Staff Profile
Professor Jermaine Ravalier
Before joining Buckinghamshire New University in 2024 I was Professor of Organisational Psychology and Social Justice at Bath Spa University. I started my academic career teaching in 2012 at Newham College, a HE in FE institution, before moving onto the University of Westminster as a lecturer. While at Westminster I also received my first research grant from the British Academy/Leverhulme small grant awards.
Since moving to BNU, I have been most impressed by the dedication of the teams within my school. Their dedication to supporting and producing the best graduates in health and social care possible, all of whom graduate with a strong sense of social justice in order to do the right things for the right people, is extremely impressive.
My research looks at the health and wellbeing of health, allied health, social care, and social work professionals. In the recent past I have been funded by the Department for Health and Social Care and ESRC to develop interventions to support the psychological health and wellbeing of social workers and NHS employees. Since joining BNU in February 2024, I have been successful in two funding awards as PI. The first is funding from Social Care Wales for £150,000, in which we conducted their ‘Have Your Say’ survey and qualitative deep dives. In September 2024 I was also awarded a £600,000 NIHR award alongside colleagues at Bath Spa University, Edge Hill University, and the Open University, to develop Best Practice Guidance for the recruitment and retention of social workers in coastal communities in England.
As part of my research I work closely with a number of influential individuals and organisations. I am a global ambassador for the Social Workers Union (SWU) and work closely with the British Association of Social Workers (BASW). For example, I recently completed a piece of research with SWU in developing Best Practice Guidance for social worker reflective supervision, and BASW funded me to undertake an evaluation of the Professional Capabilities Framework. This is an important piece of work because most social work educators use the PCF as the basis of their course, and therefore our evaluation and recommendations will have a direct impact on the training of social workers in England.
I have four current excellent PhD students, and am open to taking on both PhD students and research collaborations.
Jermaine became a member of the University Strategy Group in April 2025.