Staff profile

Barbara is Professor in Human Resource Management. She holds a PhD in Social and Economic Sciences from the University of Vienna. Prior to joining Durham University Business School in June 2015, she taught at the York Management School. She is an Academic Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD). In 2018, she become a member of the International Labour and Employment Relations Association - ILERA - Executive Committee. Since February 2021, Barbara is Co-Director of the Wolfson Research Institute for Health and Wellbeing.

Barbara is interested in international and interdisciplinary research at the intersection between work organizations, society and economy. The scope of her research activities covers research on comparative Human Resource Management, including the international level, and issues concerning individual and collective aspects of the employment relationship. Such aspects are performance management and employee voice, and cross-national and cross-industry differences in the organisational and institutional regulation of employment relationships. She is especially interested in the link between employment and health. Her methodological background covers statistical and qualitative research techniques, with a special expertise in causal case study analysis in small N research. Barbara has extensive experience in externally funded projects. She has successfully developed and led multidisciplinary projects and managed international project teams to produce a successful track record of timely academic publications. She is also interested in contributing to the policy debate around work and employment. Her work is of interest to international organizations, e.g. European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound), and the European Commission.

Recent Projects

2021 - 2023:

Health Risk Outlooks by Social Partners (HEROS). A multi-level analysis of health and safety policy interventions by social partners to identify effective ways to ensure better protection of employees at work. Barbara is the principal investigator of this international collaborative project funded by the European Commission.

2018 - 2020:

European, National and Transnational Industrial Relations: Visible and Invisible Hands in European and National Wage Setting (ENTIRE VIEW). This international collaborative project is funded by the European Commission to investigate and analyse the reasons for differences in wage developments within the European Union member states (https://entireview.uk).

2016 - 2018:

Social Partner Engagement and Effectiveness in European Dialogue (SPEEED). The project investigates the capacity of trade unions and employer organisations in the hospital and metal sector in the European Union member states to influence policy making at the European sectoral level. Barbara is the principal investigator of this international collaborative project which has been funded by the European Commission (SPEEED project report available upon request).

PhD Supervision

Applications are encouraged in the fields of Human Resource Management and Employee Voice and Employment Relations. Areas of special interest are: the effect of digital technologies on working lives, how employment matters to health, and comparative research such as the regulation of employment issues in different national institutional settings and industry contexts.

Mini-Biography

Barbara is Professor of Human Resource Management at the Durham University Business School. She received her PhD form the University of Vienna, Austria in 2009. Prior to her current position she was Lecturer of Human Resource Management at the University of York (2012-2015), before moving to the UK she worked as Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Business, Economics and Statistics at the University of Vienna (2010-2012).

• Governance of health care systems
• Mental wellbeing at work
• Digital technology and employee voice
• International Employment Relations
• Mixed methods research
• Comparative case study, QCA

• 2024: Academic Board Member of HORIZON project: HORIZON application on “Non-standard Workers and Social Dialogue” , led by Fafo Norway. Horizon Europe is the EU’s key funding programme for research and innovation. It tackles climate change, helps to achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and boosts the EU’s competitiveness and growth. The programme facilitates collaboration and strengthens the impact of research and innovation in developing, supporting and implementing EU policies while tackling global challenges. It supports the creation and better diffusion of excellent knowledge and technologies. Legal entities from the EU and associated countries can participate.
• 2024: External Examiner for PhD Thesis: Sheffield University, January 2024.
• 2023: 14th ILERA European Congress:
• 2022: Industrial Relations in Europe Conference 2023:
• 2022: Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Assessment Panel Member: Transforming Working Lives Panel member. The Assessment panel is made up of approximately 15-16 senior academics and 4-5 research users with a broad range of expertise who have a key role to play in assessing and identifying the very best proposals. Transforming Working Lives is a £3.9 million investment in seven new research projects to improve the world of work for UK workers. The projects will explore UK workers’ experiences of workplace power dynamics and managing career transitions to transform them for the better.
• 2020: Member of the Wellcome Trust Liaison Group: The Wellcome Trust Liaison Group is a working group representing different faculties and research centers to drive further engagement with the Wellcome Trust, aimed at increasing high-quality research applications. I support applicants in pitch-to-peer sessions, reviewing their proposals and providing oral & written feedback. The aim is to increase the success rate of funding applications, especially from researchers from underrepresented ethical backgrounds.
• 2018: Executive Committee of the International Labour and Employment Relations Association (ILERA): In 2018, I was elected to join the Executive Committee of the International Labour and Employment Relations Association (ILERA) Executive Committee (at the World Congress in Seoul in 2018). The Association is part of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), and the seat is in Geneva. Since July 2018, I have been a member of the Association's Executive Committee. The Executive Committee is the senior managing body chaired by the President, Prof. Harry Katz (Dean ILR School, Cornell University), and President-Elect, Prof. Rae Cooper (The University of Sydney). The Executive Committee is responsible for the programme of the Association and for organising regional and world congresses, workshops, seminars, and publication series.

Authored book

• Bechter, B., Brandl, B., & Meardi, G. (2011). From national to sectoral industrial relations: Developments in sectoral industrial relations in the EU. European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions. https://doi.org/10.2806/16252

Chapter in book

• Bechter, B. Changing collective bargaining: pay flexibility and the search for a fair model. In M. Baglioni, & B. Brandl (Eds.), Changing Labour Relations between Path Dependency and Global Trends (111-124). Peter Lang
• Bechter, B., & Brandl, B. (2015). Recent Developments in European Industrial Relations. In E. Union (Ed.), Industrial Relations in Europe 2014. European Commission: Brussels
• Bechter, B. (2013). Seniority. In V. Smith (Ed.), Sociology of Work Encyclopedia (757-759). SAGE Publications
• Bechter, B., & Brandl, B. (2013). Overview of European, national and public sector industrial relations. In E. Union (Ed.), Industrial Relations in Europe 2012 (21-52). European Commission: Brussels
• Arrowsmith, J., Nicholaisen, H., Bechter, B., & Nonell, R. (2008). The management of variable pay in banking: forms and rationale in four European countries. In R. Blanpain, & L. Dickens (Eds.), Challenges in European Employment Relations (201-240). Kluwer Law International

Journal Article

• Weber, S., Bechter, B., Galetto, M., Guobaite, R., Blaziene, I., Hiltunen, L., Larsson, B., Pankow, M., Czarzasty, J., & Owczarek, D. (2023). Social partners and OSH: a multilevel and cross-country exploration in the hospital and social services sectors. Zeitschrift für Sozialreform, 69(4), 253-277. https://doi.org/10.1515/zsr-2023-0006
• Galetto, M., Weber, S., Larsson, B., Bechter, B., & Prosser, T. (2023). ‘You see similarities more than differences after a while’. Communities of Practice in European industrial relations. The case of the hospital European Sectoral Social Dialogue. Industrial Relations Journal, 54(2), 167-185. https://doi.org/10.1111/irj.12396
• Bechter, B., Brandl, B., & Lehr, A. (2023). Het gebruik van human resources analytics door bedrijven: mogelijkheden, kansen en motivatie. https://doi.org/10.5117/tva2023.1.011.gepu
• Bechter, B., Brandl, B., & Lehr, A. (2022). The role of the capability, opportunity, and motivation of firms for using human resource analytics to monitor employee performance: A multi‐level analysis of the organisational, market, and country context. New Technology, Work and Employment, 37(3), 398-424. https://doi.org/10.1111/ntwe.12239
• Prosser, T., Bechter, B., Galetto, M., Weber, S., & Larsson, B. (2022). Institutions or resources and capabilities? Explaining engagement in European sectoral social dialogue. Economic and Industrial Democracy, 43(3), 1420-1439. https://doi.org/10.1177/0143831x211016052
• Bechter, B., Weber, S., Galetto, M., Larsson, B., & Prosser, T. (2021). Opening the black box: actors and interactions shaping European sectoral social dialogue. European Journal of Industrial Relations, 27(3), 269-288. https://doi.org/10.1177/09596801211000012
• Bechter, B., Braakmann, N., & Brandl, B. (2021). Variable Pay and/or Collective Wage Bargaining? Complements or Substitutes?. Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 74(2), 443-469. https://doi.org/10.1177/0019793919883882
• Larsson, B., Galetto, M., Weber, S., Bechter, B., & Prosser, T. (2020). What's the point of European Sectoral Social Dialogue? Effectiveness and polycontexturality in the hospital and metal sectors. Industrial Relations Journal, 51(5), 410-426. https://doi.org/10.1111/irj.12305
• Bechter, B., & Brandl, B. (2019). The Hybridization of National Collective Bargaining Systems: The Impact of the Economic Crisis on the Transformation of Collective Bargaining in the European Union. Economic and Industrial Democracy, 40(3), 469-489. https://doi.org/10.1177/0143831x17748199
• Bechter, B., Brandl, B., & Prosser, P. (2017). Engagement in European Social Dialogue: an investigation into the role of social partner structural capacity. Industrial Relations Journal, 48(4), 365-382. https://doi.org/10.1111/irj.12192
• Bechter, B., & Brandl, B. (2015). Measurement and Analysis of Industrial Relations Aggregates: What is the Relevant Unit of Analysis in Comparative Research?. European Political Science, 14(4), 422-438. https://doi.org/10.1057/eps.2015.65
• Bechter, B., Brandl, B., & Meardi, G. (2012). Sectors or Countries? Typologies and Levels of Analysis in Comparative Industrial Relations. European Journal of Industrial Relations, 18(3), 185-202. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959680112452691
• Pitlik, H., Schwarz, G., Bechter, B., & Brandl, B. (2011). Near Is my Shirt, But Nearer Is My Skin: Ideology or Self-Interest as Determinants of Public Opinion on Fiscal Policy Issues. Kyklos, 64(2), 271-290
• Bechter, B., Brandl, B., Pitlik, H., & Schwarz, G. (2011). Mehr Politik als Sozial- und Wirtschaftspolitik? Determinanten der Akzeptanz von sozial- und wirtschaftspolitischen Maßnahmen. Austrian Journal of Political Science, 40(3), 217-235
• Bechter, B., Brandl, B., & Meardi, G. (2011). Die Bestimmungsgründe der (Re-) Sektoralisierung der industriellen Beziehungen in der Europäischen Union
• Arrowsmith, J., Nicholaisen, H., Bechter, B., & Nonell, R. (2010). The management of variable pay in European banking
• Nergaard, K., J.e.;, D., Marginson, P., Bechter, B., & Arasanz Díaz, J. (2009). Engaging with variable pay: a comparative study of the metal industry. European Journal of Industrial Relations, 15(2), 121-141. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959680109103607