Birgit den Outer

Birgit den Outer is a Senior Lecturer in Organization Studies at the Oxford Brookes Business School. She holds a PhD in Business and Management (2023) from Oxford Brookes, an MA in Coaching and Mentoring (2009), and an MA in Cultural Anthropology/Non-Western Sociology (1991) from the University of Amsterdam. Her research focuses on professional identity formation in precarious work environments, particularly within the UK private security industry, emphasizing gender dynamics and organizational narratives. She is also deeply involved in pedagogical innovation around assessment literacy, feedback mechanisms, and employability.

Her core expertise spans organization studies, sociology of work, and educational methodologies. Notable awards include the Academy of Management CMS 'Highly Commended' Thesis Award and being shortlisted for the 2024 EDAMBA thesis award. She actively contributes to academic communities through leadership roles in the Centre for Global Business, Society, and Global Challenges, and the Centre for Diversity Policy Research and Practice.

Dr den Outer teaches on MBA and HRM programmes, overseeing modules like Critical Approaches to Business and dissertation supervision. Her recent research explores identity work among security personnel and older knowledge workers’ employability narratives. She has supervised Annie Geisow’s PhD on military identity navigation and co-authored studies on feedback effectiveness and graduate recruitment processes.