Sarah Williams
Liverpool Business School
Faculty of Business and Law
Email: S.J.Williams@ljmu.ac.uk
Telephone: 0151 231 3350
I am a Senior Lecturer in Human Resource Management at Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU), where I lead the MA HRM programme. I also serve as a committee member of the Women Academics Network, Athena Swan Lead, and Sustainability Accelerator Coordinator for Liverpool Business School. Beyond the university, I co-lead the North-West and North Wales Local Network for the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) UK & Ireland Chapter.
My teaching practice is grounded in critical, creative, and transformative learning. I integrate futures literacy, arts-based methods, and playful, participatory approaches to create spaces where students can question dominant assumptions, engage with uncertainty, and imagine alternative futures for work and organisations. Storytelling, visual methods, and collaborative inquiry are central to my approach, encouraging students to develop ethical reasoning, critical reflection, and imaginative thinking as core professional capabilities. I see teaching as a hopeful and political act, preparing students not just to succeed within organisations, but to challenge and reimagine them.
I share my teaching practice nationally and internationally through conferences and academic networks dedicated to responsible management education, critical pedagogy, and sustainability in higher education. I am committed to advancing pedagogical approaches that centre ethics, creativity, and social justice within business and management learning.
Alongside my pedagogical work, my doctoral research explores how institutional pressures influence the emergence and development of sustainable HRM within PRME-aligned UK business schools. More broadly, my research interests span responsible management education, sustainable HRM, equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI), and the future of work.
I am a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a Certified Management and Business Educator. I welcome opportunities to collaborate with others committed to transforming business education towards more ethical, inclusive, and sustainable futures.
Degrees
2014, Liverpool John Moores University, United Kingdom, MA, Human Resource Management
2010, Liverpool John Moores University, United Kingdom, BA (Hons), Human Resource Management
Liverpool John Moores University, United Kingdom, Doctor of Business Administration (DBA)
Academic appointments
Sustainability Accelerator Co-Lead, Liverpool Business School, Liverpool John Moores University, 2025 - present
PRME North-West and North Wales Local Network Lead, PRME, 2024 - present
Women Academics Network: Committee Member, Liverpool John Moores University, 2024 - present
Programme Manager, MA Human Resources, Liverpool Business School, Liverpool John Moores University, 2023 - present
Athena Swan Lead, Liverpool Business School, Liverpool John Moores University, 2023 - present
Senior Lecturer in Human Resource Management, Liverpool Business School, Liverpool John Moores University, 2022 - present
Highlighted publications
Wall T, Williams S, Dixon L. 2025. Futuring as inquiry: pragmatics, problematics, and possibilities The Elgar Companion to Management Education and the UN Sustainable Development Goals Edward Elgar Publishing
Wall T, Williams S, Österlind E, Dixon L, Soehren D. 2024. Future developments to embrace a ‘pedagogy of passion’. Wall T, Österlind E, Hallgren E. Sustainability Teaching for Impact How to Inspire and Engage Students Using Drama Routledge 9781032769301 DOI Publisher Url
Chapters
Wall T, Williams S, Dixon L. 2025. Futuring as inquiry: pragmatics, problematics, and possibilities The Elgar Companion to Management Education and the UN Sustainable Development Goals Edward Elgar Publishing
Wall T, Williams SJ, Dixon L, Soehren D. 2025. Provocation: Futuring at scale Sustainability Teaching for Impact :171-178 Routledge DOI Publisher Url
Wall T, Williams S, Österlind E, Dixon L, Soehren D. 2024. Future developments to embrace a ‘pedagogy of passion’. Wall T, Österlind E, Hallgren E. Sustainability Teaching for Impact How to Inspire and Engage Students Using Drama Routledge 9781032769301 DOI Publisher Url
Williams SJ, Dixon L, Soehren D, Wall T. 2024. Provocation: Futuring at scale Sustainability Teaching for Impact how to Inspire and Engage Students Using Drama :171-178 DOI
Conference publication
Williams S. Planning for uncertainty/uncertainly planning: strategic decision making in UK Higher Education Institutions during periods of external volatility Faculty of Business and Law Research Day DOI
Williams S. Ex Machina, but where is Deus? Recasting generative AI with joy RMLE unConference
Williams S. The Future is a Canvas, Not a Curriculum: Teaching to Disrupt, Unlearn, and Create RMLE UnConference
Williams S. Tailoring Futures Literacy: A Context-Responsive Approach to Sustainable Management Education 3rd Transatlantic Symposium on Sustainable Development in Higher Education
Conference presentation:
Poster presentation, Belfast, PRME UK & Ireland Annual Doctoral Colloquium, Institutional Pressures and the Presence and Emergence of Sustainable HRM in PRME-Aligned UK Business Schools., https://www.unprme.org.uk/2025doctoralcolloquium. 2025
Oral presentation, London, British Academy of Management, Management Knowledge and Education Teaching Practice Conference, Futuremakers, Not Forecasters: Creative Pedagogies for Tomorrow’s Work, https://www.bam.ac.uk/events-landing/ems-event-calendar/bam-mke-teaching-practice-conference-2025.html. 2025
Oral presentation, Newport, Wales, CABS Learning, Teaching and Student Experience Conference, Enabling engagement with creative assessments through safe, collaborative experimentation. 2023
Award:
Faculty of Society & Culture at Liverpool John Moores University, Teaching Excellence Award: Rising Star. 2025
University Forum of Human Resource Development, Learning and Education Prize: Highly Commended. 2025
External committees:
British Academy of Management, Part-Time Doctoral Representative, Academic Affairs of Conference and Capacity Building (AACCB). 2025
British Academy of Management, Part-Time Doctoral Representative, British Academy of Management Council. 2025
Other Professional Activity:
Reviewer for CABS Learning, Teaching & Student Experience Conference. 2025
LEAP Researcher Programme: A collaboration between oikos and PRME: https://oikos-international.org/what-we-do/leap-initiative/leap-researchers/. 2024
Reviewer for the British Academy of Management Conference. 2024
External Examiner - HRM @ UWE. 2023
Membership of professional bodies:
Chartered Association of Business Schools, Certified Management & Business Educator. 2024
CIPD, Associate.
Higher Education Academy, Fellow.
Teaching qualification:
Post Graduate Certificate in Academic Practice. 2024