About - Organisations and Mature Workers

About CEPAR

The ARC Centre of Excellence in Population Ageing Research (CEPAR) is a unique collaboration between academia, government and industry, committed to delivering solutions to one of the major economic and social challenges of the 21st century.

CEPAR seeks to have a major impact on policy and business practice by providing evidence to enable individuals, business and governments to respond better to demographic change and improve wellbeing.

Mature Workers and Organisations

CEPAR’s current research program, running from 2017-2023, is organised into four closely interlinked streams which draw on the expertise of actuaries, demographers, economists, epidemiologists, psychologists and sociologists. Each project combines with others to deliver innovative and comprehensive research outputs across multiple disciplines. The four streams are:

Macro-demographic dynamics and population ageing policy
Decision making, expectations and cognitive ageing
Organisations and the mature workforce
Sustainable wellbeing in later life

Meet the Research Team

Our researchers are based at the Centre for Transformative Work Design within the Future of Work Institute at Curtin University (Perth) and the Department of Work and Organisational Studies at the University of Sydney.

Prof. Sharon ParkerChief Investigator

Sharon Parker is an Australian Research Council Laureate Fellow, a Professor of Organisational Behaviour at Curtin Graduate Business School and an Honorary Professor at the University of Sheffield. She is a recipient of the Australian Research Council’s Kathleen Fitzpatrick Award, and is the Director of the Centre for Transformative Work Design, which is part of Curtin University’s Future of Work Institute, in Perth, Western Australia. Sharon’s research focuses particularly on job and work design, and she is also interested in proactive behaviour, change, well-being, development, and job performance.

Prof. Marian BairdChief Investigator

Marian Baird AO is Professor of Gender and Employment Relations at the University of Sydney, Australia. Marian is a Pro-Chancellor of the University of Sydney and a Fellow of the Senate of the University of Sydney. She is Head of the Discipline of Work and Organisational Studies and Co-Director of the Women, Work and Leadership Research Group in the University of Sydney Business School. Marian was awarded an AO (Officer of the Order of Australia) for outstanding services to improving the quality of women’s working lives and for contributions to tertiary education in 2016. She is one of Australia’s leading researchers in the fields of women, work and care.

Dr Daniela AndreiReseach Fellow

Daniela is a Research Fellow at Curtin University’s Centre for Transformative Work Design, and the Centre for Safety. She specialises in Work Psychology, Personnel Psychology and Organisational Psychology. Her current research revolves around unpacking the antecedents of work design behaviours, understanding leadership functions and team processes in incident management teams, as well as the interplay between safety and employee well-being.

Assoc. Prof. Myra HamiltonPrincipal Research Fellow

Assoc. Professor Myra Hamilton has a PhD in sociology, extensive post-doctoral training in a wide range of qualitative and quantitative methods, over 14 years experience of conducting qualitative and mixed method research projects, and 10 years experience of managing complex projects in the social sciences. Prior to joining this research project Myra was the Lead, Gender Justice Research Programme, with the Australian Human Rights Institute, UNSW and Senior Research Fellow, with the Social Policy Research Centre, UNSW.

Dr Andreea ConstantinResearch Fellow

Andreea is a Research Fellow at the University of Sydney where her main research interests are work-life balance policies, mature workers, outside-work care, gender roles within and outside organisations. Andreea’s research interests also include big data, survey methodology and cross-cultural studies.

Alison WilliamsResearch Associate

Alison a Research Associate at the University of Sydney, where she also teaches in Industrial Relations Policy. Alison has specific expertise in analysis and communication of workplace-related legislative changes and implications of legal decisions, as well as the provision of advice to a varied audience on Human Resources policy, practices and procedures.

Leah ZoszakResearch Officer

Leah is a Research Officer at the Centre for Transformative Work Design, Curtin University. As a registered Psychologist with a masters degree in Industrial and Organisational Psychology, Leah has interests in employee safety and wellbeing, work design, job performance and workplace diversity.

Lucinda IslesResearch Officer

Lucinda is a Research Officer at the Centre for Transformative Work Design, Curtin University and is in the final stages of completing her Masters of Industrial and Organisational Psychology. She has expertise in applying work design principles to optimise employee mental health and wellbeing, and in effective workplace interventions.

Lisa GulesserianResearch Assistant

Lisa is an M.Phil. Student and Research Assistant at the University of Sydney Business School, Australia with a research focus on women, age and leadership. Lisa also worked in corporate Training & Development for 13 years in Canada and the United Arab Emirates. Her work centred on leadership and career development, and included research on women at work and in leadership in the Middle East.

Daniel DinaleResearch Assistant

Daniel is a PhD Candidate in the Discipline of Work and Organisational Studies at the University of Sydney Business School. His doctoral thesis focuses on cross-national patterns of female employment, motherhood and public policy regarding the reconciliation of employment and family.

Eva ZellmanPhD Candidate and Research Officer

Eva is completing her PhD at the Centre for Transformative Work Design at Curtin University and has a Masters of Industrial and Organisational Psychology. With a background as an Organisational Development practitioner she has extensive experience in Diversity & Inclusion, Executive and Team Coaching, Psychometric Assessments, and Outplacement.

Dr Jane ChongResearch Fellow

Jane completed her PhD in 2020 and is a Research Fellow with CEPAR and the Future of Work Institute at Curtin University.

Meet our Associate Investigators

Other researchers contribute their expertise to our research program. Our Associate Investigators are located in multiple countries including Australia, China, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland and the USA.

Ross Andel

Professor, School of Aging Studies,
University of Southern Florida

Prashant Bordia

Professor, College of Business and Economics
Australian National University

Richard Burns

Research Fellow, College of Health and Medicine
Australian National University

Monika Bütler

Professor, School of Management, Economics, Law, Social Sciences and International Affairs
University of St. Gallen, Switzerland

Lindy Clemson

Professor, Faculty of Health Sciences
University of Sydney

Patrick Dunlop

Associate Professor, Future of Work Institute
Curtin University

Joanne Earl

Associate Professor, Department of Psychology
Macquarie University

Lisa Finkelstein

Professor, Department of Psychology
Northern Illinois University

Gwenith Fisher

Associate Professor, Department of Psychology
Colorado State University

Marylène Gagné

Professor, Future of Work Institute, Curtin University, WA, Australia

Fabiola H. Gerpott

Professor of Leadership
WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management

Barbara Griffin

Professor, Department of Psychology
Macquarie University

Alexandra Heron

Research Associate, Business School
The University of Sydney

Andreas Hirschi

Professor, Institute of Psychology
University of Bern

Dorien Kooij

Associate Professor
Department of Human Resource Studies
Tilburg University

Vanessa Loh

Lecturer, School of Business
The University of Sydney

Andreas Müller

Professor, Faculty of Educational Sciences
University of Duisburg-Essen

Kate O’Loughlin

Associate Professor, Faculty of Health Sciences
The University of Sydney

Cort W. Rudolph

Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology
Saint Louis University

Donald Truxillo

Professor of Work and Organisational Psychology
University of Limerick

Mo Wang

Professor, Warrington College of Business
University of Florida

Chia-Huei Wu

Associate Professor, Business School
Durham University

Hannes Zacher

Professor, Faculty of Life Sciences
University of Leipzig

“The two big questions are:

How do we ‘keep’ mature aged workers in work?

If mature workers stay in work, how do we maximise their productivity and their health?”

Prof Sharon Parker, Chief Investigator

Research Focus

There is an urgent need for research into how to attract, retain and engage mature workers.

Read why

Join

We want to collaborate with organisations who are keen to address the crucial challenges associated with work and ageing.

Get in touch

Engage

Instead of taking a one-size-fits-all approach, we customise the tools, techniques, and measures to best fit your organisation’s needs.

Typical research collaboration

Benefits

Five ways your organisation can benefit

About our approach

The Mature Workers in Organisations Project

We can help your organisation identify opportunities to establish or expand your age diversity initiatives.