustainable food systems, who drew on insights from his latest book Serving the Public: The Good Food Revolution in Schools, Hospitals and Prisons (Manchester University Press).
Following his lecture, Professor Morgan was joined by a panel of experts for an interactive discussion and Q&A:
- Professor Julie Froud, Alliance Manchester Business School (moderator)
- Adrian Morley, Manchester Metropolitan University
- Jemma Hynes, Strategic Director, Fork
- Lisa Dale-Clough, Greater Manchester Combined Authority
‘Serving the Public’ is available to purchase via Manchester University Press. Please find the recording of the talk on YouTube.
The silence around “race” in the discourse of equality and inclusion in the labour market
On 28 March 2025, Stefania Marino held an online, collaborative workshop as a result of a collaboration between IILME-IMISCOE, RACED-IMISCOE and the Work and Equalities Institute.
While the debate on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) is becoming central to the rhetoric of institutional agencies and organisations across countries in the Global North, the extent to which this debate challenges discriminations embedded in the structure of power within organisations and in the wider labour market is still limited.
Similarly to the discourse on “diversity” predominant in the past decades, DE&I can still support a predominance of the economic value over equity and social justice arguments, and the marginalization of specific axes of inequalities and in particular of “race”. In fact, while cross-country and cross-sectors difference exists in the extent to which a specific discourse around race has emerged, still inequality based on “race” remains a marginal(ised) domain of action.
Politics of unpaid labour Workshop
On 21 November 2024, the Work and Equalities Institute and the ResPecTMe project welcomed Professor Valeria Pulignano from KU Leuven to talk about her book “The Politics of Unpaid Labour: How the study of unpaid labour can help address inequality in precarious work”.
Valeria is a long-term collaborator of the WEI and her book talk was well received by the audience and triggered some interesting discussions. The book talk was followed by a short presentation by Mat Johnson and Eva Herman from the Decent Work and the City project on the scale and extent of unpaid labour in the UK and a roundtable discussion featuring Sarah Murphy from Greater Manchester Law Centre, Johnathan Davies from the University of Manchester and Ceri Hughes from AMBS.
The Politics of Unpaid Labour - Valeria Pulignano, Markieta Domecka - Oxford University Press.
Mary McAleese diversity lecture
On 18 November 2024, Jill Rubery delivered the Mary McAleese Diversity Lecture at Queen's University Belfast, titled ‘Beyond Gender Gaps: Why We Need More Egalitarian Labour Markets to Achieve Gender Equality.’ Drawing on her extensive experience with the European Commission and International Labour Organisation, Rubery offered valuable insights into the complex challenges women continue to face in the labour market. We are proud of Professor Rubery's ongoing contributions to advancing gender equality through research, policy, and thought leadership
2023/24
What is the future of work in food?
On 16 April 2024, we held the event 'What is the future of work in food?' with presentations from WEI members including Cassandra Bowkett, Laura Jarvis-King, Jill Rubery and PGR Alejandro Castillo Larrain; Sophie Van Huellen (UoM); Adrian Smith (University of Sussex); Peter Carter (University of Nottingham); Huw Thomas (University College Dublin); and Jo Cutter, Gabriella Alberti, Charles Umney and Abby Winton (University of Leeds).
After a series of global shocks, and shifting geopolitical conditions, the food ecosystem is under pressure to engage in rapid transformation. These shocks - COVID-19, pressures on supply chains from sustainability directives, the energy crisis stemming from the Russian/Ukrainian war to name a few - have highlighted the precarious nature of the food supply chain, the importance of food security, the need for a strong sustainability focus, and the implications of labour shortages on food supply. In this context, we asked the question what is the future of work in the food ecosystem? This event drew on a series of projects spanning the breadth of work in food, starting with the value chain and agriculture, shifting into food processing, followed by the warehousing and retailing of food. While each of these areas of the food ecosystem faces their own distinct challenges, this event sought to start a conversation about the implications of broader trends for the future of work in food.
The formation of worker collectivism among migrant workers in Denmark, Germany, and the UK
On 12 February 2024, we hosted a seminar with visiting researcher Dr Aleksandra Markovic (University of Aalborg). Dr Markovics has studied and researched various aspects of society from different sub-fields of sociology, both in academic and non-academic areas. Her research interests are broad but centred around the following topics: social inequality and stratification, political sociology, labour market, and migration.
The presentation outlined the primary objectives and challenges of the research project "The formation of worker collectivism among migrant workers in Denmark, Germany and the UK" and shared some preliminary results. The central inquiry of the research was: When and under what conditions do migrant workers define their labour market interests (and the means to achieve these) in collective rather than individual terms? The primary goal is to identify instances where migrant workers, collectively, have taken action to enhance their working conditions or other aspects of their work life.
2022/23
In August Anthony Rafferty spoke on a panel at a Royal Society of Arts (RSA) event on Basic Income in the North where Mayor Andy Burnham gave his commitment to pursuing a micro-pilot trial in Greater Manchester.
2021/22
Miguel Martinez Lucio became one of the first Fellows appointed to the British Universities Industrial Relations Association (BUIRA). The Fellowship was announced at this year’s conference and recognises Miguel’s outstanding contribution to industrial relations research and scholarship.
Debra Howcroft became a Fellow of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA). Debra's research examines technology and workplace change and she will be contributing to the Future of Work programme at the RSA.
Jill Rubery was appointed to a new advisory panel on the future of work and employment. ReWAGE (Renewing Work Advisory Group of Experts) is a SAGE-style expert advisory group on work, and consists of a select group of senior UK academics and researchers from universities and research institutes across the UK. The group has funding from the ESRC and forms part of a major review into the future of work in the wake of the pandemic which has adversely affected the labour market in many ways.
June 2022: Jill Rubery took part in a Greater Manchester Good Employment Charter podcast, Chatter about working parents: Creating family friendly workplaces.
March 2022: As part of International Women's Day Jill Rubery and Caitlin Schmid took part in an AMBS online event 'Is pay transparency the answer to closing the gender pay gap?'. Jill and Caitlin also led a workshop for the CIPD HR Fellows’ Forum ‘Is pay transparency the answer to gender pay equality?’
March 2022: Anthony Rafferty was the invited speaker at a Thought Leaders round table dinner hosted by BASF at Stockport Town Hall on the topic of ‘hybrid and the future of work,’ discussing the people management, equality and sustainability issues surrounding remote and hybrid working. The event was attended by CEOs and directors of high profile employers in the GM region including BASF, Siemens, and Arup.
February 2022: Miguel Martinez Lucio took part in a conference presenting the key findings of the SODITREC research project and their implications for European Social Dialogue.
February 2022: Jill Rubery joined the Global Development Institute for lecture of 2022, Putting People First. She, Khalid Malik, Robert Skidelsky and John-Paul Fitoussi discussed how policies about social and economic recovery post pandemic must aim to 'put people first'.
February 2022: Jill Rubery, Caitlin Schmid, Abbie Winton and Eva Herman took part in the GM4Women2028 annual event, revealing its latest scorecard data to see how Greater Manchester is faring for gender equality in the last 12 months.
February 2022: Caitlin Schmid spoke at the Women and Work All-Party Parliamentary Group on pay transparency and gender pay reporting.
January 2022: Emma Banister and Joanna Wilson presented a research paper on 'SMEs and the opportunities and challenges of 'life-friendly' employment practices' at the CIPD Applied Research Conference. Kashfia Ameen presented her work 'Do codes of conduct improve the health and safety of workers in the Bangladeshi garment industry?'.
December 2021: Sheena Johnson and Kara Ng spoke at the CIPD Wellbeing at Work conference, on the psychological effects of conflicts, bullying and exposure to violence and aggression at work. Building psychological safety and reducing harassment at work
December 2021: Jill Rubery presented a webinar on 'The complexities of fair wages' for the Industrial Relations Unit (IRRU), Warwick Business School.
December 2021: JIll Rubery, Damian Grimshaw, Tony Dundon and Gail Hebson took part in took part in a Manchester Industrial Relations Society meeting organised in conjunction with the Work and Equalities Institute, University of Manchester and the CIPD, remembering and reflecting on the work and contribution of Professor Mick Marchington to the academic study of human resource management.
November 2021: Jill Rubery and Jenny Rodriguez took part in a panel discussion at the Equality Pay Trust Equal Pay Conference, 'The future of equal pay'. The conference was an opportunity to contribute to the 'Bargaining for equal pay' toolkit. The 'Achieving equal pay in your workplace' toolkit was launched in Spring 2022.
November 2021: Jill Rubery was interviewed for the World of Work show for the International Labour Organisation conference.
- Watch the interview (from 00:10:15)
November 2021: Jill Rubery contributed to a policy briefing Putting employment on the levelling up agenda for the ReWAGE expert advisory group.
Fernanda Teixeira was one of a team of students who took part in a University Collaboration Labs project with the NGO ‘She leads for Legacy’ to learn more about barriers to senior leadership and career progression of Black Professional Women in the North West of England. Their findings were published in a research report The Safe Place: Building a safe space for active and effective listening in November.
Caitlin Schmid, together with colleagues at the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership at King’s College London (and in partnership with the Fawcett Society), ran a UN Foundation funded project investigating the effectiveness of the gender pay gap reporting regimes in six countries (including the UK). The report, Bridging the Gap, was published in October.
Sheena Johnson and colleagues from the Thomas Ashton Institute wrote a report, Keeping the UK Building Safely: a scoping study for the PROTECT COVID-19 National Core Study on transmission and environment. The report described a scoping study aimed at improving understanding of the construction sector's efforts to build a 'COVID-secure workplace.
2020/21
July 2021: Emma Banister commented in an article for BBC News about the uptake of paternity leave amongst men and the resultant persistence of gender inequality in early years childcare.
May 2021: Tony Dundon was cited in the Financial Times, commenting on improving employment in the care sector given advances in technology. See: ‘Booming social care sector offers the chance to create better jobs’, Financial Times, 19 May
March 2021: Jill Rubery, Eva Herman, Caitlin Schmid and Abbie Winton produced a briefing note for the GM (Greater Manchester) 4Women's Employment Action Group, looking at the challenges for working women in the wake of the pandemic.
February 2021: Jill Rubery and Eva Herman took part in a fringe event at the TUC Women's Conference, discussing GM4Women2028 and the employment elements of the recently published scorecard.
February 2021: Karen Niven shared her insights on empathy in the workplace in a blog for Diversity and Inclusion Leaders.
February 2021: Jill Rubery and Isabel Tavora took part in a webinar for the European Social Observatory (OSE) on ‘Gender equality and in-work poverty: which role for the EU’.
February 2021: Jill Rubery was cited in a major parliamentary report Unequal Impact? Coronavirus and the gendered economic impact, highlighting how existing gendered inequalities in the economy have been ignored and sometimes exacerbated by the pandemic policy response.
January 2021: Anne McBride joined a panel of experts from industry and academia at the Aster Group World of Work roundtable sharing their insights and experiences on diversity in the workplace.
Debra Howcroft co-authored a report on working from home (WFH) for the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC). The Covid-19 and Working from Home Survey was based on responses from more than 3,000 UK workers, the majority of whom were normally based in offices prior to the pandemic. It was carried out by Professors Phil Taylor and Dora Scholarios (University of Strathclyde) and Professor Howcroft (University of Manchester) and revealed some of the challenges associated with working from home.
While a majority of workers of wanted to spend two days or less in the workplace there was also compelling evidence that WFH is not desirable for a significant minority.
2019/20
May 2020: Tony Dundon presented seven recommendations calling on shares from automation to sustain better equalities for the Future of Work to the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) committee and the House of Commons Select Committee. You can read the report or watch the meeting.
April 2020: Jill Rubery spoke at a panel discussion at the ILO on Closing the Gender Pay Gap.
Sheena Johnson's research on the health and wellbeing of professional drivers has led to the development of the Age, Health and Professional Drivers' Network. Most recently the research team has produced a set of ten best practice guidelines.
Information about the work of our institute members based in the School of Social Sciences can be found on the Gender, Work and care website.