Dr Sumeetra Ramakrishnan (née Thozhur)
Academic and research departments
School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Centre for Competitiveness of the Visitor Economy, Gender, Entrepreneurship and Social Policy Institute.About
Biography
My research interests lie within employment and opportunity perceptions of hospitality and tourism workers in low paid jobs with a particular focus on gender and ethnicity influences. I am also increasingly drawn towards innovation in learning content and pedagogy that would address the career ambitions and life aspirations of students besides fulfilling the requirements of the radically transforming hospitality industry..
My work has been published in various journals and as book chapters including Economic and Industrial Democracy, Journal of Services Research, Journal of Managerial Psychology, Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management and Service Industries Journal. I am also a reviewer for various management, tourism and hospitality journals. I have received research funding for various projects to facilitate my research in hospitality and tourism education and successfully supervised PhD students in hospitality and tourism research.
I have led projects on inclusive educational and organizational practices with the Surrey Institute of Education and partnered with social enterprises like Women in Travel and Travel Foundation towards creating equitable work opportunities for women entrepreneurs and business leaders. I sit on the University of Surrey’s Race Equality (RE) Steering Committee and was involved in the recent submission of the University’s RE Charter application. I am the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences EDI representative, and the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management’s AthenaSWAN impact lead. I am a consultant for Religious Literacy Partnership, with a particular interest in women of faith and contribute to BBC Surrey/Sussex on diversity in hospitality education and act as an expert contributor to Skill Boosters on inclusive work practices.
Areas of specialism
University roles and responsibilities
- Programme Director- MSc Programmes in International Hotel Management, Strategic Hospitality Management and International Hospitality Management with Digital Innovation
- ATHENA SWAN Lead for SHTM
- SHTM link for Institute of Travel & Tourism, and Women in Travel
- FASS EDI Lead
- SHTM Mentoring Circles Lead
- University of Surrey’s Race Equality (RE) Steering Committee Member
- Working Group Member of the University of Surrey’s Inclusive Education Strategy
Affiliations and memberships
- Winner of the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Award 2022
- Winner of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Collaborative Teaching Award 2021
ResearchResearch interests
My research interests lie within equality, diversity and inclusion in Hospitality, Tourism and Events organisations and in education, with a particular focus on gender and ethnicity influences.
Migrant worker rights, opportunity perceptions, and barriers to progression in Major Sports Events (MSEs)- a case study of the HSBC BWF World Tour, Japan Open Badminton Tournament
Awarded an EventRights project through EU RISE Funding to explore the challenges faced by ethnically diverse migrant workers working in mega sporting events in Japan. The project explores the role of education of migrant workers towards exercising their employment rights, their perceived employment opportunities and facilitators to progression.
Start date: August 2022
End date: March 2023
Start date: February 2022
End date: July 2022
Research projects
Co-creating equitable, diverse and inclusive travel and tourism (CrEDIT)Awarded through ESRC IAA project in July 2023 to look at Co-creating equitable, diverse and inclusive travel and tourism (CrEDIT). The CreDIT project led to successful collaborations with industry partners including Travel Foundation and Women in Travel.
Exploring the barriers to co-creating diverse and inclusive travel experiences for BAME touristsAwarded FASS Innovation Activity Fund in February 2023 and Pump Priming funding by the University of Surrey as part of a project by the Gender Enterprise and Social Policy Institute (GESPi) to complete and systematize monitoring and tracing the impact of the CreDIT project and ‘Exploring the barriers to co-creating diverse and inclusive travel experiences for BAME tourists’ in December 2021.
Engaging New Travel Audiences: Understanding the Black travellers’ decision-making processAwarded SME Innovation Voucher Grant to investigate ways of ‘Engaging New Travel Audiences: Understanding the Black travellers’ decision-making process’ in April 2021.
Developing an understanding of students’ and industry partners’ experiences’, and the creation of contemporary learning resourcesAwarded FASS Learning & Teaching Project Funding towards ‘Developing an understanding of students’ and industry partners’ experiences’, and the creation of contemporary learning resources in March 2021
Work Aspirations and barrier perceptions of Tourism StudentsAwarded departmental research facilitation funding to explore the ‘Work Aspirations and barrier perceptions of Tourism Students’, October 2017
Comprehension of Visual Metaphor in Advertising: Examining the message effectiveness of the First World War In The Air exhibition campaign of the Royal Air Force (RAF) MuseumProject lead looking at, ‘Comprehension of Visual Metaphor in Advertising: Examining the message effectiveness of the First World War In The Air exhibition campaign of the Royal Air Force (RAF) Museum’, May 2016
The purpose of this workshop is to bring together current academic research and evidence from the industry on how to develop and support women in leadership.
Indicators of esteem
Invited to judge the annual Women in Travel IWTTF Awards 2023
Invited Speaker to the ITT Annual Conference, June 2023, Doha, Qatar, to explore Inclusive Education in Travel and Tourism.
Invited to speak at the annual EdukCircle convention, Manilla on 11th March 2023 as an expert speaker on Employment and Opportunity Perceptions of Hospitality and Tourism Students
Invited speaker at the World Travel Market 2022, as part of ongoing research with Women in Travel and Travel Foundation to discuss Co-creating equitable, diverse, and inclusive travel and tourism, November 9th, ExCel London
Invited speaker to the Annual International Women in Travel and Tourism Forum 2022, to discuss EDI in Travel and Tourism, ‘Turning point or boiling point?’ June 30, Google headquarters in London
Expert contributor to a white paper on “Improving Inclusion in the Workspace”, for Women in Mobility UK, 2022. Women in Mobility supports the progression of women in transport related employment in the U.K. and Germany
Invited to a United Nations Faiths for Right Consultation by Oxford University involving a series of workshops with senior interfaith leaders between September and November 2022, at Lambeth Palace and St George’s House, Windsor Castle. The consultation examined areas where faith and human rights work together in the arena of faith, human rights and our planet looking at this through the lens of both the Faith for Rights toolkit and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Research interests
My research interests lie within equality, diversity and inclusion in Hospitality, Tourism and Events organisations and in education, with a particular focus on gender and ethnicity influences.
Migrant worker rights, opportunity perceptions, and barriers to progression in Major Sports Events (MSEs)- a case study of the HSBC BWF World Tour, Japan Open Badminton Tournament
Awarded an EventRights project through EU RISE Funding to explore the challenges faced by ethnically diverse migrant workers working in mega sporting events in Japan. The project explores the role of education of migrant workers towards exercising their employment rights, their perceived employment opportunities and facilitators to progression.
Start date: August 2022
End date: March 2023
Start date: February 2022
End date: July 2022
Research projects
Awarded through ESRC IAA project in July 2023 to look at Co-creating equitable, diverse and inclusive travel and tourism (CrEDIT). The CreDIT project led to successful collaborations with industry partners including Travel Foundation and Women in Travel.
Awarded FASS Innovation Activity Fund in February 2023 and Pump Priming funding by the University of Surrey as part of a project by the Gender Enterprise and Social Policy Institute (GESPi) to complete and systematize monitoring and tracing the impact of the CreDIT project and ‘Exploring the barriers to co-creating diverse and inclusive travel experiences for BAME tourists’ in December 2021.
Awarded SME Innovation Voucher Grant to investigate ways of ‘Engaging New Travel Audiences: Understanding the Black travellers’ decision-making process’ in April 2021.
Awarded FASS Learning & Teaching Project Funding towards ‘Developing an understanding of students’ and industry partners’ experiences’, and the creation of contemporary learning resources in March 2021
Awarded departmental research facilitation funding to explore the ‘Work Aspirations and barrier perceptions of Tourism Students’, October 2017
Project lead looking at, ‘Comprehension of Visual Metaphor in Advertising: Examining the message effectiveness of the First World War In The Air exhibition campaign of the Royal Air Force (RAF) Museum’, May 2016
The purpose of this workshop is to bring together current academic research and evidence from the industry on how to develop and support women in leadership.
Indicators of esteem
Invited to judge the annual Women in Travel IWTTF Awards 2023
Invited Speaker to the ITT Annual Conference, June 2023, Doha, Qatar, to explore Inclusive Education in Travel and Tourism.
Invited to speak at the annual EdukCircle convention, Manilla on 11th March 2023 as an expert speaker on Employment and Opportunity Perceptions of Hospitality and Tourism Students
Invited speaker at the World Travel Market 2022, as part of ongoing research with Women in Travel and Travel Foundation to discuss Co-creating equitable, diverse, and inclusive travel and tourism, November 9th, ExCel London
Invited speaker to the Annual International Women in Travel and Tourism Forum 2022, to discuss EDI in Travel and Tourism, ‘Turning point or boiling point?’ June 30, Google headquarters in London
Expert contributor to a white paper on “Improving Inclusion in the Workspace”, for Women in Mobility UK, 2022. Women in Mobility supports the progression of women in transport related employment in the U.K. and Germany
Invited to a United Nations Faiths for Right Consultation by Oxford University involving a series of workshops with senior interfaith leaders between September and November 2022, at Lambeth Palace and St George’s House, Windsor Castle. The consultation examined areas where faith and human rights work together in the arena of faith, human rights and our planet looking at this through the lens of both the Faith for Rights toolkit and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Supervision
Postgraduate research supervision
Current
Shaher, Molook along with Prof N Morgan and Dr E Reardon. Topic “How will the interaction effect between current skill shortages and parent influence on future career choices into the hospitality industry?” and “How will the industry sector react towards the factors concerning the future generation of hospitality? “, started in Feb 2023
Teaching
My teaching interests lie within the fields of business operations and people management in hospitality and tourism. Specific subject areas include managing hospitality and tourism businesses, hospitality operations management, organisational behaviour, restaurant development and HRM, hospitality marketing, strategic management, future of hospitality work and skills, employability and entrepreneurship.