Dr Cara Reed

BA, PGDip, MA, MSc, PhD

Publication

• Date
• Type

Research

My research interests broadly concern the critical analysis of organisations and in particular focus on topics such as experts professions, and age, examined through the lens of identity construction and discourse. My research also focuses on qualitative forms of analysis and in particular discourse analysis of interviews, focus groups, participant observation and secondary data. 

My PhD research examined professionalisation and professional identities in UK public relations, exploring the professional identities constructed by the professional association and frontline practitioners. Since then, I've been involved in a variety of national and international funded projects exploring how assumptions around age impact organisational life, and key trends regarding transitions into retirement.

My latest research considers expert authority and the challenges it is enduring and the changes in conceptualisation needed to keep up with these challenges (see latest Conversation article on it). My next research project - 'Bloody Work - organising the self to remain productive' - will bring together my interests on experts/professions and age. It will explore the experience of menstruation disorders (including issues such as fibroids, endometriosis, menopause) in the workplace, particularly for marginalised groups. It will also examine the use of experts and expertise in the way these issues are currently portrayed to employers and employees who many need to engage with menstrual disorders at work. 

Teaching

Current teaching: 

• Leadership Work and Organization on MSc HRM 
• Professional Service Firms: People, Professions and Power on MSc International Management
• Organisational Design for Help To Grow  

Previous teaching:

• Critical Perspectives for Contemporary Managers (core module) 3rd year undergraduate

Dissertation supervision:

• Various projects for MSc HRM, MSc International Management and Exec MBA

External Examining:

• Previously external examiner at UWE for a range of undergraduate modules in organisation studies and HRM
• Previously external examiner for PhD at Portsmouth University 

Relevant training:

• Awarded PGCert Teaching in Higher Education (Distinction)
• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

Biography

Before returning to academia I was a PR consultant for the agency Golley Slater. I completed my undergraduate and postgraduate studies at Cardiff University, firstly in the School of Journalism, Media & Culture and then at Cardiff Business School. I worked on a variety of teaching and research opportunities following completion of my PhD at Cardiff Business School before taking a position as a lecturer in organization studies at Swansea University School of Management. 2019 marked my return to Cardiff Business School as a lecturer in Management, Employment & Organisation. In 2022 I was promoted to Senior Lecturer in Organisation Studies.

Professional memberships

• Member of Academy of Management
• Member of European Group for Organizational Studies (EGOS)
• Member of British Academy of Management (Identity Special Interest Group)
• Member of Learned Society of Wales Early Career Researchers' Network 
• Fellow of Higher Education Academy

• Member of the UK-wide CIPR Public Relations Community of Practice

Academic positions

• Aug 2022 to present: Senior Lecturer, Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University
• 2019 - Aug 2022: Lecturer, Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University
• 2016-2019: Lecturer, School of Management, Swansea University
• 2015-2016: University Teacher (fixed term), Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University
• 2014-2015: Research Associate (fixed term), Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University
• 2013-2014: Lecturer (fixed term) Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University

Speaking engagements

Most recent invited presentations and conferences:

• 2025 - Academy of Management - paper presentation: 'Young is fun: examining the inter-relations of play and age at work', plus panel symposium and PDW on experts and expertise.
• 2024 - EGOS Colloquium - paper presentation: 'There is never enough space to feel safe: queer safety and regulation in cisdominant workspaces'.
• 2024 - International Conference on Organizational Discourse - paper presentation 'Covid-19 and the politicisation of experts', plus facilitator at ECR symposium.
• 2024 - CARBS Breakfast Briefing - book presentation 'Enough of Experts'.
• 2024 - Research Seminar presentation at VU University, Amsterdam - book presentation 'Enough of Experts'.
• 2024 - Research Seminar presentation at York University - book presentation 'Enough of Experts'.
• 2023 - Annual conference for Work, Employment & Society - paper presentation 'Fun: We Are Young'.
• 2022 - International Conference on Organizational Discourse- paper presentation 'Fun: We Are Young'.
• 2022 - Research seminar presentation at Southampton Business School - paper presentation 'Expert Authority in Crisis: Making Authority Real through Struggle'.
• 2021 - Learned Society of Wales Early Career Research Conference - Chair of session on ‘The Economics of Change: New Approaches to the Climate Crisis’.
• 2021 - EGOS Colloquium - paper presentation 'Fun: We Are Young'.
• 2020 - Organization Theory Winter Workshop - paper presentation 'Expert Authority in Crisis: Contestation and Transformation in Expert Power and Control'.
• 2020 - British Academy of Management Conference - paper presentation - 'Expert Authority in Crisis: Contestation and Transformation in Expert Power and Control'. 

Committees and reviewing

• Member of CARBS Race Equality Committee
• Member of CARBS Research Committee
• Member of CARBS Shadow Management Board
• Facilitator of MEO ECR network 
• Co-convenor of CORGies Research Group 

Provocations Editor for Management Learning

Reviewer for:

• British Journal of Management 
• Journal of Management Studies
• Organization Studies
• Management Learning
• Organization
• Journal of Management Inquiry
• Journal of Professions and Organization
• European Management Journal
• Journal of Organizational Ethnography
• Health Organisation and Management
• Regulation and Governance
• Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice

Supervisions

Particular areas of interest for doctoral supervision would be work on:

• identities and discourse
• experts and expertise
• professionalisation 
• professional identities
• age and organisations

Current supervision

Samta Marwaha

Miguela Gonzalez

Faaiza Bashir

Alex Markovits

Past projects

Swansea University: Helen Williams exploring the identities of the self-employed when they become employers of others (supervised to completion in 2020)