Dr Emma Elkington

I joined Westminster Business School in October 2023 as Head of the School of Finance and Accounting, having spent over 2 decades leading in Higher Education and Professional Education.  

I am a Chartered Accountant and Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, who started my career in audit at Ernst & Young before being seconded into the learning technology team and then the training department of the UK firm. I then transitioned into professional education, where I served as the managing director of several regional centres and also authored content. After a brief return to industry as a consultant on the capital funding release, and having dabbled with becoming a maths teacher, I moved into Higher Education in 2009, joining the University of Hertfordshire as a senior lecturer in accounting. 

Before joining Westminster in 2023, I had served as a module leader, year tutor, course leader, and Head of the Accounting and Finance Department at the University of Hertfordshire Business School. I have also served on various learning and development committees focused on advancing education in the accounting profession. My true passion is supporting staff and students in reaching their full potential, and I have a genuine enthusiasm for the transformative impact education can have at all levels of study and throughout life. 

I undertook my doctoral studies, looking at the management of business schools in the UK HE sector (including the function of metrics and their interplay with emotions and gossip), gaining my doctorate in 2021, and I remain an active member of the critical management community and am publishing on public sector management. 

My research focuses on two key areas. Firstly, in public sector management, and secondly, in education, and more specifically, in accounting education. 

For details of all my research outputs, visit my WestminsterResearch profile.