Rate My Professor Paula McDonald

Professor Paula McDonald is Pro Vice-Chancellor Research and Professor of Work and Organisation at Queensland University of Technology. She completed her Doctor of Philosophy at Queensland University of Technology in 2004. Prior to her academic career, she held clinical and research roles in child and adolescent psychiatry, medical education, primary care and public health. She is a registered psychologist with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency since 2003 and was elected a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia in 2021. She is also a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a senior fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy.

Professor McDonald’s research addresses youth employment, technology and work including digital platform work and automation, vulnerable and disadvantaged worker groups, customised and flexible work arrangements, gendered dimensions of work, and workplace discrimination and sexual harassment. She has published more than 150 academic journal articles, books, chapters and industry reports. She has secured ten Australian Research Council grants, including an ARC Future Fellowship from 2013 to 2016, and has led major projects on digital platform work and AI-driven recruitment. Her research has informed government inquiries, policy development and organisational practice through expert testimony, commissioned reports and public engagement. She has served on numerous university committees including QUT Council and holds current appointments on the University Research Committee and Research Degrees Committee.