|
Welcome ....
to your February newsletter, featuring the latest news from The Open University Business School (OUBS)
|
|
|
|
|
Are you aged 40-60? Then the OU’s new free course on digital learning platform OpenLearn, Midlife MOT, could be just what you need! This four-hour course, in association with Legal and General, has user-friendly videos, interactive tools and quizzes. It has been supported by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) which identified three key areas of wealth, work and wellbeing to review at this stage in your life to work towards your desired lifestyle in retirement.
OUBS academic Martin Upton, a personal finance expert, writes about budgeting, cutting spending, reorganising debts and building investments to supplement your pension with a 10-point checklist to identify what areas of your finances are in order and which need attention. OU Careers and Employability Consultant Ayesha Peeran then reviews your working life and career, while senior lecturer Dr Jitka Vseteckova explores wellbeing by checking your physical and mental health.
For further information on the Midlife MOT course click here.
|
|
Showing solidarity at work for International Women’s Day
|
|
OUBS is celebrating International Women’s Day 2022 on Tuesday 8 March with some thought-provoking discussions about solidarities at work. An interdisciplinary online conference brings together diverse voices with seminars, panel discussions and webcasts from 13:45 covering topics such as working with endometriosis, and early pregnancy endings and the workplace. The live seminar on ‘working with endometriosis’ at 15:30 is being led by PhD student Vickie Williams whose research was recently cited by Alec Shelbrooke MP during a Westminster Hall debate on endometriosis workplace support. This conference will be followed by a public talk from 18:30 by a feminist academic, Professor Alison Pullen, who explores the ‘street’ as a powerful democratic institution that challenges the gendered division of public and private spheres.
|
|
Join a research showcase for Women’s History Month
|
|
OUBS supports the Faculty of Business and Law’s commitment to Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Accessibility (EDIA). A research showcase on Wednesday 23 March from 10:00 – 12:30 GMT will celebrate Women’s History Month, as part of the Faculty’s EDIA Seminar Series. Please email FBL-EDIA to enquire about this event and to book your spot.
|
|
OUBS academics continue to provide The Bottom Line
|
|
The latest series of the OU/BBC collaboration The Bottom Line, the business conversation programme with people at the top giving insight into what matters, is on Radio 4 every Thursday evening. The new OUBS academic consultants for this eight-part series, again presented by OU honorary graduate Evan Davis (pictured), are Professor in Finance Ali Ataullah, Dr Cristiana Bernardi (Senior Lecturer in Accounting and Financial Management) and Dr Carien van Mourik (Senior Lecturer in Accounting). Broadcast at 20:30 on Thursdays and repeated on Saturdays at 17:30, the podcast is available on the Radio 4 website following transmission with more content available via the OU’s new Broadcast and Partnerships website.
|
|
World-class professional development short courses to upskill and unlock potential
|
|
The OU’s microcredential short courses continue to gather pace with 24 starting in March. These include two new courses in Business Management: People Management and Leadership and Business Management: Project Management. Designed by our world-class academics, in collaboration with leading industry partners, courses are available in Computing and Digital Technologies, Teacher Development and Inclusive Learning, and Environment, Climate Change and Sustainability. Another new STEM-led course starting this March is on Climate Change: Transforming your Organisation for Sustainability.
Hosted on our co-owned social learning platform FutureLearn, microcredentials provide a flexible way to upskill quickly (10-12 weeks) and develop specialist knowledge to get ahead. Enrolment closes Monday 14 March for postgraduate courses and Monday 28 March for undergraduate courses – course details.
|
|
Black and minority ethnic local leadership during the pandemic
|
|
Our Centre for Voluntary Sector Leadership (CVSL) is marking the International Day for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination on Monday 21 March. An online workshop from 14:00 – 15:30 is bringing together researchers, service providers and leaders of Black and minority ethnic (BME) organisations from across the UK and beyond. The Centre will share last year’s research on engagements and collaboration between the leadership of BME groups and service providers and follow-up research projects. There is further information on this event, which is being organised by Lecturer in Work-Based Learning Dr Fidèle Mutwarasibo, here.
|
|
Research student’s son provides the inspiration for her research
|
|
The research of one OUBS PhD student, Simona Radu, is to understand and improve the lives of young people who rely on wearable technologies to manage their type one diabetes through blood glucose monitoring and insulin delivery. Simona’s son was diagnosed with type one diabetes four years ago so this is very close to her own heart. Watch Simona (pictured), who also completed an undergraduate degree in psychology at the OU, discuss her work.
|
|
Janette joins the IFS Council with plenty of HYPE
|
|
OUBS’ Emeritus Professor of Finance and Financial History, Janette Rutterford (pictured), has been elected to the Council of the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS). She joins as one of the five member representatives, for a three-year term. The IFS is an independent research body covering all aspects of taxation including the impact of taxation on education, the incentive to work, poverty, corporate profits and the cost of social care. Janette’s connections to OUBS remain strong as a member of the History and Political Economy (HYPE) of Business and Finance research cluster.
|
|
|
We are immensely proud of our alumni community and this space is an opportunity to share some of your news, a personal achievement or a promotion, so please get in touch.
|
|
Like father, like daughter, for star international student
|
|
Janina Bethscheider from Germany followed in her father’s footsteps by completing the OU MBA. And she balanced her full-time job (for Nestlé in Germany), studies and personal life so well that she was named as the MBA Student of the Year for 2020! She said: “I was looking for a business school which met my criteria – full-time, yet flexible, distance learning; English speaking; and with an international network. The OU met all of my requirements. It was also recommended to me by OU alumni, including my dad, and this reinforced my decision. I never once regretted my choice.” Read her full story here.
|
|
Leader, scientist, psychologist – all in a day’s work for Gordon
|
|
Lifelong learner Gordon MacKay, who was 65 in December, has arts, business and science degrees – two of them from the OU, including an MBA which he completed in 1999 – and continues to enjoy absorbing knowledge. During the last decade, he has progressed from project delivery to training project managers and leaders on some of the most complex and challenging nuclear remediation projects on the planet. This is as the Project Management Capability Lead at Sellafield with the current activities of the former nuclear power generating site on the Cumbrian coast including nuclear fuel reprocessing, nuclear waste storage and nuclear decommissioning. Gordon had left the Royal Navy in the late 1970s with very few academic qualifications. Read his fascinating story here.
|
|
|
Careers webinar - Crazy Busy: How to work fewer hours and be more successful
Leadership coach and speaker Zena Everett will give practical tips to get more higher value tasks done, in less time, in this latest lunchtime careers webinar.
|
|
|
International Women’s Day 2022: Solidarities at Work
An online interdisciplinary conference brings together diverse voices on the afternoon of International Women’s Day.
|
|
|
Public Talk – Streets, Struggles and Solidarities with Professor Alison Pullen
A feminist academic, Professor Alison Pullen, explores the ‘street’ as a powerful democratic institution that challenges the gendered division of public and private spheres, in this evening event as part of International Women’s Day.
|
|
|
CVSL event: BME Leadership at a Local Level during the Pandemic
Our Centre for Voluntary Sector Leadership (CVSL) is marking the International Day for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination with this online workshop in the afternoon.
|
|
|
EDIA Seminar Series – Women’s History Month Research Showcase
This research showcase to celebrate Women’s History Month will see several short presentations before an opportunity to ask questions. Please email FBL-EDIA for an invite and/or any enquiries.
|
|
|
Academic expertise, climate change and policy advocacy: A personal perspective
Hosted by our Centre for the Public Understanding of Finance, Institutions and Networks (PUFin) special guest Mark Freeman (Dean at the University of York Management School and a Professor of Finance) discusses how academics who advise on policy can avoid putting personal beliefs before expert recommendations.
|
|
|
Careers webinar - Develop your personal brand canvas to maximise your career
Personal branding and professional innovation expert Luigi Centenaro will introduce you to the Personal Brand Canvas in this lunchtime careers webinar.
|
|
Crazy Busy: How to work fewer hours and be more successful
|
|
Research shows that we get our work done but it takes longer because of constant digital and people interruptions. The next lunchtime careers webinar exclusively for our alumni on Wednesday 2 March (13:00 – 14:00) will give you practical tips to get more higher value tasks done, in less time. Presenter Zena Everett (pictured) is a leadership coach and speaker on career strategy and productivity, the author of Mind Flip: Take the Fear out of Your Career and Amazon’s number one best-seller The Crazy Busy Cure.
|
|
Develop your personal brand canvas to maximise your career
|
|
This is followed by personal branding and professional innovation expert Luigi Centenaro (pictured) introducing you to the Personal Brand Canvas on Wednesday 6 April (13:00 – 14:00). Downloaded by thousands around the world, this easy-to-use visual framework is designed to help people understand why they are special and how to let others know it! You will be able to perform a quality check of your current career goal and learn how to quickly design, understand and improve your professional image to make a ‘big name’ for yourself.
|
|
Fair play to Green & Black’s co-founder Jo
|
|
The co-founder of the Green & Black’s chocolate brand, Jo Fairley, shared her business insights at a recent lunchtime careers webinar – available here. Known as one of the UK’s leading motivational speakers, Jo discussed the inspirational story behind the ethical chocolate company together with her numerous other entrepreneurial projects.
|
|
|
We have a range of exclusive offers for our OUBS alumni. Click the buttons to find out more. Remember, you can access our career webinar recordings on our website along with a whole range of online careers articles.
|
|
|
Thanks for staying connected
|
|
|
Best wishes
|
|
OUBS Alumni Engagement Team
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Open University is incorporated by Royal Charter (RC 000391), an exempt charity in England & Wales and a charity registered in Scotland (SC 038302). The Open University is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority in relation to its secondary activity of credit broking.
The Open University (OU) Business School’s Stakeholder and Alumni Engagement team works with the OU’s Development Office to keep in touch with alumni, partners and supporters. Our privacy policy sets out how the OU obtains, manages, uses and protects your data and relates specifically to information held by both Offices.
|
|
|
|
