Dr Lakshman Wimalasena
Assistant professor in human resource management
Lakshman Wimalasena is an assistant professor in human resource management (HRM) at Edinburgh Business School, Heriot-Watt University (HWU) and an active member of the Centre for Research on Employment, Work and the ProfessionS (CREWS). A keen enthusiast in Critical Realism and a founding member of the Edinburgh Critical Realist Forum, Lakshman is dedicated to a research career bridging the problems of social inequality within occupational and socio-cultural domains and the emancipatory potential vested in Western philosophy, particularly personal reflexivity, in advancing the life conditions of marginalised individuals. He researches in the areas of work and meaning of work, critical issues in HRM, diversity, inclusion, rural women, digitalisation and social media and personal reflexivity. He is currently involved in research projects that explore the experiences of rural women and women in global apparel industry, gender justice, digitalisation and social media as well as investigating the causal and precarious work performed by marginalised women in the global apparel manufacturing sector. His key published work focuses on rural Sri Lankan women’s reflexive life and occupational journeys, critical realism and conceptualising entrepreneurship and the dominance of reflexive, conscious action over habitual action within contemporary society. Lakshman is also actively involved in gender justice and racial equality activities and has recently been appointed as a ‘Respect Ambassador’ at the University.
Areas of interest
- Work and Meaning of Work, Human Resource Management, Gender, Diversity and Inclusion, Reflexivity, Digitalisation and Social Media, Social Class and Identity
Qualifications
Doctor of Philosophy, School of Management and Languages – Completed in 2015 - Department of Business Management, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, UK: Thesis Title: Presence of the Departed?: Meaning of Work and the Reflexive Life Journey of Postcolonial Sri Lankan Agents through the World.
Postgraduate Diploma (with Distinction) in Research Methods in Social Sciences – Completed in June, 2009 - Department of Business Management, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, UK
Master of Business Administration (with Merit) - Completed in May, 2008- Postgraduate Institute of Management, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka.
B.Sc. Human Resource Management (Special) Degree – Completed in July 2000: Faculty of Management Studies, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka,
Background
Lakshman claims both professional and academic work experiences. His working career begins in meeting the requirements of his first degree in (B.Sc. In HRM Special), where he worked as an HRM trainee in a large partnership company for two years, including experience in the global apparel manufacturing sector in Sri Lanka. Then, he joins the Faculty of Management Studies and Commerce (FMSC), University of Sri Jayewardenapura (USJ), Sri Lanka, as a temporary tutor for one year, before gaining another four years of professional industry experience in working as an HR Executive and asst. Manager – Group HRM & Admin (2000-2004). He then joins the HR department, FMSC, USJ as a lecturer in HRM (2004-2008). Lakshman comes to Heriot-Watt University - UK, in 2008, starting with his MRes in Research Methods in Social Sciences, while working as a teaching assistant. He joined the Department of Business Management as an Asst. Professor in HRM in 2014, upon completing his PhD in that year, and presently continues in the same position (T & R) attached to Edinburgh Business School.