Projects

1

Publications

16

Awards

4


Biography

Natalia is an experienced researcher, educator and academic group leader based at James Cook University in Queensland, Australia with research and doctoral student supervision affiliation with the University of Southern Queensland, Australia. Her academic background has been in organisational sociology, social and intercultural psychology, and career development within the interdisciplinary higher education field of research, with a particular curiosity for how organisations work. She is interested in how organisational boundaries and discursive spaces are co-constructed and enabled by individuals and organisations, and how these boundaries and spaces impact collaborations among teams and individuals. Her long-standing research interest is in how spatial theory is applied to studying organisational and cultural boundaries, boundaries of professional group identities and work roles; and how affective and cognitive dimensions of boundary-crossing are reflected in collaborative work of the diverse university actors. She uses the university third space as a metaphor, a method, and a topic of research into the university collaborative capital. Natalia is a member of the Advisory Board of the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education. She is also on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management (Routledge Journals, Taylor & Francis) and a regular reviewer for international higher education journals. Her recent research monograph "Optimising the Third Space in Higher Education: Case Studies of Intercultural and Cross-Boundary Collaboration" was published by Routledge in 2022. 

Natalia is currently working on an international research project that investigates third space sustainable careers across the universities in Australia and Japan. In collaboration with Professor Wendy Patton (QUT), she guest edits a Special Issue "Sustainable career in Higher Education" in the Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, which is planned for publication in early 2026. 

In addition, she contributes to a research project that focuses on the educational disadvantages of neurodivergent students in professional (WIL) placements of higher education students. 

Research

Research Interests

Sociology of organisations

University third space

Higher education staff: identities, collaboration and agency

Career education and development

Projects
Research Collaborators and Partners
University College London

Teaching

Teaching Interests

Career Development Theories

Career Planning 

Professional Practice in Career Development

Labour Market Information and Employment Trends 

Future of Work (Career Development Perspectives)

Research Methods in Social Sciences 

Organisational Sociology

Social Psychology



Research Advisor Accreditation
Advisor Type

Secondary


Current Honours and External Research Students
“Understanding the education experiences of Australian students who have attended multiple schools due to regular relocation with a parent in the military”
PHD- 2020

Activities

Education
Associations
Awards
Employment
Languages
Other Activities

Output

Veles, Natalia (2020) University professional staff in collaborative third space environments: a mul. [Thesis] [DOI] ...
Other Publication Open Access ResearchOnline@JCU
Veles, Natalia (2024) 'Critical thirding and third space collaboration: university professional staf. London Review of Education, 22 (1). [DOI] ...
Journal Publication Open Access ResearchOnline@JCU
Veles, Natalia; Kim, Sujin (2024) 'Integrating the disciplines: Applying sociology of third space to. Journal of the National Institute for Career Education and Coun, 52 (1):40-51. [DOI] ...
Journal Publication Open Access ResearchOnline@JCU
Veles, Natalia; Danaher, P.A. (2024) 'Transformative research collaboration as third space and creat. Research Papers in Education, 39 (1):50-66. [DOI] ...
Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Veles, Natalia; Graham, Carroll; Ovaska, Claire (2023) 'University professional staff roles, identit. Policy Reviews in Higher Education, 7 (2):127-168. [DOI] ...
Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Veles, Natalia; Carter, Margaret-Anne; Boon, Helen (2019) 'Complex collaboration champions: universi. Perspectives: Policy and Practice in Hi, 23 (2-3):75-85. [DOI] ...
Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Veles, Natalia; Carter, Margaret-Anne (2016) 'Imagining a future: changing the landscape for third s. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 38 (5):519-533. [DOI] ...
Journal Publication Open Access ResearchOnline@JCU
Wheeldon, Anita Louise; Veles, Natalia (2024) 'Inclusion as a central tenet of higher education acce Perspectives: Policy and Practice in Higher Educatio, 28 (3) :111-113. [DOI] ...
Journal Contribution ResearchOnline@JCU
Veles, Natalia; Kim, Sujin (2024) 2024 APCDA Hybrid Conference Applying cultural sociology of third Trivandrum, India, . ...
Conference Contribution ResearchOnline@JCU
Veles, Natalia; Graham, Carroll (2023) Society for Research into Higher Education (SRHE) Internation...
Conference Contribution ResearchOnline@JCU
Veles, Natalia (2023) Online Symposium of the Higher Education Third Space Research Group (HETS) Id O...
Conference Contribution ResearchOnline@JCU
Veles, Natalia (2022) 2nd International Conference on Business, Economics, Management, and Sustainab...
Conference Contribution Open Access ResearchOnline@JCU
Veles, Natalia (2021) TELedvisors (part of ASCILITE) Network Monthly Webinar Recordings University Online, . ...
Conference Contribution ResearchOnline@JCU
Veles, Natalia (2019) Society for Research into Higher Education (SRHE) Conference Third space envi Newport, UK, . ...
Conference Contribution ResearchOnline@JCU
Veles, Natalia; Boon, Helen; Carter, Margaret (2017) Australian Association for Research in Educatio...
Conference Contribution Open Access ResearchOnline@JCU
Veles, Natalia (2023) Optimising the Third Space in Higher Education: Case Studies of Intercultural . Abingdon, UK: Routledge. [DOI] ...