Please call the press office on 01509 223491 to arrange an interview with Dr Hilary McDermott. Bookings can also be made online at globelynx.com.

Hilary McDermott is a Senior University Teacher in Psychology.  Hilary completed a BSc in Psychology here at Loughborough, during which time she was awarded the Sir Robert Martin Faculty (Science) Prize for outstanding academic achievement, before moving on to complete her PhD, also at Loughborough.  Her thesis is entitled ‘The Interaction between Design and Occupier Behaviour in the Safety of New Dwellings’ and is an applied and cross disciplinary thesis, rooted mainly in the area of applied psychology.

Hilary has established herself as a teaching specialist and leads undergraduate modules in Research Methods (Part B and Part C). She also supervises undergraduate and postdoctoral (PhD, MRes) students with their research projects. She has been awarded five Teaching Innovation Awards (2012, 2015(2), 2018 and 2020) and, with the support of the 2012 Award, developed the ‘E-Qual’ Coding App which is now widely available, and which supports students in acquiring qualitative coding skills.  Hilary is the Programme Leader for the BSc Psychology programmes and in 2022 was awarded National Teaching Fellow through Advance HE.

Hilary is a leading teaching practitioner providing academic leadership on pedagogical matters (teaching, learning, curriculum, and assessment).  She has extensive experience and national recognition of delivering innovation in the teaching of qualitative research methods in Psychology and has initiated and successfully implemented various developments within and beyond the curriculum. Her research interests are closely aligned to her teaching and include innovation, student learning, and the student experience.

Journal Referee

  • Applied Ergonomics
  • International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics
  • Building and Environment
  • European Journal of Eating Disorders
  • European Eating Disorders Review
  • Journal of Further and Higher Education

Invited Lecture / Keynotes Invited Speaker

  • RoSPA Home Safety Congress (2004) ‘Design, Usability and Unsafe Behaviour in the Home’
  • Invited Speaker: ESRC Seminar, ‘The Future of Retirement’. University of Kent on 4th May 2012.

Learned Societies and Professional Affiliations

  • Associate Member of the Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors
  • Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
  • Member of the Teaching Qualitative Methods Group, a special interest group, part of the British Psychological Society Qualitative Methods in Psychology (QMiP) section.  

Other External Activities

  • Awarded mentorship with World Health Organisation (WHO) 2008
  • Awarded an Early Career Researcher Travel Bursary to attend the ESRC Seminar: Rethinking Retirement, February 24th 2012. University of Brighton.

Featured publications

  • Millet, N., Moss, E. L., Munir, F., Rogers, E., & McDermott, H. J. (2022). A qualitative exploration of physical and psychosocial well-being in the short and long term after treatments for cervical cancer. European Journal of Cancer Care, 31(2), e13560. DOI: 10.1111/ecc.13560
  • Relton, A., Collins, A., Guttery, D.S., Gorsia, D., McDermott, H. J. & Moss, E. L. (2021). Patient acceptability of ctDNA testing in endometrial cancer follow-up. European Journal of Cancer Care, DOI: 10.1101/2020.07.15.20154195
  • Hilary McDermott, Abigail Liasi & Roger Newport (2020). Qualitative enlightenment following a journey to the dark side: Reflections on supervising a qualitative dissertation. Psychology Teaching Review.
  • Leanne Freeman, Joanna Brooks, Colm Crowley, Clare Elmi-Glennan, Alasdair Gordon-Finlayson, Hilary McDermott & Sarah Seymour-Smith. (2020). Beyond the comfort zone: A guide to supervising qualitative undergraduate psychology dissertations for  quantitative researchers. Psychology Teaching Review.
  • McDermott, H.J., Lane, H.C.S. & Alonso, M. (2020). Working Smart: The Use of ‘Cognitive Enhancers’ by UK University Students. Journal of Further and Higher Education. DOI: 10.1080/0309877X.2020.1753179
  • Brinkley, A., McDermott, H. & Munir, F. (2017). Team sport in the workplace? A RE-AIM process evaluation of ‘Changing the Game’. AIMS Public Health, 2017, 4(5): 466-489. DOI: 10.3934/publichealth.2017.5.466.
  • Jones, L. C. R., McDermott, H. J., Tyrer, J. R., & Zanker, N. P. (2017). Future Engineers: The Intrinsic Technology Motivation of Secondary School Pupils. European Journal of Engineering Education. DOI: 10.1080/03043797.2017.1387100
  • Brinkley, A., McDermott, H., Grenfell-Essam, R., & Munir, F. (2017). It’s Time to Start Changing the Game: A 12-Week Workplace Team Sport Intervention Study. Sports Medicine - Open, 3, 30. DOI: 10.1186/s40798-017-0099-7
  • Brinkley, A., Freeman, J., McDermott, H. & Munir, F. (2017). What are the Facilitators and Obstacles to Participation in Workplace Team Sport? AIMS Public Health, 4(1): 94-126. DOI: 10.3934/publichealth.2017.1.94
  • Moss, E.L., Taneja, I.S., Munir, F., Kent, C., Robinson, L., Potdar, N., Sarhanis, P. & McDermott, H. (2016). Iatrogenic Menopause following Treatment for Cervical Cancer. Clinical Oncology, Volume 28, Issue 12, December 2016, Pages 766-775. DOI: 10.1016/j.clon.2016.08.016  
  • Wilson, I., McDermott, H., & Munir, F. (2016). The role of working hours, work environment and physical leisure activity on the need for recovery following a day’s work among UK white-water raft guides: A within-subjects multilevel approach. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 23, 123-131. DOI: 10.1016/j.psychsport.2015.12.004
  • Brinkley, A., McDermott, H. & Munir, F. (2016). What benefits does team sport hold for the workplace? A systematic review. Journal of Sports Sciences, 35:2, 136-148, DOI: 10.1080/02640414.2016.1158852
  • Clarke, N. J., Willis, M. E. H., Barnes, J. S., Caddick, N., Cromby, J., McDermott, H., & Wiltshire,G. (2014). Analytical pluralism in qualitative research: a meta-study. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 37–41. DOI: 10.1080/14780887.2014.948980