Understanding Disability, Inclusion and Participation
What drives my research is a pretty simple frustration: the world is mostly built as if disabled people do not exist, or as if we are problems to be managed rather than people with knowledge, creativity and things to contribute.
My work tries to push back on that through evidence, collaboration with disabled communities and research that takes lived experience seriously as a source of insight.
I study disability, inclusion and participation across work, entrepreneurship, higher education, museums, travel and everyday life. These topics might seem distinct, but they are deeply connected. The same barriers often appear in different contexts, just wearing different clothes.
At the heart of my research is a simple question:
Who gets to participate, and why?
My work explores what prevents participation, what enables it and what organisations, institutions and communities can do differently.
Research Themes
Disability, Work and Entrepreneurship
My research examines how disabled people navigate, challenge and reshape workplaces, organisations and economic systems that were never designed with them in mind.
Topics include:
- Disability and employment
- Entrepreneurship and self-employment
- Workplace inclusion
- Leadership and participation
- Meaningful work
- Informal and unpaid labour
- Disability and organisational life
Higher Education and Organisational Change
I explore how universities and organisations can create environments where disabled people are able to participate fully and thrive.
Topics include:
- Disability inclusion in higher education
- Staff and student experiences
- Organisational culture
- Accessibility and belonging
- Inclusive leadership
- Disability, neurodiversity and mental health
- Institutional change
Access, Culture and Everyday Life
Inclusion does not stop at work.
My research examines how disabled people experience museums, tourism, leisure, public spaces and cultural participation and what needs to change for access to become a reality rather than an aspiration.
Topics include:
- Museum accessibility
- Sensory access
- Cultural participation
- Travel and tourism
- Leisure and wellbeing
- Public space accessibility
- Everyday experiences of inclusion and exclusion
Inclusive Research and Participation
I am particularly interested in how research is conducted and whose voices shape the knowledge we produce.
My work frequently uses participatory and co-created approaches that centre lived experience and challenge traditional assumptions about who gets to create knowledge.
How I Think About Disability and Inclusion
Several ideas run throughout my work.
Participation
Whether I am studying work, universities, museums or travel, I am interested in understanding who gets to participate and what prevents participation from happening.
Embodiment
Disability is something people experience through their bodies as they navigate workplaces, organisations and everyday spaces.
Stigma and Marginalisation
Many barriers arise not from impairment itself but from assumptions, expectations and systems that exclude certain groups from full participation.
Disability Work
One of the concepts I use most frequently is disability work: the often invisible labour disabled people perform simply to navigate environments that were not designed with them in mind.
Research Methods
I am a qualitative researcher with a passion for interdisciplinary and collaborative work.
My research frequently draws on:
- Ethnography
- Diaries and diary studies
- Interviews and focus groups
- Visual and arts-based methods
- Participatory research
- Co-created research approaches
My goal is to produce research that is not simply about disabled people but genuinely shaped by disabled people.
Research in Action
I believe research should create real change and that change does not only happen through academic publications.
Over the years I have worked through documentaries, exhibitions, virtual reality experiences, training programmes, policy engagement and collaborations with organisations seeking to create more accessible and inclusive environments.
Layers of Vision
Layers of Vision is an art exhibition and research project created with blind and partially sighted artists.
The project explores what it means to make and experience art in a world designed primarily for sighted people and what museums can do differently to create genuinely accessible experiences.
The project was shortlisted for the Zero Project Award 2026, won the King’s Business School Impact Prize 2023, featured in The Guardian and contributed to policy discussions about museum accessibility and access to culture.
Invisible
Invisible is a documentary featuring six disabled women activists working to change what we see in our world.
Developed from research conducted with Oana Branzei at Ivey Business School during the COVID-19 pandemic, the documentary is now used in teaching and training environments across multiple countries.
Spring Institute on Disability
The Spring Institute on Disability is a free, fully virtual and global institute for disability researchers that I co-founded in 2021.
Each year it brings together researchers across six continents to learn, collaborate and build community. We deliberately operate without registration fees because access to a research community should not depend upon having an institutional budget.
Visit the Spring Institute Website
Policy Engagement
Research only goes so far if it does not reach the people making decisions.
My work has contributed to policy discussions on disability inclusion, employment, higher education and participation through written evidence, consultation activities and advisory roles.
This includes contributions to:
- House of Commons Work and Pensions Committee Inquiry on Disability Employment
- Women and Equalities Committee Inquiry on the National Disability Strategy
- Science and Technology Committee Inquiry on Diversity in STEM
- All-Party Parliamentary Group reports and policy discussions relating to disability and entrepreneurship
- Parliamentary discussions concerning disabled women’s participation and representation
Impact Beyond Academia
Research creates impact in many different ways.
My work contributes through:
Training and Capacity Building
Supporting organisations to build knowledge, confidence and inclusive practice.
Speaking and Public Engagement
Sharing research through conferences, public talks, community events and media appearances.
Advisory Work
Working with organisations seeking to improve accessibility, participation and inclusion.
Creative and Cultural Projects
Collaborating on exhibitions, documentaries, immersive technologies and creative engagement initiatives.
Policy and Practice
Contributing evidence and expertise to policy discussions, organisational change and public debate.
Let’s Work Together
If you are interested in research collaboration, impact partnerships, training, policy engagement or advisory work, I would be delighted to hear from you.