Sandra is a Principal Teaching Fellow within Liverpool Business School. She joined in 2023 with over 25 years of operational, strategic planning and project management experience. Her experience includes managing over €1 million of European funding in the North West of England, employability projects involving Aston Business School, and managing work based learning at The Leading Edge, University of Leicester, Programme Leader on Senior Leaders and Managers Degree Apprenticeship at the University of Chester and working in China. Sandra won a teaching excellence award at the University of Derby to investigate the competencies and skills of work based learning tutors and was shortlisted for Most Helpful Feedback and Most Inspiring Lecturer in 2021 and 2022 at the University of Chester.
She has over 25 years of teaching and learning experience across several universities in the UK and in China, in the fields of management, business, work based learning and careers. Once a fluent trilinguist, Sandra can now be found translating between the worlds of work and academia, supporting colleagues, learners and employers to reach beyond their own experiences, expanding knowledge and skills to make an impact in the lives of others. A passionate advocate of equality and diversity, she is an active member of the LGBTQIA community inside and outside of the University, having organised national conferences and events. She firmly believes that learning is for everyone whether that be the traditional art of crocheting or impactful international research – if you have a passion, follow it!
She is currently undertaking a DProf exploring the experiences of working and studying in Higher Education.
Her research interests are autoethnography, experiences of working and studying within Higher Education, work based learning, emotional intelligence, project management, , equality and diversity (in particular gender and sexuality).
Degrees
Staffordshire University, United Kingdom, Masters of Arts in Education
Manchester College, United Kingdom, PG Diploma in European Business Administration (German)
Manchester College, United Kingdom, PG Diploma in European Business Administration (Spanish)
University of Manchester, United Kingdom, BA Double Hons in German and Spanish
Chapters
Hopkins S, Bettinson M. 2020. Stories for Well-being, Resilience and Mental Toughness in Primary and Secondary Education – Ideas for Pedagogy Practitioners. Molthan-Hill P, Luna H, Wall T, Puntha H, Baden D. Storytelling for Sustainability in Higher Education An Educator's Handbook Routledge 9780367260262
Wall T, Rossetti L, Hopkins S. 2019. Storytelling for sustainable development. In Work integrated learning for sustainability education Encyclopedia of Sustainability in Higher Education Springer 9783030113513
Journal article
Wall T, Bellamy L, Evans V, Hopkins S. 2017. Revisiting impact in the context of workplace research: a review and possible directions Journal of Work-Applied Management, 9 :95-109 DOI Publisher Url
Hopkins S, Smith A, Wall T. 2016. A collaborative Haiku experiment: An invitation to cultivate a spirit of connection for wellbeing The Lapidus Journal,