• Jobs at Monash
• Job search
• Job alert
• Existing applicant login
• About Monash
• Locations
• Benefits
• FAQs

What's your role here at Monash Uni?

I’m a lecturer here, but because I am currently a post-doctoral fellow on an ARC project my only involvement with students is by supervising Higher Degree by Research students and the rest of the time I spend on research projects.

How long have you been working at Monash Uni?

I have been at Monash for three years. I started in 2007.

What did you do before coming to Monash Uni?

Before I came to Monash I was a school teacher and I was also a sessional tutor at some other institutions and I spent six years doing my PhD.

Why did you come to Monash to work?

I came to Monash, because I knew about some work here that I was interested in, particularly being done by Professor Jane Kenway in this faculty. I had also been at another institution for close to ten years as a student and a tutor, so I was keen to come to a new place and learn about a different kind of work environment. It’s a big faculty as well, which means that there are a lot of different people here and a lot of different perspectives. That’s really enriching and stimulating too.

How did you get into your field of expertise?

I started off teaching and the progression to research in education is a reasonably straightforward one. That gave me an interest into how schooling works to produce social inequality and how that is connected to the ethnic and migration background that kids bring to school as well, which is the interest that I’ve pursued in my research.

Where did you study for your degree/PhD?

I studied at two institutions. It was a joint PhD. I studied at the University of Melbourne and the University of Burgundy, which is located at Dijon in France. Because mine was a comparative study of the experiences of students with a migrant background in the Victorian education system and the French education system, I needed to get access to schools in both settings and I was able to get into a program that involved supervision from both institutions.

How has Monash supported your teaching / research work?

As a junior person here most of my involvement here has been at a faculty level. The education faculty has the largest number of early career researchers of any education faculty in Australia. There’s a lot of support here for ECRs and there are lots of opportunities to be involved in and mentoring. That’s something that I’ve been involved in through the Research Committee organising those types of events, as well as being a participant. It’s a good place to be if you’re early in your research career.

In terms of teaching, there’s lots of support available here especially in relation to getting up to speed with online learning and teaching and also teaching in Singapore and Hong Kong. There’s lots of support in extending your teaching in different contexts as well.

At the moment, I’m also involved in the Monash Researcher Accelerator Program, which is a university-wide scheme to give additional support to people to accelerate their research programs. It’s also a way to get in contact with people from different faculties. For me, that’s a good opportunity to collaborate with or at least to get to know of research outside of my own faculty.

Are there any facilities / resources you think having access to sets Monash Uni apart from other employers?

One distinctive thing about working at Monash has been the accessibility of the senior researchers in this faculty and their willingness to help and support people who are earlier in their careers. Also, the level of financial support for developing a research agenda has been quite considerable through the faculty and also through the Monash Researcher Accelerator Program.

Are there any benefits you think Monash offers that sets us apart from other employers?

Monash, in this faculty and in others as well, likes to talk about an international perspective. There are opportunities to teach students from all over the world and that includes off-campus teaching, at other locations and distance education. Also, through research you can come into contact with people from all around the world. There are lots of visitors who come to Monash and there are lots of opportunities that Monash provides to travel and to collaborate with others. That’s something that is distinctive to Monash.

Tell us one thing that people wouldn't normally know about you.

My first job was as a line-dancer at Lone Star Steakhouse and Saloon. I was doing that at the end of high school and that’s when you really see how people go on different pathways based on the outcomes from year 12. This is something that I have been interested in through my research. It was an interesting time to be in a place where people’s destinies are going in different directions. One of my co-workers, on the line, was someone whose mother is the Professor Jane Kenway here, who is the person that attracted me to Monash initially, so there’s some kind of connection there as well.