Denise is an organisational psychologist who joined the Faculty of Business and Economics in July 2009. Denise had previously taught undergraduate and postgraduate organisational psychology at the University of NSW and undergraduate and postgraduate human resource management at the University of Technology, Sydney.

Prior to entering academia, Denise had written one book on local government, four books on career transition, was a licensed stockbroker and founded a private employment agency. The range of public and private sector clients in both the city and country where Denise consulted includes financiers, professional service firms, consumer goods, casinos, mines, banks, oil refineries and IT firms.

Denise teaches undergraduate and postgraduate organisational behaviour, human resource management, and research methods. Her research has a focus on employee attitudes, especially in the aged care sector.

I welcome PhD applicants who are keen to study careers (any aspect) in the aged care workforce (either home or residential care). 

Current PhD students:

1. Farzana Ashraf, Jan 2022, Work Social Support in Influencing Women’s Careers: The Mediating Role of Psychological Capital
2. Velina Serafimova, Jan 2022, Leaders' Role in Employee Work Passion
3. Aniqa Rehman, Feb 2023, Multiple Jobholding and Career Sustainability in the Aged Care Workforce

 Past PhD and Masters students:

1. MRes: Farzana Ashraf, 2021, Kaleidoscope Women's Leadership Careers
2. MRes: Velina Serafimova, 2021, The Firm's Role in Creating Employee Passion
3. Syed Waqas Shah, September 2017, conferred June 2021: The Influence of Subjective Time on Employee Attitudes and Behaviours in Temporary Organisations.
4. Marija Dumovic, 2014, Part-time, submitted Feb 2022: PhD: Wellbeing at Work: The Impact of Third-Party Client Psychological Contracts on Employee Attitudes and Psychological Wellbeing
5. Lucy Lu Xing, August 2018, conferred 5/9/2020, Cotutelle PhD Macquarie University with Prof James Sun, Renmin University, Beijing, China. Influences of supervisor’s negative feedback on performance: Applying a multilevel perspective
6. Bichen Guan, February 2017, conferred 25/6/2020: PhD Macquarie University: Emotion Regulation in Ongoing Service Relationships: A Mixed-Method Study with Aged Care Employees.
7. Matt Sykes, Sept 2014, conferred 25/6/2020, Part-time PhD (Associate Supervisor with Dr Andrew Heys) Macquarie Graduate School of Management: Complex pathways through the HRM-performance black box: a study of the intended-implemented-perceived HR causal process model
8. Gloria Xueyuan Gao, November 2017, conferred 1/1/2020, Cotutelle with Prof Wenxia Zhou, Renmin University, Beijing, China: Career adaptability issues in Chinese context: A mixed-methods study
9. Dedi Siddiq, July 2016, conferred 20/4/2020: PhD Macquarie University: Perceptions of altruism of the Chief Executive Officer: A mixed-methods study 
10. Narelle Hess, Jan 2016, PhD Macquarie University graduated September 2019: Organisational career management in a protean and boundaryless world: A mixed-methods study
11. (Brenda Barugahare, 2017 dec'd 25 August 2019 (Associate Supervisor with Dr Sarah Bankins): Dual Psychological Contracts of Middle Leader-Managers.)
12. Julie Bajic, 2014, PhD Macquarie University graduated April 2017: Emotional and psychological wellbeing in home care workers – a multi-method study.
13. Bron Harrison, Sept 2011 to graduation April 2016, PhD Macquarie University: Winning a Career Award - The impact of winning an award on career success.
14. Amanda Ferguson, 2013 to graduation April 2015, Part-time PhD (Associate Supervisor with Julie Fitness of MQ Psychology Deptt). An Exploration of Employee Engagement in Medical Contexts.
15. Marjorie O’Neill, 2010 to graduation October 2014, PhD Macquarie University: The New Late Career: A theory to explain the modern career of older workers. An interview study of older allied health professionals and survey study of home care workers.
16. Robyn Johns, 2010 to graduation May 2013, Part-time PhD University of Technology Sydney: Occupational Stress, Burnout and reduced psychological well-being among Australian dentists: a multi-method study extending the job demands-control-support model to incorporate coping.
17. Andrew Heys, to graduation April 2013, PhD (Associate Supervisor with Prof John Rodwell): Macquarie Graduate School of Management: Developing a Taxonomy of Australasian Law Firms Using Configurations of Human Resources and Management.
18. Melinda Varhegyi, 2009 to graduation April 2012, PhD Macquarie University: Decision-making and the desire for postgraduate study: An investigation of undergraduates’ aspirations for graduate study.
19. Chan, S., 2008: “Validated study of single comprehensive model of Justice, LMX and POS on employee behaviour.” UNSW.
20. Nguyen, N., 2008:  “Employee perceptions of board effectiveness as a contributor to climate or culture.” UNSW.
21. Varhegyi, M., 2008: “Perceptions of succession planning in volunteer directors of boards of nonprofit organisations.” UNSW.
22. Chung, A., 2008: “Self-rating of board effectiveness – a comparison of multiple measures.” UNSW.
23. Ngai, F., 2007, “Loyalty and withdrawal: The relationship between employee loyalty, absenteeism and turnover intentions”, Masters of Organisational Psychology, UNSW
24. Xavier, I., 2007. “The Relationship between Job Stress and Perceived Psychological Contract Violation”, Masters of Organisational Psychology, UNSW
25. Dumovic, M., 2007 “The Relationship between Person-Organisation Value Congruence, Psychological Contract Inequity and Employee Attitudes”, Masters of Organisational Psychology, UNSW
26. Hess, N., 2007. “Investigation of generational and career stage differences: the psychological contract and organisational commitment”, Masters of Organisational Psychology, UNSW.

Denise is an active researcher, using both qualitative and quantitative method designs at the intersection of psychology, organisational behaviour and management. Her current projects fall into these main areas :

• Employee and employer attitudes towards the organisation and workplace relationships, resulting in attitudinal and behavioural outcomes such as employee "engagement", retention and productivity, especially in health, allied health and aged care sectors
• Employee and employer attidues towards careers, and 
• Perceptions of management's use of evidence in organisational decision making.