How Birkbeck’s flexible teaching model shaped my career in psychology

I started my MSc Occupational Psychology at Birkbeck in 2004, studying part time through distance learning alongside a full-time job and caring for two young children. At that stage in my life, a traditional full-time route was neither financially nor practically possible, and Birkbeck’s flexible model made professional training achievable.

Forging connections

A defining feature of the course was its structure. Alongside distance learning, we came together for intensive teaching weekends. Those weekends were crucial, not only academically but socially. They created a strong sense of community, helped sustain motivation, and offered space to reflect collectively on how demanding the process could be. They were also genuinely enjoyable, and many of those connections stayed with me long after the MSc ended.

Intellectually energising discussions

This was also an era of learning that relied on printed study packs, journal articles, and structured prompts, combined with online discussion forums. I loved this approach. Psychology had already captured my interest years earlier, and at the time I was working in student employability, adjacent to psychology but not formally within the discipline. Being able to engage deeply with psychological ideas, and to debate them with like-minded professionals from across the world, was intellectually energising.

An international cohort

The international nature of the cohort had a lasting impact on me. Being grouped with students from Europe, North Africa and North America exposed me early on to different professional cultures and assumptions about work, leadership and assessment. That experience strongly shaped my approach to occupational psychology, particularly in relation to cross-cultural practice and inclusion.

A non-linear career in psychology

Following the MSc, I went on to practise as an occupational psychologist alongside teaching and academic leadership, spending over a decade at the Institute of Work Psychology, including serving as programme director, and have continued to work across academia, professional bodies and applied settings throughout my career. My trajectory has been deliberately non-linear; I have consistently combined roles across organisations, undertaken freelance and advisory work, and shaped posts around the aspects of the profession I find most meaningful. I feel strongly about equality and fairness and my doctorate focused on the employability of autistic students: an issue I continue to work with organisations on.

From student to professional leadership

Today, I serve as President-Elect of the British Psychological Society taking up the presidency later this year. I am also the UK representative to the European Federation of Psychologists’ Associations, and the sole UK representative to the International Union of Psychological Science. I was also really proud to have been recently named the 2025 winner of the BPS Division of Occupational Psychology Excellence in Psychology Award. Something that would have been amazing to the 2004 me who was focused on simply getting assignments finished around work and family life. The idea that this route would later lead to senior professional leadership would have seemed unlikely.

Remaining connected to Birkbeck

I continue to maintain close links with Birkbeck through very part-time doctoral supervision, supporting practitioner psychologists in training, which I find particularly rewarding. I also regularly speak, teach and collaborate internationally across academic, practitioner and employer audiences, and enjoy opportunities that allow psychology to make a tangible difference in the world of work.