Dr Frances Myers

Lecturer

fran.myers@open.ac.uk

Biography

Professional biography

Professional Biography

I am a Lecturer in Management at the Department of People and Organisations (DPO), Faculty of Business and Law, where I am currently working on the Apprenticeships programme. I have twenty years experience in teaching and learning roles at the Open University and University of Greater Manchester and have taught on a wide variety of undergraduate and postgraduate courses in business and politics via face to face, hybrid and online platform methods, with domestic and international students and via partnerships. I hold a Senior Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA), am an external examiner at the University of Staffordshire and have also advised as a subject specialist for QAA quality reviews in business and management education.

My PhD is in Political Economy from the University of Manchester Alliance Business School and I have an MBA from the Open University Business School alongside an undergraduate degree in History from the University of Birmingham.

Prior to working in higher education I worked in the corporate sector in a vaiety of roles as manager, project manager and trainer in telecoms and FMCG environments.

Research interests

My research interests are in a) public and organisational storytelling and mythmaking, reputation management and presentation of public narratives via mediation and mediatisation, b) digital enclosure and associated identity work undertaken by those inhabiting digital workplaces, c) development of work-based learning initiatives in higher education and impact from policy shaping on educational trajectories.

Teaching interests

I have a broad range of teaching and learning interests and have substantial experience facilitating students from Higher Education Access modules right through to MBA dissertation supervision, where I have a particular interest in the translation of political policies to workplace outcomes. I am working with two current PhD students on work-based learning topics.

Impact and engagement

You can access my most recent invited lecture for University of Lancaster Educational Research department via YouTube at Fran Myers & Hilary Collins: "Uberising’ HE? Teaching identity work behind the digital curtain" - YouTube (22 March 2021) I've also been an invited speaker at Liverpool Hope University education department, and at the University of Sharjah. I am a reviewer for Journal of Further and Higher Education, and you can find my conference papers on the publications link.

Projects

Better Learning?: Developing line managers at the nexus of degree apprenticeship support

UK government policies for promoting the future knowledge economy and sharing the burden of funding degree-level studies are driving public attention onto Higher Education (HE) work-based learning (WBL) programmes. These include English employer levy-funded apprenticeships. Approved in 2015, the promise offered in apprenticeships is giving future managers the opportunity to gain debt-free degrees and formal accreditation as a chartered manager. These policies have therefore brought fresh prominence to work contexts as places for teaching and learning and managers as facilitators for learning. However, there has been little study so far into understanding contributions employers make to their apprentices’ development, and an absence of understanding the necessitated skills, knowledge, and behaviours required from line managers as a largely unseen contributor to apprentice success. Our case study of degree apprentices and their managers and mentors will provide new insights into understanding the challenges of supporting apprentices, and encourage debate toward policy enhancement.