Dr Mengyi Xu

• PhD in Human Resource Management & Industrial Relations
• MA in Human Resource Management
• PGcert in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education
• BSc in Public Administration 

Dr Mengyi Xu joined Birmingham Business School as Assistant Professor in Human Resource Management in January 2024. Before joining Birmingham, Mengyi held positions as a Lecturer in HRM & Employment Relations and Programme Director of MSc Management & HRM at Cranfield University and Lecturer in HRM & Organisational Behaviour at Anglia Ruskin University. Prior to Academia, she has professional experiences as HR, bilingual teacher, events presenter. 

Mengyi's research focus on work-life balance (WLB) and inclusion, the future of work (e.g. flexible working) and sustainable career. Her research and consultancy projects are funded by the British Academy of Management, Forces in Mind Trust and the Brazil’s Civil Service. She was recently awarded Early Career Fellowship from Work Family Research Network, and Research Accelerator Fellowship from Cranfield University. 

Mengyi possesses a broad portfolio of teaching and supervision expertise in HRM, Employment Relations, and Organisational Behaviour at different levels of higher education (Undergraduate, Master, MBA, and Executive Education). Her teaching is informed by her research, and consultancy as well as her international experience in the West and East. She is passionate about helping students see the real-world implications of classroom theories and achieve their professional goals. She was previously nominated/awarded the "Teaching Excellence Award" and "Outstanding Personal Tutorship".

Mengyi teaches in a range of topics in HRM, work and organisation, such as:

• FT MBA | Change Management
• International HRM | BSc Business Management (Singapore)

Mengyi has supervised doctoral projects on 'HR Practices in start-ups', 'the impact of Intelligent Agents on effective Algorithmic Management', 'Work-life Balance in the UK Higher Education'. 

Mengyi is accepting PhD students interested in her research expertise below, using quantitative, qualitative or mixed methods. Students are also welcome to propose their own topics. Please send an email with your CV and research proposal for further discussion.

• Work-life interface, boundary management  
• Flexible working, hybrid working, remote working, four-day work week
• Sustainable career
• Contemporary issues in the future of work in China

Mengyi's research interests centre around Work-Life inclusion and the Future of Work.
For the former, she looks at the under-researched social groups, such as single/solo living employees, immigrant employees, and gig workers, as well as the understudied national contexts, such as the emerging economies of China and Brazil. For the latter, she dives deep into the societal, technological, and psychological factors to understand the new ways of working better, especially hybrid and four-day work week, and their implications for employees, organisations, and society.

She uses mixed methods, qualitative (e.g. interview, qualitative diary study, autoethnography) and quantitative research (e.g. survey and web scrapping) designs in her projects.

Her recent projects include:

• The Four-Day Work Week: Perceptions, Experiences, and Work Outcomes
• Work-life inclusions for gig workers, solo-living employees
• Work-life boundary management in the context of hybrid working
• Work-life balance in emerging economies such as China and Brazil
• Improving life skills in the UK Armed Forces

Mengyi holds the following roles:

• Fellow of Higher Education Academy
• Early Career Fellow of Work-Family Researcher Network
• Academic Member of Charted Institute of Personnel Development
• External Examiner on MSc HRM course at Surrey University, on BSc HRM course at De Montfort University
• Council Member of the British Academy of Management, Events Officer & Committee Member in HRM SIG
• Working Member at the Association of British Chinese Professors
• Member of the Academy of Management
• Member of UK Research & Innovation ECR
• Member of Aurora Female Leadership Network
• Reviewer for ESRC New Investigator Grant, HRM Journal, Journal of Business Ethics, International Journal of HRM Employee Relations, Asia Pacific of Business, HRM textbooks for SAGE Publication and Kogan Page Publishing