Dr Nuala Whelan

    Adult and Community Education

    Lecturer

    Maynooth University School of Education
    1st Floor
    122
    (01) 474 7205

    Biography

    Dr Nuala Whelan is a Lecturer in Adult Guidance Counselling and Reflective Practice in the 
    Department of Adult and Community Education. Nuala lectures in Career Development Theory and Behaviour, Careers and Well-being, the Psychology of Unemployment and Re-employment, and provides employment and career related inputs on selected modules. She is a Chartered Work and Organisational Psychologist who has worked for 20+ years as a practitioner in community based employment services with clients disadvantaged in the labour market. Her main research interests centre on employability, employment service effectiveness, career guidance models and practice, capability informed practice, collaborative working, policy implementation, and the potential value of enhancing human capacity for personal, organisational and societal impact. Her current research involves further development of the MEEG (Model of Enabling Employment Guidance) employment guidance tool-kit and metric for practitioners working with those most distant from the labour market.

    Research Interests

    Career/employment guidance models and practice, Wellbeing, Employability, Employment service effectiveness, Future of Work, Collaborative working, Policy implementation, Vocational Psychology, Individual Differences

    Development of online tools to support the development of capabilities, transversal skills; identification of natural aptitudes, Psychometrics

    Research Projects

      Project Role Funding Body / Program Description Start Date End Date Award (€)
    ACA PES: A Collaborative Approach to building Public Employment Services Post-Doctoral Researcher Irish Research Council (IRC) / 01-APR-19 30-JUN-21

    Peer Reviewed Journals

      Year Publication
    2021 'The enabling role of employment guidance in contemporary public employment services: A work-first to life-first typology'
    Whelan N.;Murphy M.P.;McGann M. (2021) 'The enabling role of employment guidance in contemporary public employment services: A work-first to life-first typology'. British Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 49 (2):200-212 [DOI] [full-text] [Details]
    2021 'Family Talk versus usual services in improving child and family psychosocial functioning in families with parental mental illness (PRIMERA-Promoting Research and Innovation in Mental hEalth seRvices for fAmilies and children): study protocol for a randomised controlled trial'
    Furlong M;McGilloway S;Mulligan C;McGuinness C;Whelan N; (2021) 'Family Talk versus usual services in improving child and family psychosocial functioning in families with parental mental illness (PRIMERA-Promoting Research and Innovation in Mental hEalth seRvices for fAmilies and children): study protocol for a randomised controlled trial'. Trials, 22 (1) [DOI] [full-text] [Details]
    2021 'Opening the black box of implementing activation in Ireland'
    Whelan N. (2021) 'Opening the black box of implementing activation in Ireland'. Administration, 69 (2):87-106 [DOI] [full-text] [Details]
    2020 'Workfare redux? Pandemic unemployment, labour activation and the lessons of post-crisis welfare reform in Ireland'
    McGann M.;Murphy M.P.;Whelan N. (2020) 'Workfare redux? Pandemic unemployment, labour activation and the lessons of post-crisis welfare reform in Ireland'. International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, 40 (9/10):963-978 [DOI] [full-text] [Details]
    2018 'EEPIC - Enhancing Employability through Positive Interventions for improving Career potential: the impact of a high support career guidance intervention on the wellbeing, hopefulness, self-efficacy and employability of the long-term unemployed - a study protocol for a randomised controlled trial'
    Whelan N;McGilloway S;Murphy MP;McGuinness C; (2018) 'EEPIC - Enhancing Employability through Positive Interventions for improving Career potential: the impact of a high support career guidance intervention on the wellbeing, hopefulness, self-efficacy and employability of the long-term unemployed - a study protocol for a randomised controlled trial'. Trials, 19 (1) [DOI] [full-text] [Details]

    Published Reports

      Year Publication
    2020 THE ‘HIGH ROAD’ BACK TO WORK: Developing a Public Employment Eco System for a Post-Covid Recovery.
    Murphy, M., Whelan, N., McGann, M., Finn, P (2020) THE ‘HIGH ROAD’ BACK TO WORK: Developing a Public Employment Eco System for a Post-Covid Recovery. Maynooth University, Maynooth University. [Details]
    2015 Lessons from the Ballymun Youth Guarantee Pilot: A focus on Employment related Career Guidance.
    Duggan, C., Whelan, N. & Togher, S. (2015) Lessons from the Ballymun Youth Guarantee Pilot: A focus on Employment related Career Guidance. Department of Social Protection, Department of Social Protection. [Details]

    Guidelines for Practice

      Year Publication
    2021 The MEEG (Model of Enabling Employment Guidance) Practitioner Toolkit.
    Whelan, N (2021) The MEEG (Model of Enabling Employment Guidance) Practitioner Toolkit. Guidelines for Practice [Details]

    Magazine Article

      Year Publication
    2018 Enhancing Employability through Positive Interventions for improving Career potential (EEPIC).
    Nuala Whelan (2018) Enhancing Employability through Positive Interventions for improving Career potential (EEPIC). Magazine Article [Details]

    Newspaper Articles

      Year Publication
    2020 What's the psychological impact of pandemic-related unemployment?.
    Nuala Whelan (2020) What's the psychological impact of pandemic-related unemployment?. Newspaper Articles [Details]

    Presentation

      Year Publication
    2018 2018 Presentation on labour market activation to Oireachtas Social Protection and Employment Committee.
    Murphy M.P. Whelan N and Finn P (2018) 2018 Presentation on labour market activation to Oireachtas Social Protection and Employment Committee. Presentation [Details]

    Manual

      Year Publication
    2019 Participatory Action Research: A Human Rights and Capability Approach. A PAHRCA Handbook for NGOs and Vulnerable Groups. Re-InVest.
    Hearne, R., Murphy, M.P. and Whelan, N. (2019) Participatory Action Research: A Human Rights and Capability Approach. A PAHRCA Handbook for NGOs and Vulnerable Groups. Re-InVest. Manual [Details]

    Honours and Awards

      Year Title Awarding Body
    2013 IRC Scholar Irish Research Council
    2020 Peter Saville Award for Advances in Organisational Psychology Psychological Society of Ireland Division of Work and Organisational Psychology

    Professional Associations

      Association Function From / To
    The Psychological Society of Ireland Chartered member 01-JAN-08 /
    Division of Work and Organisational Psychology, Psychological Society of Ireland Chartered member 01-JAN-08 /

    Committees

      Committee Function From / To
    Science and Public Policy Committee (SPPC), PSI Chair 2021 /