Â鶹ÊÓƵ this event
This lecture draws on a career in occupational, coaching, and positive psychology to explore how work and learning systems can support health rather than undermine it. Integrating behaviour change science with distance learning and workplace wellbeing practice, it offers a psychologically grounded approach to designing healthier, more inclusive, and sustainable environments.
Â鶹ÊÓƵ Professor Steele
Catherine is Professor of Occupational and Coaching Psychology at the Â鶹ÊÓƵ, where she is Academic Director for Postgraduate Psychology and Deputy Head of School for Citizenship and EDI. Her work brings together occupational, coaching, and positive psychology to explore how we design healthier, more inclusive and sustainable systems for learning and work.
She completed her PhD in Occupational Psychology at Coventry University, titled “Measuring Career Anchors and Investigating the Role of Career Anchor Congruence,” reflecting her longstanding interest in how individuals can build value led, meaningful and sustainable careers. She is a Chartered Coaching Psychologist with the British Psychological Society and a Registered Occupational Psychologist with the Health and Care Professions Council. Across her academic and applied work, she focuses on behaviour change, workplace wellbeing, and the role of coaching psychology in supporting health and performance.
Her leadership spans both educational and organisational systems. She has led the development and growth of postgraduate distance learning programmes, widening access to psychological education, while also leading gender equality work within the College of Life Sciences and co-leading the successful Athena Swan Gold submission. Alongside this, she has contributed to applied research and consultancy, including a large body of work with the Defence Human Capability Science and Technology Centre. Through this work, she brings a consistent focus on compassion, inclusion, and the creation of environments in which people can thrive. She is Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Coaching Psychology and co-author of the forthcoming book Well @ Work: Transforming the Workplace with Lifestyle Medicine.