Royal Holloway University of London, Management, 2022

King's College University of London, Human Resource Management and Organizational Analysis, 2014

Royal Holloway University of London, Management with Human Resources, 2010

Milena Tekeste received her PhD in Management from Royal Holloway University of London, specializing in Employment Relations and Human Resource Management. She also completed her MSc in Human Resource Management and Organizational Analysis from King's College University of London and was honored as the recipient of the 'Best Overall Student Performance' award.

In her research, Milena takes a multi-method approach to probe the lived experience of employees with multiple intersectional identities, investigating i) the idiosyncratic employment relationship, ii) the future of work, and iii) global mobility

Throughout the years, Milena has gained extensive teaching experience at the undergraduate and graduate level from NYU Abu Dhabi. Royal Holloway University of London, University College London, and the London School of Economics and Political Science, where her teaching expertise was recognized with the LSE Class Teacher Award. In addition to her academic credentials, Milena holds a PGCert in Higher Education from the London School of Economics and Political Science and is an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.  Outside her academic experience, Milena worked in the fields of Human Resource Management and Learning & Development for local government, international law firms, and central banks in both Germany and the United Kingdom.

Sustainable Development Goals

International Human Resource Management, Employment Relations, Gender, Intersectionality, Future of Work and Organizations, Flexibility at Work, Qualitative Methods

PEER REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS

• Abdellatif, A., & Tekeste, M. (in press). The colonial cartography of business and society research: Towards a collective epistemic responsibility. Business & Society.
• Tekeste, M., Abdellatif, A., & Hadjisolomou, A. (in press). You don’t look sick: Invisible disability, moral injury, and organisational betrayal on the retail front-line. Work, Employment and Society.
• Tekeste, M., Özbilgin, M., & Frimpong, J. A. (2026). Broadening the lens: Integrating context and intersectionality to advance global DEI research in the Academy of Management. Academy of Management Collections, 00, 1–19.
• Mergen, A., Özbilgin, M., & Tekeste, M. (2026). Normalization of toxicity in organizations: A multilevel process framework of toxicity normalization cascade. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 99, e70108.
• Tekeste, M., & Özbilgin, M. (2026). Misrecognition and responsibilisation in extreme events: Towards recognition-based accountability in academia. British Journal of Management, 37(1), 1–11.
• Tekeste, M., Özbilgin, M., & Laker, B. (2026). “They view HRM as obstructive rather than helpful”: HRM devolution in flexibility i-deal negotiations for women in international law firms. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 37(1), 19–56.
• Rice, D. B., Darden, T., Tekeste, M., Addae, G., & Lewis-Flenaugh, J. (2026). You want my commitment, earn my trust: Understanding how and when inclusive supervisors increase Black employees’ organizational commitment. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, 1–17.
• Alghafri, A., & Tekeste, M. (2025). Beyond stereotypes: An autoethnographic journey of an Emirati woman through educational stigma. Culture & Organization, 1–18.
• Tekeste, M. (2025). Under pressure: Becoming the good enough academic. Organization, 1–8.
• Tekeste, M., Nickson, D., & Hadjisolomou, A. (2025). “Still the White Man’s World?” Exploring visible and invisible intersectional dynamics and aesthetic labor-related inequalities among English language teachers in the UAE education sector. Gender, Work & Organization, 32(6), 2197–2210.
• Özbilgin, M., Erbil, C., & Tekeste, M. (2025). HR-led co-design for neuroinclusion: A critical pragmatist and sociotechnical systems approach to transforming neuronormative organisations. Human Resource Management Journal, 00, 1–13.
• Tekeste, M., & Özbilgin, M. (2025). Expatriating for safety: Recognition and marginalized women expatriates in the UAE. Journal of Global Mobility, 13(4), 588–615.
• Tekeste, M., Zakariah, A., Azer, E., & Salahuddin, S. (2024). Surviving academia: Narratives on identity work and intersectionality. Gender, Work & Organization, 32(3), 1329–1348.
• Tekeste, M., & Özbilgin, M. F. (2024). Anatomy of a mass resignation: Moral entrepreneurship and academic outsiders within. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, 44(9), 42–52.
• Pérez-Nebra, A., Sklaveniti, C., Islam, G., Petrović, I., Pickett, J., Alija, M., Bal, P. M., Tekeste, M., Vukelić, M., Bazana, S., & Sanderson, Z. (2021). COVID-19 and the future of work and organisational psychology. South African Journal of Industrial Psychology, 47(1), 1–9.

BOOK CHAPTERS

• Tekeste, M. (in press). Towards greater equality in academia: A collective response.
• Tekeste, M., & Özbilgin, M. (2024). Balancing acts: EDI leadership in turbulent times. SAGE Business Cases.
• Benassi, C., & Tekeste, M. (2018). Employment relations and precarious work. In A. Wilkinson, T. Dundon, J. Donaghey, & A. Colvin (Eds.), The Routledge companion to employment relations. Routledge.

EDITORSHIP

• Tekeste, M. How to Become the Good Enough Academic: A Guide for Marginalised Scholars. Under contract with Edward Elgar.
• Tekeste, M., & Brewster, C. Handbook on Human Resource Management and Migration. Under contract with Edward Elgar.
• Cihat, E., Özbilgin, M., Kurt, A., & Tekeste, M. Critical Human Resource Management and Evidence-Based Policy: Challenging Power, Inequality and Managerial Orthodoxy. Personnel Review.
• Özbilgin, M., Erbil, C., & Tekeste, M. Encyclopaedia of Intersectionality. Under contract with Edward Elgar.

Ozyegin University, Business Faculty

• Organizations
• Human Resource Management