About me: My background is in gender, development, leadership and healthcare. I have worked for a range of organisations – from small patient’s rights charities, to bigger international NGOs, and most recently for the National Health Service in the UK. At the NHS, I worked with staff from across the health service to develop their leadership skills and capabilities. I am an experienced facilitator and programme manager, specialising in inclusive leadership as I am a passionate believer in the importance of creating working environments where everyone can thrive. I live in South East London and did my BSc at Bristol University and my MSc at the LSE specialising in Gender, Development and Globalisation where I focused particularly on the impact of harmful masculinities in left-wing movements and in undermining men’s capacity to seek healthcare services.
My research: For this PhD, I will be continuing my research into the production and reproduction of gendered inequalities in organisations, turning my focus to the sector of Major Projects. Major Projects are large-scale, high-cost, complex programmes of work that are often used to deliver infrastructure and development projects. Major Projects are temporary organisations that are formed to deliver a specific business output and the priority can often be on the successful and timely delivery of the project – not on the leadership behaviours and cultures that are created. Major Projects are also an extremely male-dominated environment, with women making up only 20% of senior responsible officers on the UK Govt MP delivery plan. This research will examine the impact of gender balance initiatives in this industry, working with leaders and HR/diversity professionals to deliver more sustainable and effective policies and to transform leadership cultures across the sector.
The difference my research makes: As more and more business outputs are delivered through the vehicle of projects, it will become increasingly critical for researchers to apply the learning of the Gendering Organisations field and explore the social behaviours and gendered inequalities that manifest in the project environment. By doing so, we can influence and challenge the paradigm of project management from a social justice lens; and hope to shape a better delivery environment for the future.
Supervisors: Professor Caren Levy and Dr Grant Mills.
Selected publications:
- Miles, E. (forthcoming). Can Inclusive Leadership Save the NHS?. [online] NHS Health Education England.
- Miles, E., 2013. Investigating Genderless Utopias: Exposing the Sexual Harassment of Female Protestors in the Egyptian Uprisings of 2011. Graduate Journal of Social Science 10(3), pp.138–149.
- Miles, E., Herstad, M., and Shand, T., 2014. Masculinities, Alcohol and Gender-Based Violence: Bridging the Gaps. [online] MenEngage Africa.
Pathway: Urban Planning and Project Management
Location: UCL Bartlett Development Planning Unit
Email: emily.miles.17@ucl.ac.uk
Twitter: @emilymiles100
