Personal statement

Paul Dowson joined Bath Spa University in 2015. His specialist area of teaching and pedagogic research is Professional Development. 

Paul is the author of two textbooks: Personal and professional development for business students (Sage 2015) and Business ethics in practice (CIPD, 2012, co-authored with Prof Simon Robinson). Reflecting Paul’s interdisciplinary approach, he leads on the curriculum development of Bath Spa’s Professional Development Open Module offering. He encourages students to view Professional Development as an opportunity to integrate their development needs with becoming more adept navigators of working and living in a late modern era.

Currently, he is working with the National Institute of Design in Gujarat on a Workshop Exchange project for Masters students focusing on developing design thinking.

Academic qualifications

  • MBA - University of Leeds
  • PGCE - University of Huddersfield
  • PG LTh - St John's Nottingham
  • BA (Hons) - University of East Anglia

Professional memberships

  • Fellow - Royal Society of Arts
  • Fellow - Higher Education Academy
  • Fellow - Research Centre for Governance, Leadership and Global Responsibility
  • British Academy of Management

Other external roles

  • Board Member - Journal of Global Responsibility

Areas of expertise

  • Professional Development
  • Business Ethics
  • Global Responsibility
  • Erik Erikson
  • Peter Sloterdijk

Module leadership

  • BM7208-15 Professional Development Portfolio - MBA: Leadership (Senior Leader Degree Apprenticeship)
  • BM7204-15 Governance and Risk Management - MBA Leadership
  • BMA5120-20 Work Placement Open Module
  • BMA4005-20 Professional Practice Open Module

Research and academic outputs

Go to ResearchSPAce

Personal and professional development for business students
book

Dowson, P (2015) Personal and professional development for business students. Sage, London. ISBN 9781446282205

Business ethics in practice
book

Robinson, S and Dowson, P (2012) Business ethics in practice. CIPD, London. ISBN 9781843982722

Developing graduates as critical professionals: professional development ++
book_section

Dowson, P (2021) 'Developing graduates as critical professionals: professional development ++.' In: Black, K and Warhurst, R, eds. Organisation studies and human resource management: an educator's handbook. Routledge, Abingdon, pp. 253-266. ISBN 9780367206901

Integrated: personal and professional development for business students in a global age
article

Dowson, P (2014) 'Integrated: personal and professional development for business students in a global age.' Zeitschrift für Beratung und Studium (ZBS), 2014 (3). pp. 85-89. ISSN 1860-3068

Hackfall and postmodern deep mapping: a case study of amplifying chosen images with implications for practice [blog post]
other

Dowson, P (2023) Hackfall and postmodern deep mapping: a case study of amplifying chosen images with implications for practice [blog post]. PlaCE International.

Other published research

  • University of Essex (2017) Postgraduate Taught Courses Toolkit. Authored as Lead Researcher. 

Conference presentations

  • Dowson, P. (2017) ‘Modernisers, Designers and Artificial Futures’, The Future of the World of Work Conference. University of Essex, Colchester.
  • Dowson, P. (2014) ‘Student guidance and student/graduate employability’, European Association of International Education Spotlight Seminar. Freie Universitat, Berlin.

Recent workshops

  • Dowson, P. (2018) ‘Creating a Professional Workforce: Skills and Abilities for the Twenty-First Century’, Bath Business School Creative Business Network Event, 23 April, Bath Spa University.