Valerie Egdell is Professor of Work and Employment at Newcastle Business School. She is an interdisciplinary researcher with a background in social gerontology, social policy, and social geography. Her research is centred on workplace inclusion and sustainable employability.

Valerie is co-leading the Working With Dementia (WWD) Network Plus (Alzheimer’s Society, ESRC and NIHR funded, 2024-29). The aim of this network is to shift current understanding of working with dementia and to enhance work experiences for those affected by dementia to help to address the wider social and financial inequalities of dementia in society. She is also currently undertaking research to understand the work-life negotiations of (new) worker mothers of twins, triplets and higher order multiples.

Her research has also examined age management in the workplace, the education-to-work transitions of younger workers, and the scarring effects of unemployment.

Valerie is editorial board member for the journal Work, Employment and Society (2026-present). She was editorial board member for the journal Ageing & Society (2019-2025) and was on the Executive Committee of the British Society of Gerontology (2020-2025).

Valerie has a degree in Geography from Durham University; and an MA in Human Geography Research and a PhD from Newcastle University. Her PhD examined how carers of people living with dementia mobilise their support networks and draw on their social, cultural and emotional resources.

• Dementia and the workplace
• Work-life negotiations of (new) worker mothers of twins, triplets and higher order multiples
• Older workers
• The Capability Approach
• Young people's education-to-work transitions
• Scarring effects of unemployment and/or a poor start in the labour market