Â鶹ÊÓƵ

I joined the Â鶹ÊÓƵ in 2009 and have held research positions at the Centre for Labour Market Studies and the Centre for Sustainable Work and Employment Futures. Prior to moving to the United Kingdom I worked as a researcher and educational consultant in Cluj-Napoca Romania. I have a BA and an MA in Sociology from BabeÅŸ-Bolyai University an MA in Public Policy from the Central European University and I completed my PhD studies in Labour Market Research at the Â鶹ÊÓƵ. 

I have played an active role in the Work, Employment, Management and Organisations Department (WEMO) / School of Management (SoM) at the Â鶹ÊÓƵ as Deputy Head of Department (2022-2025) and Co-Director for Learning and Teaching (2020-2022).

I am co-leading the Education and Work Transitions Research Group with Dr Sally-Anne Barnes, I am a member of the Future of Work research cluster and of the Healthcare Innovation Policy and Management research centre.

• NVivo 12 Certified Expert
• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
• Member of the Editorial Board of

Since the beginning of my research career I have been working on topics related to education and work particularly transitions into and out of (higher) education and work as well as experiences in education work and MSP (multiple status positions - like learning and working at the same time). My research interests are related to policy and organisational change and how they shape and are shaped by individual lives and career paths. I conducted empirical research in Romania, Hungary and the United Kingdom exploring people’s experiences using qualitative quantitative or mixed methods (including primary and secondary statistical analysis narrative inquiry semi-structured interviews focus group interviews case studies and mental maps).

My current areas of interest are:

• the experiences of people in multiple status positions (MSP): how MSP are formed, maintained and used in the life course and in career development;
• transitions into and out of work (from education, unemployment, retirement, sick leave and maternity/paternity leave);
• employee experience and employee experience management.

My current research projects are:

• Constructing and maintaining work identities among domestic violence engagement workers in a police force (connected to  done in collaboration with Dr Martin Foureaux Koppensteiner and Dr Jesse Matheson);
• Experiences of ethnic minority PhD students and their supervisors (in collaboration with Dr Chandrima Roy);
• Agency in higher education - from individual to global level (in collaboration with Zsuzsanna Géring, Gábor Király, Réka Tamássy, Katalin Fehér and Gergely Kováts from the ).

Foureaux Koppensteiner, M., Matheson, J. and Plugor, R. (2024) . American Economic Journal: Economic Policy.16(1), pp. 292-324. DOI: 10.1257/pol.20210131

Tamassy, R., Gering, Zs., Kiraly, G., Plugor, R. and Rakovics, M. (2023) Journal of International Education in Business. 17(1), pp. 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1108/JIEB-09-2022-0064

Géring, Zs., Király, G., Plugor, R., Rakovics, M. and Tamássy (2022) In: Szegedi, K. (ed.) Szemelvények a BGE kutatásaiból. Budapest: Budapesti Gazdasági Egyetem, pp 215-222. ISBN: 9786156342492

Roy, D., Weyman, A. K., Plugor, R., & Nolan, P. (2020). . Health Services Management Research.

Foureaux Koppensteiner, M., Matheson, J. and Plugor, R. (2019) . Sheffield Economic Research Paper Series no. 2019013, University of Sheffield.

Hammer, N. and Plugor, R. (2019) . Work, Employment and Society, 33(6), pp. 913-928.

Foureaux Koppensteiner, M., Matheson, J. and Plugor R. (2019). Final Report. Department of Economics Policy Brief, University of Sheffield.

Furlong, A., Goodwin, J., O'Connor, H., Hadfield, S., Hall, S., Lowden, H., and Plugor, R. (2017) London: Routledge.

Ercsei, K., Kiss, Z., Plugor, R. and Szabo, J.(2017) , In Modi, I. and Kamphorst, T. J. (Eds). Leisure and Life through the Ages. Rawat Publications.

Ercsei, K., Kiss, Z., Plugor, R., Szabo, J., and Veres, V. (2017) , In Benko Zs., Modi I and Tarko K. (Eds.) Leisure, Health and Well-Being, Springer International Publishing. pp. 187-227.

Foureaux Koppensteiner, M., Matheson, J. and Plugor, R.. (2017) , Economics Discussion Paper 17/08, Â鶹ÊÓƵ.

Hammer, N. and Plugor, R. (2016) . Industrial Relations Journal, 47(5-6): 402-416.

Plugor, R. (2016) . Belvedere Meridionale, 28(2): 5-20.

Matheson, J., Koppensteiner, M. and Plugor, R. (2015) Project 360: Preliminary report. Leicester: Â鶹ÊÓƵ.

Hammer, N., Plugor, R. Nolan, P. and Clark, I. (2015) A New Industry on a Skewed Playing Field: Supply Chain Relations and Working Conditions in UK Garment Manufacturing. Leicester, London: Â鶹ÊÓƵ/CSWEF, Ethical Trading Initiative.

Goodwin, J., O'Connor, H. and Plugor, R. (2014) ) Erdélyi Társadalom. 12(2): 83-96. (In Hungarian).

Goodwin, J., Hadas, M., Hughes, J., Plugor, R. (2014)  Erdélyi Társadalom, 12(2): 9-18. (In Hungarian).

Plugor, R. (2013) Transitions and Translations. Narrative Works, 3(2): 92-110.

Ercsei, K., Kiss, Z., Szabo, J., Plugor, R. and Veres, V. (2005-2013) Peninsula Festival Research Report. Cluj-Napoca: Max Weber Centre for Sociological Research. (In Hungarian, Romanian & English).

I am happy to hear from potential PhD candidates with interests around my research areas.

Current students:

• Aishath Asif: Effectiveness of organizational grievance mechanisms in increasing social capital: A look at donor-funded initiatives across small island developing states.
• Bang Ly: Paradoxical Leadership Behaviour (PLB), Psychological Capital and Young Workers’ Subjective Career Success. The Case of Young Workers in Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) Industry in Vietnam.
• David Maingi: Asset-Based Approach and Rural Youth Labour Pathways in Kenya.
• Happy Umwagarwa: Multiple job holding among highly educated and highly paid nationals of the developing countries - Drivers, Effects, and Regulations. (Case studies: Rwanda, Nepal & Haiti).
• Jamie Noakes: Exploring the Impact of a Tourism Sponsorship Program on Co-operative Education: A Comprehensive Study of Undergraduate Students and early intervention in Tourism Management Post-Secondary Experiential Learning Programming
• Jen Cartwright: The dark side of paid placements? A longitudinal study of the impact of emotional labour on Higher Education placement year students in the Midlands: preparedness consequences and resistance.
• Mehran Habib: HR issues in the Yorkshire United Kingdom acute hospitals ‘accident & emergencies (A&E) departments’.
• Oluwagbemiga Oduntan: To what extent does corporate social responsibility unleash the creative potential of production workers in the United Kingdom?
• Rasha Ismail O'Mare: The experiences of Arab female expatriates in the UK.
• Rawan Kadhim: Change Management in Middle Eastern Higher Education: A UAE Case Study.
• Robert Gonouya: Understanding the impact of social prescribing on the wellbeing outcomes and transitions into work of young BAME NEET.
• Rohit Sharma: University responses to under-represented students, employment and closing of progression gaps?: A case study of the ‘Student First’ initiative
• Tasneem Shaikh: Job factors that influence work-nonwork conflict and its impact on employee turnover intentions.

Completed doctoral supervision:

• Chenyiman Lou: Understanding Chinese students’ experiences in PhD studies: An exploration in a UK institutional context.
• Rita Singh: The Conceptualization and Experiences of Work-life Balance: A Case Study of Employees at a University in Hong Kong.
• Tadiwa Muradzikwa: To what extent is the skills shortage debate instrumentally informing policy makers in the private sector?

I lead research methods and dissertation / project modules at undergraduate and postgraduate level (on-campus and distance learning). I also do qualitative and quantitative analysis workshops including introductory and more advanced use of software packages: NVivo and IBM SPSS. I am an NVivo Certified Expert.