Academic Lead - Graduate Apprenticeships (Business Management & Project Management)

University of the West of Scotland

PhD Candidate (Psychology)

University of Glasgow

Applied Industrial/Organisational Psychologist

Specialism: Organisational Behaviour, Decision-Making Processes, and Work-Integrated Learning

Teaching Qualification (Further Education) - TQFE

Senior Fellow - Advance HE (SFHEA) - (Submitted)

Registered Teacher - General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS)

Member - ESRC Peer Review College (UK Research and Innovation)

Member - British Psychological Society (MBPsS)

Member - Chartered Management Institute (MCMI)

Commercial Sector Expertise:

Construction, Manufacturing, Service Industries, and Aerospace

Publications in:

Psychiatry, Psychology and Law

Behavioural Sciences and the Law

International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research

World Policy Research

Media Contributions:

The Conversation

Times Higher Education (The Campus)

Wonkhe

Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI)

1919 Legal Magazine

The Open University

Biographical Narrative

Elaine McKenzie Jackson is an applied Industrial/Organisational psychologist and Academic Lead for Graduate Apprenticeships at the University of the West of Scotland (UWS). Her distinctive academic profile bridges commercial organisational practice with scholarly research, drawing on extensive executive leadership experience across construction, manufacturing, service, and aerospace sectors to inform evidence-based teaching in business and project management.

Elaine Jackson's research operates at the intersection of organisational behaviour and decision-making processes, manifested through two complementary streams: psycholegal studies examining the judiciary as an organisational system, and educational research advancing work-integrated learning pedagogy. This dual focus reflects her core interest in how structural, cultural, and behavioural factors shape decision-making across organisational contexts, from courtroom deliberations to workplace learning environments.

Her commercial background provides unique insight into organisational dynamics that distinguishes her academic work. As former Managing Director with full P&L responsibility, Business Development Manager and Senior Procurement Specialist managing multi-million pound contracts across diverse sectors, she developed expertise in stakeholder management, governance frameworks, dispute resolution, and change leadership. This experience directly informs her teaching approach, enabling authentic integration of industry challenges with theoretical frameworks in business and project management curricula.

Currently completing her PhD in Psychology at the University of Glasgow, Elaine Jackson's psycholegal research investigates the judiciary as an organisational entity, examining how structural elements and behavioural processes influence legal decision-making. Her work explores legal system architecture (comparing binary versus three-verdict systems), organisational behaviour within legal institutions (including how legal instructions shape jury deliberations), and jury decision-making processes (examining rape myth acceptance, majority rule versus unanimity requirements, and the impact of jury size configurations of 12 versus 15 members). Through innovative mock jury deliberation methodologies, she has revealed critical discrepancies between jurors' explicit attitudes and actual deliberation behaviour, with significant implications for Scottish justice reform, contributing to policy discussions that have informed the VWR Bill.

Her educational research stream advances understanding of enterprise education and workplace learning through an organisational behaviour lens. This work examines teaching innovation, work-integrated learning frameworks, and organisational decision-making processes in educational contexts. Her research on graduate apprenticeships revealed the "autonomy paradox", demonstrating how organisational structures that balance learner independence with guided support optimise workplace learning outcomes. Her commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion is evident in scholarship on decolonising the curriculum, positioning educational transformation as an organisational change initiative requiring systematic attention to power structures and decision-making processes.

To date, she has presented at numerous national and international conferences and published in journals including Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, Behavioural Sciences and the Law, and the International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research. Her research has achieved significant public engagement impact, with articles in The Conversation reaching wide audiences and contributions to policy discussions through The Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) being highlighted to the Scottish Education Minister informing the TET Bill.

A pending Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA) and member of the ESRC Peer Review College, Elaine Jackson teaches across business and project management disciplines, applying industrial/organisational psychology principles to enhance student understanding of workplace dynamics. She champions evidence-informed teaching practices and has developed comprehensive digital learning resources, including R Shiny applications for student support.

Elaine Jackson has written for several higher education publications and news media, including: Advance HE, The Conversation, Times Higher Education, Wonkhe, the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI), The Open University, and 1919 Legal Magazine.

Overall, Elaine Jackson's work demonstrates how applied organisational psychology, informed by authentic commercial experience, can illuminate decision-making processes across diverse institutional contexts, from corporate boardrooms to jury deliberation rooms to workplace learning environments, advancing both theoretical understanding and practical application.

Consultancy and Knowledge Exchange

• Graduate Apprenticeship Programme Development – Operational and strategic leadership integrating organisational psychology principles with work-based learning design (since 2021)
• Work-Based Learning Framework Design – Innovative tri-sphere stakeholder engagement models informed by I/O psychology research
• Business and Project Management Curriculum Development – Evidence-based teaching drawing on commercial sector expertise
• Organisational Development and Change Management – Consultancy informed by commercial leadership experience across multiple sectors
• Justice System Reform – Research translation for policy and practice in Scottish legal contexts

Grant and Income Generative Activity

• Innovate UK (Greenland, S., McNeil, D., Jackson, E.) – £2M (December 2018)

  UK Space Agency R&D funding secured through strategic partnership development across aerospace sector

• Erasmus+ Strategic Partnership QHELP (Research Associate, PI: Dr. Martin Lages) – £120,000 (2019-2022)
• Glasgow Educational and Marshall Trust Grants – £4,800 total (2019-2023, four awards)

Other Institutional Roles

Member - ESRC Peer Review College (UK Research and Innovation)

Academic Lead - Graduate Apprenticeships (Business Management & Project Management, UWS)

Module Coordinator - Work-Based Learning (SCQF 7-10)

Academic Link Tutor - Tripartite stakeholder relationships (employer-university-apprentice)

Supervision - Master's level international student dissertation support

Areas of Academic Expertise

Applied Industrial/Organisational Psychology

Organisational Behaviour and Decision-Making Processes

Psycholegal Studies and Jury Decision-Making

Work-Based Learning and Graduate Apprenticeships

Business and Project Management Education

Research Methods and Meta-Analysis

Stakeholder Theory and Work-Integrated Learning

Executive Leadership and Organisational Governance

Educational Innovation and Curriculum Development

Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in Higher Education

Desired Research Direction

Longitudinal Studies of Organisational Learning and Work-Based Learning Outcomes

Justice System Reform - Organisational Psychology Approaches to Reducing Bias

Comparative Legal Systems Research - Cross-Jurisdictional Organisational Analysis

Workplace Learning Innovation - Digital and Distributed Learning Frameworks

Organisational Decision-Making in Complex Multi-Stakeholder Environments

Organisational Change for EDI - Institutional Transformation in Higher Education

Target Collaborative Organisations

Scottish Government

Skills Development Scotland

Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service

Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service

Judicial Office for Scotland

British Psychological Society (Division of Occupational Psychology)

Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD)

Construction Industry Training Board (CITB)

Manufacturing Sector Professional Bodies

Universities Scotland

College Development Network

Other Areas of Expertise Available for Knowledge Exchange

Executive Leadership and Corporate Governance (Construction, Manufacturing, Service, Aerospace)

Strategic Procurement and Contract Management (Multi-Million Pound Projects)

Project Management and R&D Funding Acquisition

Dispute Resolution and Multi-Stakeholder Negotiation

Business Transformation and Organisational Change Management

Regulatory Compliance and Risk Management

Cross-Sector Industry-Academic Partnership Development

Contact Information

E-mail: [email protected]

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/elainejacksonpsy

X: @EJacksonPsych