Vani Naik

Studied

• BSc (Hons) Applied Psychology (Cardiff University, Wales) 

• MA Applied Linguistics (University of Auckland, New Zealand)  

• PhD Business: Sociology of Work (Loughborough University, England) 

Previous experience

Vani has a quintessential squiggly career in research and teaching. She initially worked in research for QinetIQ, where she worked with fighter jet pilots and then moved to working in research at Unilever. She then moved away from research into teaching, which saw her work in Turkey, Australia and New Zealand. Teaching in the UK also took her to Durham University and the Universities of Leeds and Birmingham. She also held a Lecturer role at Massey University, New Zealand. 

Vani’s doctorate is on the topic of academic careers, in particular the route to the professoriate and its nexus for women in engineering. During the completion of her doctorate, Vani took on the part-time role of Researcher Developer at Edinburgh Napier University, which allows her to apply her theoretical expertise on academic careers with practical impact.  

She leads on the UK National Taskgroup for Research Staff and Research Students with AGCAS, the UK’s expert membership organisation for higher education student career development and graduate employment professionals. She has also started her own business, providing consulting services to individuals and higher education institutions. Her main interest throughout all her roles is transforming academic barriers into bridges, ensuring that researchers thrive in any chosen career pathway. 

Colleges & departments

Vani offers career support to research staff across all the departments, divisions and colleges at the University of Oxford. 

To check when Vani is available for appointments, browse the ‘Appointments’ section on CareerConnect. 

Areas of interest

Researcher Professional Development; Academia and Higher Education; Researcher careers beyond academia