Susan Ainsworth

Professor Susan Ainsworth serves as Professor in Organisational Studies in the Department of Management and Marketing within the Faculty of Business and Economics at the University of Melbourne. She is an internationally recognized expert in gender, workforce diversity, and employment relations. Her academic background includes graduate diplomas and a master's degree obtained part-time while working full-time, followed by a PhD completed in 1999 on older workers. Ainsworth began her professional career in 1990 in Equal Employment Opportunity roles, also known as affirmative action in Australia. By 1996, she led her first managing diversity projects in organizations. Transitioning to academia after her PhD, she secured a tenurable lecturer position in Sydney and later joined the University of Melbourne, where she has taught courses such as Managing Diversity for over ten years. Her career reflects a commitment to examining diversity and inclusion trends, from early EEO initiatives to contemporary critiques of merit principles and their role in perpetuating inequalities based on gender, age, and disability.

Ainsworth's research specializations encompass organisational discourse analysis and identity, age and gender in employment and organisations, identity and public policy, and human resource management and ethics. Key areas include ageism against older workers, gender equity in leadership, disability inclusion, and ethical HR practices. Her scholarship, reflected in over 3,455 citations on Google Scholar, has advanced critical management studies through topics such as older workers, gender and organizations, and discourse analysis. Notable publications include 'Gender in Human Resources: Hiding in Plain Sight' (2022), 'Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Ethics in Human Resource Management' (with Andreas Pekarek), 'Critical Discourse Analysis and Identity: Why Bother?' (with Cynthia Hardy), 'The Construction of the Older Worker: Privilege, Paradox and Policy' (with Cynthia Hardy), and 'Same Time, Next Year?: Human Resource Management and Seasonal Workers' (2009, with A. Purss). She has contributed to public discourse via articles in Pursuit by the University of Melbourne, such as 'Teaching the Next Generation of #MeToo' (2018), and delivered guest lectures on publishing qualitative research.

Professional Email: susanaa@unimelb.edu.au