Harley Jean Simpson

Harley Jean Simpson serves as a Senior Lecturer in the School of Psychology, Sport and Sensory Science within the Faculty of Science and Engineering at Anglia Ruskin University (ARU). Based in Cambridge, she is an active member of the Cambridge Centre for Sport and Exercise Sciences (CCSES) and provides research supervision across higher education programs.

Her educational qualifications demonstrate rigorous academic progression:

• University Teaching Fellow (UTF), Anglia Ruskin University (2023)
• PGCert in Higher Education (2023)
• PhD in coaches decision-making (2023)
• Postgraduate Certificate in Research Methods (2020)
• MSc in Sport Coaching Science (Distinction) (2020)
• BSc (Hons) Sports Coaching and Physical Education (2018)

Her research program centers on coaches' decision-making processes, coach education frameworks, and pedagogical approaches in sports coaching, with distinctive interdisciplinary connections to theology and philosophy. She investigates how coaches navigate professional identity through engagement and reflection within complex team environments.

Recent scholarly output reveals a strong emphasis on qualitative methodologies examining identity negotiation among coach developers, with thematic focus on engagement dynamics, imaginative processes, and alignment challenges in professional learning contexts.

Her academic contributions have been recognized through:

• Public Choice Award for research imagery (2019)
• University Teaching Fellowship (2023)

Dr. Simpson actively secures research funding including the £1,526 grant for 'Realising the hidden potential amongst first in family during their time in HE' project. She contributes to the Cluster for Research Into Coaching (CriC) and presents regularly at international conferences on coaching education and qualitative methodology.