Jacinta Byrne-Doran

Dr. Jacinta Byrne-Doran is a Lecturer in the Department of Arts at the School of Humanities, South East Technological University (SETU). She has been employed at SETU (formerly Waterford Institute of Technology) since 1999, with extensive experience in academia, career guidance, and counseling. Her teaching focuses on Developmental and Counselling Psychology across programs like BA (Hons) Psychology, Social Care Practice, and Criminal Justice. She actively supervises postgraduate research and collaborates on interdisciplinary projects.

• Education:
• PhD: 'A Narrative Study of Lived Experiences of Working Mothers in Ireland' (University of Leicester, 2012)
• M.Sc. Counselling Psychology (Trinity College Dublin, 1996)
• B.Sc. Occupational Psychology (Ulster University, 1992)

Research Interests: Gender and work, qualitative frameworks, motherhood, breastfeeding, home education, and digital interaction in early childhood education. Notable collaborations include a Research Connexions 2022 project on breastfeeding representations in children's books and evaluations of teaching resources like the ERT Document.

Grants & Funding: Secured €420,000 EU Socrates Minerva Project (2003), multiple IOT-funded projects (2006-2008), and South East Regional Development Fund scholarships (2020-2021). Recent awards include a €105,000 SETU PhD Scholarship (2023).

• Activities: External examiner for PhD examinations, presenter at international conferences, and contributor to media discussions on motherhood and work.

Labs/Teams: Member of the Analysing Social Change Research Group and collaborates with IT Carlow on inclusive education initiatives.