Melanie Philpott

Research Student

Melanie Philpott is affiliated with the Department of People and Organisations.

You can email Melanie Philpott directly; but for media enquiries pleases contact a member of The Open University's Media Relations team.

Biography

An accountant by day and a postgraduate researcher by night, my career journey began with a Bachelor of Science in Landscape Management (Land Use) from Greenwich University (2001). Following a short time as a landscaper, I moved to Devon and found myself working in administration. In 2006 I began the journey of studying with The Open University and in 2016 graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (Open) degree. The degree was largely mathematics and statistics, but two final modules in business sparked a new interest in human resource management (HRM), which lead to a Master of Science in HRM with The Open University (2019). During the dissertation module I discovered the joy of conducting primary research and went on to earn a Postgraduate Certificate in Research Methods with the University of the Highlands and Islands (2020). Having solidified my belief that conducting research is rather thrilling, I studied for a Master of Research in Health Research (with distinction) from the University of Stirling (2022), subsequently returning to The Open university in 2023 as a part-time Postgraduate Researcher.

I have also studied for professional accountancy qualifications and earned a Bachelor of Science in Applied Accountancy from Oxford Brookes University (2019, First Class). I am a Chartered Certified Accountant (ACCA), currently working for a Russell Group university in their financial accounting team whilst working on my PhD. I am a member of ACCA, an associate member of CIPD and a fellow of AAT.

I am passionate about student engagement and am one of the faculty’s Postgraduate Research - Graduate School Liaison Group (PGR-GS) representatives championing the part-time experience. I am also a part-time representative for the Open University Students Association currently sitting on The Open University Research Committee (2024/25). Previously I have been a Student Trustee for the Open University Students Association (2016-2018), a Trustee for the Open University Student Educational Trust (OUSET) (2014-2016) and have also engaged in other student volunteering activities such as repping at residential schools and sitting on The Open University Central Disciplinary Committee.