Ms Chathushka Kiriella

Qualifications:

SFHEA; PGCert; MSc; M.Com; NDTHRD; B.Com(Hons)

Position:

Senior Lecturer in Human Resource Management

Department:

Faculty of Business and Law (FBL)

Telephone:

+441173282264

Email:

Chathushka.Kiriella@uwe.ac.uk

Social media:

About me

Chathushka Kiriella (known as Chat) is a Senior Lecturer in Human Resource Management at the College of Business and Law, University of the West of England (UWE). She brings over a decade of experience in higher education, having worked as both an academic administrator and lecturer at state and private universities in Sri Lanka. Prior to joining UWE, she taught business and management through UK partner programmes at institutions including the University of West of England, University of Salford, University of Gloucestershire, and Heriot-Watt University. She has also served as a visiting lecturer at the University of Moratuwa in Sri Lanka. In addition to teaching, she has held various administrative roles, including Chief Academic Officer, and has worked with educational organisations such as OTHM and SQA in both teaching and managerial capacities. She is also a registered research mentor at Oxford Brookes University.

She completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka, in 2011, and later earned a Master’s degree in Business (2014) from the University of Delhi, India. She also holds a Higher National Diploma in Training and Human Resource Development, and an MSc in International Human Resource Management from UWE (2021). Her postgraduate research explored the role of cross-cultural training in fostering global reconciliation.

At UWE, Chathushka is the Programme Leader for Business and Management Top-Up programmes, including Business and Management, International Business Management, and Business with Human Resource Management. In this role, she oversees curriculum delivery, student experience, and academic development across the programmes.

She teaches across both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. At the undergraduate level, she contributes to modules such as Contemporary Business Issues, Introduction to Management, Managing People, and Academic and Professional Development. She also leads the International Human Resource Management module, which aims to develop students’ global perspectives. At the postgraduate level, she teaches modules including International Human Resource Management and International Resourcing and Talent Management. In addition, she serves as a personal tutor to undergraduate students and supervises dissertations at undergraduate and postgraduate levels (MSc, MBA, EMBA), particularly in areas such as training and development, expatriate adjustment, cross-cultural training, work-life balance, gender pay gap, workplace stress, and recruitment.

Alongside her teaching, she contributes to quality assurance and curriculum development initiatives at UWE, supporting consistency and innovation in programme design.

She also works closely with the HRWE Research Group, where she serves as Social Media Lead, supporting research engagement and dissemination. Chathushka is also the host of the “HRWE podcast” series, where she showcases and discusses research conducted within the HRWE Research Group, making academic insights more accessible to a wider audience. (Podcast link can be found here). Her research interests also extend to job share partnerships and flexible working practices. She is currently involved in a collaborative project with industry partners exploring the mainstreaming of job share partnerships, with a focus on how such models can support inclusive workplaces, improve employee wellbeing, and enhance organisational effectiveness.

She is currently undertaking a Doctorate in Education at UWE, where her research focuses on acculturation challenges faced by international students and how these impact their academic and personal experiences. Her broader research interests include cross-cultural management and cultural intelligence (CQ), particularly in relation to expatriate adjustment and global mobility.

She has also contributed to several blogs, which can be accessed via the provided links.

Job sharing in the South West – meet, learn and connect - https://blogs.uwe.ac.uk/hr-work-employment/job-sharing-in-the-south-west-meet-learn-and-connect/

Empowering Change Across Borders: The HR, Work and Employment (HRWE) Group’s  International Women’s Day Celebrations - https://blogs.uwe.ac.uk/hr-work-employment/empowering-change-across-borders-the-hr-work-and-employment-hrwe-groups-international-womens-day-celebrations/

Publications

Publications loading...