Kathleen Riach

Professor Kathleen Riach's expertise is in the area of ageing at work and the experience of growing up and older in and around the labour market.  Her research explores understanding aspects of working life that are rarely discussed formally but nonetheless have a significant impact of how people feel, think and behave, including sexuality, the body and emotions.

Her recent work has focused on the intersections between ageing, gender and career trajectories. This strand of research includes working with renowned Melbourne based artist Ross Coulter on a portrait-led research project exploring the economic lives of women over 40 in rural and regional Victoria, and a longitudinal study of ageing in the financial services (2010-2020). 

Professor Riach's visiting positions across the world have included invitations to Sweden, Germany and the UK. She has held editorial board in Associate Editor positions for prestigious journals in her field including Human Relations and Organization, and received the Monash Business School Dean's Award for Research Excellence in 2016. Her work has also been featured in the media in Australia and Europe, including ABC National, The Conversation and the BBC. 

Alongside colleagues from Monash and Melbourne University, Kathleen has recently launched MIPO (Menopause Information Pack for Organizations), a free, open access suite of resources to help manager's introduce and embed best practice menopause support in the workplace:  www.menopauseatwork.org

Selected Forthcoming Articles

Jack, G., Riach, K. and Bariola, E. (2019) Temporality and gendered agency: Menopausal subjectivities in women's work. Human Relations

Hales, S., Riach, K. and Tyler, M. (forthcoming) Close encounters: Intimate service interactions in lap dancing work as a nexus of ‘self-others-things'. Organization Studies.