Professor Vanessa Beck
Small Group Project 2018-19
Reconceptualising Underemployment
Our Small Group of multi-disciplinary researchers from seven universities aims to address afresh the interlinked topics of underemployment and unemployment. We aim to progress knowledge of the economic world via developing innovative interdisciplinary theoretical approaches and designing appropriate investigative methodologies.
More informationResearch outcomes
>
Beck, V., Warren, T., & Lyonette, C. (2024).
Is Any Job Better Than No Job? Utilising Jahoda’s Latent Deprivation Theory to Reconceptualise Underemployment. Work, Employment and Society, 39(2), 404-425.
Areas of interest
Cohort
Biography
Vanessa Beck is Professor of Employment Studies at the University of Bristol. Their research focuses on individuals and groups at the margins of the labour market, including people who are unemployed or underemployed and who face multiple and complex barriers to decent employment. Their work examines the relationship between individual experiences and broader social and structural contexts, with particular attention to gender and age.
They have conducted extensive research on unemployment and redundancy, as well as on the management of older workers, especially in relation to menopause transitions in the workplace. Their research has been funded by the European Commission, the UK Government Equalities Office, ACAS, the Independent Social Research Foundation, and the ESRC. They have published in journals including Work, Employment and Society, Human Resource Management Journal, Organization, Education + Training, and the Journal of Education and Work.
They have conducted extensive research on unemployment and redundancy, as well as on the management of older workers, especially in relation to menopause transitions in the workplace. Their research has been funded by the European Commission, the UK Government Equalities Office, ACAS, the Independent Social Research Foundation, and the ESRC. They have published in journals including Work, Employment and Society, Human Resource Management Journal, Organization, Education + Training, and the Journal of Education and Work.
Biographical details correct as of 11.05.26