Dr Katie Elizabeth Willocks
Lecturer in leadership and HRM
My profile
Biography
Teaching and research
Katie is currently working as a lecturer in Leadership and HRM in the department of people and performance. Katie currently teaches modules in Leadership and Practice and Introduction to Human Resource Management and has taught modules in Organisational behaviour, Strategic Leadership, HRD, Organisational Change and Research Methods. Katie has worked as a research associate in leadership development on a large $100,000 ESRC funded project and a senior lecturer and scheme director in leadership.
Katie’s research focusses on leadership development and leadership learning and she is particularly interested in exploring practice based and collective models of leadership and management learning. Her work draws on theories of practice, leadership as practice and activity theory to explore the way in which managers and leaders learn together in collaborative contexts.
Katie has a PhD in organisational change and learning in the NHS from Lancaster University. Her thesis drew on ethnographic methods and Cultural Historical Activity Theory to explore messy and turbulent organisational learning dynamics in health care work. Since then, Katie has carried out research into leadership development and leadership learning in health and social care contexts. Katie is particularly interested in the ways in which leaders and managers learn through periods of intense change and the way in which Cultural Historical Activity Theory can help enhance understanding of leadership learning dynamics. Katie has a strong desire to engage with research that has the potential to make a difference to individuals and their working lives.
In her spare time, Katie enjoys hiking, running, cooking, travelling and spending quality time with her two dogs!
Research projects and funding
NIHR (2023) £260,000 Co-investigator: Pay and reward in Adult Social care
Cornwall Council (2023) £25,000 Creating an Adult Social care category for Cornwall
Research Associate: ESRC funding (2020-2022) 1-million-pound project for Good Employment Learning lab project
UFHRD (2019) £1,500 Leadership learning, HRD and organisational wellbeing in the public sector.
18-month KTP (approx. £225,000) project with Inspire social care charity to explore recovery initiatives (research
Research outputs
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Chapters in books
Willocks, K., Moralee, S. (2021) 'Reframing Healthcare Leadership: From Individualism to Leadership as Collective Practice.' Organizational Behaviour in Healthcare. pp. 229-253.
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Reports
Rouse, J., Willocks, K., Atkinson, C., Lupton, B. (2023) How to develop line managers people management skills, Good Employment Learning lab Evaluation report.
Willocks, K., Mycock, K. (2018) Degree Apprenticeships: A report exploring the barriers and challenges to flexible delivery.
Willocks, K., Willocks, K. (2013) An Evaluation of Inspire's Outreach Activity in East Lancashire, Preston: University of Central Lancashire.
Willocks, K. (2013) Health care assistants role boundary issues in Maternity Services, Lancaster University.
Willocks, K., Willocks, K. (2013) Evaluation of Maternity Action training, Maternity Action charity, London.
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Journal articles
Willocks, K.E. (2023) 'Making leadership as practice development visible: Learning from Activity Theory.' Management Learning, 54(5) pp. 705-726.
Willocks, K. (2023) 'Developing Leaders Using On-Line Action Learning: An Activity Theory Analysis.' Advances in Developing Human Resources, 25(1) pp. 27-44.
Stuart, K., Willocks, K., Browning, R. (2021) 'Questioning personal tutoring in higher education: an activity theoretical action research study.' Educational Action Research, 29(1) pp. 79-98.
Lawless, A., Willocks, K.E. (2021) 'The wicked problem of employee wellbeing: creating safe space within a change laboratory.' Action Learning: Research and Practice, 18(2) pp. 121-135.
Willocks, K. (2020) 'Professional Learning from Disturbances in Healthcare: Managerialism and Compassion, International Journal of Management, Knowledge and Learning, 9 (1),370-386.' International Journal of Management, Knowledge and Learning, 9 (1),370-386,
Willocks, K. (2011) 'Exploring Issues of Maternity Care Assistant Role Boundaries.' British Journal of Healthcare Assistants, 5(10) pp. 502-506.
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Conference papers
Willocks, K. (2024) 'Collective learning and relational leadership in Adult Social care.' In Organisational Behaviour in Health Care. Oslo,
Rouse, J., Willocks, K. (2023) 'Realist Management learning: Findings from the GELL project.' In International Studying Leadership Conference. Copenhagen,
Willocks, K., Rouse, J. (2023) 'What works when developing the skills of line managers.' In Katie Willocks. CIPD developing line manager conference, London,
Wilocks, K., Willocks, K. (2022) 'Leadership Development in a Good Employment learning Lab: Developing leader character.' In Organisational Behaviour in health care.
Willocks, K., Exworthy, M., Moralle, S. (2022) 'Talking ‘up’, talking ‘down’ and talking ‘around’: discourses of medical leadership and their impact on professional practice and identity.' In Organisational Behaviour in Health Care.
Willocks, K.E. (2022) 'Willocks, K, Rouse, J (2022) What works for who in a Good Employment learning lab- a critical realist approach to understanding management and leadership learning, Paper accepted for British Academy of Management conference (BAM)..'
Willocks, K., Willocks, K. (2020) 'Facilitating Leadership Development in practice: the potentiality of the change laboratory,.' In BAM conference.
Willocks, K., Willlocks, K., Moralee, S. (2020) 'Healthcare leadership Re-framed: From individualism to leadership as collective practice.' In EURAM CONFERENCE.
Willocks, K., Willocks, K. (2019) 'Exploring collaborative Maternity work through the lens of LAP.' In BAM conference.
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Other
Kislov, R., Harvey, G., Dickinson, H., Hyde, P. Fostering collective leadership in the public sector: Exploring contextual variation in the face of contemporary challenges.