Miss Melanie Philpott

Professional Biography

An accountant by day and a postgraduate researcher by night, my career journey began with a Bachelor of Science in Landscape Management (Land Use) from Greenwich University (2001). Following a short time as a landscaper, I moved to Devon and found myself working in administration. In 2006 I began the journey of studying with The Open University and in 2016 graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (Open) degree. The degree was largely mathematics and statistics, but two final modules in business sparked a new interest in human resource management (HRM), which lead to a Master of Science in HRM with The Open University (2019). During the dissertation module I discovered the joy of conducting primary research and went on to earn a Postgraduate Certificate in Research Methods with the University of the Highlands and Islands (2020). Having solidified my belief that conducting research is rather thrilling, I studied for a Master of Research in Health Research (with distinction) from the University of Stirling (2022), subsequently returning to The Open university in 2023 as a part-time Postgraduate Researcher.

I have also studied for professional accountancy qualifications and earned a Bachelor of Science in Applied Accountancy from Oxford Brookes University (2019, First Class). I am a Chartered Certified Accountant (ACCA), currently working for a Russell Group university in their financial accounting team whilst working on my PhD. I am a member of ACCA, an associate member of CIPD and a fellow of AAT.

I am passionate about student engagement and am one of the faculty’s Postgraduate Research - Graduate School Liaison Group (PGR-GS) representatives championing the part-time experience. I am also a part-time representative for the Open University Students Association currently sitting on The Open University Research Committee (2024/25). Previously I have been a Student Trustee for the Open University Students Association (2016-2018), a Trustee for the Open University Student Educational Trust (OUSET) (2014-2016) and have also engaged in other student volunteering activities such as repping at residential schools and sitting on The Open University Central Disciplinary Committee.

Current Research

My current research is exploring the experiences of employees with the health condition fibromyalgia, and line mangers who manage them.

PhD thesis (working title): Fibromyalgia in the Workplace: Experiences of employees and line managers

I am supervised by Prof. Cinzia Priola and Dr Alexandra Bristow.

Impact and Engagement

FBL PhD Colloquium (2024) Photographic and Arts submission: Winning entry.

FBL PhD Colloquium (2023) Photographic and Arts submission: Joint winning entry.