Sue Mate

Dr. Susan (Sue) Mate (she/her) is a Career Development lecturer at James Cook University in Queensland, Australia, where she teaches career planning to postgraduate students. 

Sue's research concentrates on two principal areas:

1) Investigating the interplay between higher education, career development learning, and workplace learning.

2) Establishing inclusive preparatory career development learning environments where students can flourish and thrive during their study placements.

At the heart of her practice lies qualitative research; she employs narrative inquiry and narrative-informed career therapy within her coaching methods. Sue is fervent about inclusion and fostering the growth of career identity and employability opportunities through higher education.

As a first-generation university graduate and an individual with ADHD, Sue is a staunch advocate for neurodiversity, mental health, and well-being, as well as non-visible conditions that affect study and work. Despite the discomfort these topics may cause for some, she is committed to sharing her lived experience and integrating it into her research and teaching. Sue is also part of the Narrative Practice Research Network, which endorses lived experience research and supervisory coaching.

She earned her undergraduate degree in psychology and pursued postgraduate studies in Education at Deakin University, followed by a PhD at Victoria University. Her ongoing studies at Melbourne University focus on Counselling Practices, emphasizing the coaching of postgraduate students in further studies and the enhancement of employability skills. Sue has held various roles in research, lecturing, career guidance, and coaching/mentoring at RMIT University and La Trobe. Her passion for education and research access continues to drive her learning journey.

For the past five years, she has worked as a career/counselor and coach as part of her private consulting work, and this has complemented her teaching and research.

Sue has been involved in offering supervision to higher-degree research students and can be contacted at sue.mate@jcu.edu.au if you would like to discuss the possibility of research supervision.