People

Meet our CEEHE Director.

Professor Penny Jane Burke

Professor Penny Jane Burke

Director, Centre of Excellence for Equity in Higher Education and Global Innovation Chair of Equity

Professor Penny Jane Burke has pushed the boundaries of the field of equity, arguing for praxis-based approaches that work towards transforming educational spaces and imaginaries and bringing research, theory and practice together. Her personal experience of returning to study via an Access to Higher Education program has fuelled her deep commitment to generating research with impact, firmly located in social justice methodologies.

Professor Penny Jane Burke is UNESCO Chair in Equity, Social Justice and Higher Education, Global Innovation Chair of Equity and Director of the Centre of Excellence in Equity in Higher Education at the University of Newcastle, Australia. Dedicated to developing pedagogical methodologies that enable transformative equity and social justice, she has published widely in the field of equity, including her Routledge books Equity in Higher Education: Time for Praxis (Burke & Lumb, 2024), Changing Pedagogical Spaces in Higher Education(Burke, Crozier and Misiaszek, 2017), The Right to Higher Education: Beyond widening participation (Burke, 2012) and Reconceptualising Lifelong Learning(Burke and Jackson, 2007). Penny is co-editor of the Bloomsbury Gender and Education book series and Global Chair of Social Innovation at University of Bath. She has held the position of Executive Editor of Teaching in Higher Education (2010 – 2020), received the Higher Education Academy’s National Teaching Fellowship Award (2008) and was an expert member of the Australian government’s Equity in Higher Education Panel (2020-2021) and Equity Research & Innovation Panel (2018-2020). She has held the positions of Professor of Education at the University of Sussex and University of Roehampton and Reader at the Institute of Education, University of London.

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Meet the CEEHE Team

CEEHE Team
Dr Matt Lumb

Dr Matt Lumb

Associate Director

Dr Lumb’s commitment to the field of access to education has developed through his experience as a community development professional and classroom teacher. He has an interest in the ways sophisticated participatory methodologies can make evaluative research processes more productive, and deliver contextualised understandings of the underlying dynamics that produce program impact. His PhD investigated the concealed impacts of outreach connections.

Dr Lumb has worked on a number of projects and publications both individually and in collaboration with CEEHE researchers and practitioners, including  ‘Researching and evaluating equity and widening participation: praxis-based frameworks’.

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Mrs Alison Carter

Mrs Alison Carter

Executive Administration and Project Officer

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Ms Julia Shaw

Ms Julia Shaw

Research Coordinator
Centre of Excellence for Equity in Higher Ed
Dr Rhyall Gordon

Dr Rhyall Gordon

Praxis Officer

Rhyall has over 20 years’ experience of working in community development research and practice. He has carried out community based research and evaluation projects in the area of homelessness and affordable housing, domestic and family violence, culturally and linguistically diverse communities and the youth sector. His PhD research focused on community economic development. His role in CEEHE involves developing initiatives to support the exchange between theory and practice in the context of equity projects in higher education both with the University of Newcastle and the wider community.

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Miss Emily Fuller

Miss Emily Fuller

Read more about Live, Learn, Grow

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Mrs Ceanne Trotter

Mrs Ceanne Trotter

Project Officer
Centre of Excellence for Equity in Higher Ed
Mr Louis Ndagijimana

Mr Louis Ndagijimana

Project Officer
Centre of Excellence for Equity in Higher Ed
Mrs Felicity Cocuzzoli

Mrs Felicity Cocuzzoli

Learning Community Partnership Officer
Centre of Excellence for Equity in Higher Ed
Mr Jace Blunden

Mr Jace Blunden

Research and Practice Officer
Centre of Excellence for Equity in Higher Ed
Dr Jean Parker

Dr Jean Parker

Research Officer
Centre of Excellence for Equity in Higher Ed
Dr Stephanie Hardacre

Dr Stephanie Hardacre

Research Officer
Centre of Excellence for Equity in Higher Ed
Miss Amber Hughes

Miss Amber Hughes

Postdoctoral Research Fellow
School of Education
Honorary Professors

Professor Andrew Brown

Professor Brown is a sociologist of education with research interests in the process of research capacity and capability building, doctoral and research education, digital technology and the relationship between everyday, professional and academic discourse and practice.  Professor Brown provides strategic support to CEEHE research and practice. In addition to his honorary role at UON, Professor Brown is a senior advisor to the Singapore National Institute of Education and Governor at Barking and Dagenham College.

Professor Claire Cameron

Professor Claire Cameron

Claire Cameron is Professor of Social Pedagogy at UCL Institute of Education, where she has been researching issues of care, social pedagogy, gender, the childrens workforce, as well as early childhood education and care for over two decades. Professor Cameron is the co-director of the Centre for Understanding Social Pedagogy and has conducted several large cross-national studies, funded by government, the European Union and NGOs.

Professor Cameron is increasingly recognised for her work in providing pathways into higher education for young people in out of home care. And as an Honorary Professor with the Centre, she is providing support and expertise to the Live, Learn, Grow program - exploring ways of developing research informed practice and policy influence.

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CEEHE Doctoral Students
Ms Evonne Irwin

Ms Evonne Irwin

Associate Lecturer

AWARDED: 'Identities, power relations and mis/recognitions of 'Third Space' professionals in higher education work contexts.'

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Mrs Kristen Allen

Mrs Kristen Allen

Program Convenor

'The stories behind the figures: successes occurring for enabling students that the data isn’t showing. Is it time to revisit the definition of ‘success’ in higher education to be more inclusive?'.

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Ms Sharon Smith

Ms Sharon Smith

Newstep Teacher

'Differences that matter: Intra-actions of religion, gender and higher education'.

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Mrs Catherine Burgess

Mrs Catherine Burgess

Associate Lecturer

'Rediscovering science: Transitions and success in STEM studies for students entering university via alternative pathways.'

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