Dr Gillian Forster

Associate Professor

School: Newcastle Business School

Dr Gillian Forster is a Director of Education for Postgraduate Programmes in the department of Marketing and Operation Systems, and Postgraduate Framework Lead for Newcastle Business School in the Faculty of Business and Law. She has extensive experience of leading, designing and developing programmes particularly at postgraduate level as well as being a frequent member of validation and accreditation panels both internally and externally. Gillian has introduced a range of activities to enhance the student experience, including the team building and leadership development residential weekend and more recently the co-development coaching programme to enhance the self-confidence of international female students for employability.

Gillian teaches organisational analysis, leadership development and cross-cultural management and leads on postgraduate experiential learning activities.

Gillian is an active researcher. Her main research areas are currently in the area of international/cross-cultural management, in particular the influence of Islamic values on management practice, as well as pedagogical developments and employability support and interventions for postgraduate (international) students.

Campus Address

City Campus East 1
Falconer Street

NE1 2RW

Email Gillian

Research Themes and Scholarly Interests

Dr Forster's main research areas are in the field of organisation studies especially organisation culture and international/cross-cultural management, and has an in-depth interest in the influence of Islamic values on management practice, with most of her research in this area currently focusing on Morocco. In addition, Gillian also undertakes research in pedgagogical and employability developments relating to postgraduate international students. The results of Gillian's research have been published both as journal articles and research monographs. She has examined doctorates on trust, leadership in education and emotional regulation, as well as supervising doctoral students studying aspects of employability and entrepreneurial education. Gillian is a reviewer for academic journals including the International Journal of Human Resource Management.

Key Publications

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
‘Stranger’ in a strange land: a phenomenological approach to historical cross-cultural research, Forster, G., Pattinson, S., Wilson, J. 21 Jan 2026, In: Business History
Understanding an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) System Implementation with a Transforming Organisational Culture, Skoumpopoulou, D., Forster, G., Kayas, O., Robson, A. Nov 2025, In: International Journal of Technology, Innovation and Management
Embedding employability in the postgraduate curriculum: Validation of the Career Enhancement Model of Employability for Business Students, Whitton, D., Forster, G., Aloyan, K. 23 May 2023, CABS Learning and Teaching Student Experience 2023
How to change the student mindset from job to career: An innovative approach to pursuing the employability agenda’, Whitton, D., Forster, G., Robson, A., Aloyan, K. 24 May 2022, CABS Learning Teaching and Student Experience Conference
Finding Your Voice: Supporting student health and well-being in a virtual world.: Chartered Institute of Business Schools Learning Teaching and Student Experience Conference., Forster, G., Whitton, D., Leggett, R. 30 Jun 2021
Developing the ‘Oven-Ready’ Postgraduate: Squeezing a Quart into a Pint Pot to Meet the Employability Agenda, Forster, G., Robson, A. 24 Sep 2019, Employability via Higher Education: Sustainability as Scholarship, Cham, Springer
Participatory learning in residential weekends: benefit or barrier to learning for the international student?, Robson, F., Forster, G., Powell, L. 3 May 2016, In: Innovations in Education and Teaching International
The influence of Islamic values on management practice in Morocco, Forster, G., Fenwick, J. Apr 2015, In: European Management Journal
The Influence of Islamic values on Management Practice, Forster, G. Nov 2014
The implications of hotel employee attitudes for the development of quality tourism: The case of Cyprus, Sharpley, R., Forster, G. Dec 2003, In: Tourism Management

Qualifications

Educational Development PGCE July 20 1994
PhD September 01 1993
Human Resource Management MSc September 01 1993
Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development FCIPD 2005