Lecturer
Phone: (07) 3138 2743
Fax: (07) 3138.1313
E-mail: karen.becker@qut.edu.au
Room: Z932, Level 9, Z Block, Gardens Point campus
Qualifications
PhD, “Unlearning in the Workplace”, QUT, 2007
GradCert (Higher Education), Deakin University, current
MBA (Management of Change), Charles Sturt University, 2001
BBus (Mgt) Human Resource Management and Organisational Psychology, QUT, 1990
Career Summary
Karen Becker commenced her career as a full time academic in 2002 after eleven years in industry in human resource management, training and development and project management roles. She worked for a financial services organisation in a number of positions prior to becoming the Training Manager for Qld/NSW based in Brisbane. She then managed the Rockhampton branch of a Queensland-based management consulting firm where she was heavily involved in recruitment and selection, training and development, and implementation of performance management systems in a range of organisations.
Karen is a Fellow of the Australian Human Resources Institute (AHRI) and is currently serving her second 2 year term as an AHRI Queensland State Councillor. She is also Chair of the AHRI State Education Committee. Karen is regularly invited to speak at industry and professional events relating to issues such as attraction and retention, skills shortages, staff development, flexible work practices, and generational differences in the workplace.
Teaching Interests
Karen has taught across a range of HR and management subjects such as
- Managing Organisational Change
- Organisational Behaviour
- HRM Competencies
- Introduction to Management
- Human Resource Development
- Human Resource Planning, Recruitment and Selection
Karen’s teaching expertise was recognised in 2007 when she was awarded a Carrick Institute Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning.
Research Interests
Karen’s research focuses on the attraction, retention and development of people in the workplace. She has been involved in a number of research projects funded by the public sector and private industry into skills shortages and attraction and retention issues in regional Australia. Karen completed her PhD at QUT in 2007, in the area of unlearning and change management and is an active researcher and author in the field of HRM. She has published over 25 peer-reviewed journal articles and conference papers relating to her research. In 2006 her excellence in research was recognised when she received an award as an emerging researcher.
Access to Karen's publications can be found at :QUT | ePrints Archive - Person: Becker, Karen