Joan is an accounting graduate and Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (FCCA). After working in industry and obtaining her professional qualification, she moved into academia, holding positions at Warwick Business School (where she earned a PhD) and Queen’s University, Belfast. Since 2008, she has been Professor of Accounting at Ulster University, teaching a range of subjects including strategic management accounting at undergraduate and Masters levels. An active researcher, her work focuses on accounting education (including sustainability), entrepreneurship and gender equality, including gender budgeting and women in senior management. She has secured £600k in research funding as principal investigator and is currently co-investigator on the £4.8m EPIC Futures NI Local Policy Innovation Partnership (funded by UK Research and Innovation), supporting economically inactive individuals back into work. Widely published, she has examined numerous doctoral theses and serves on several journal editorial boards. Joan has also held multiple board roles and is an Independent Assessor for the Commissioner for Public Appointments, Northern Ireland. She has extensive experience supporting PhD candidates and has been actively involved for many years in organising the Irish Accounting and Finance Association Doctoral Colloquium (IAFA) and the annual British Accounting and Finance Association (BAFA) Doctoral Masterclasses. In 2023, she received the BAFA Outstanding Contribution to Accounting & Finance Education Award. In April 2024, she was appointed President of BAFA.