DrSarah Steen

Dr Sarah Steen is a Senior Lecturer in Deakin Business School, where she serves as Course Director of the Bachelor of Human Resource Management (Psychology) and Deputy Chair of the Faculty of Business and Law Teaching and Learning Committee. She also leads the teaching operations within the Management Discipline and is involved in strategic initiatives to enhance teaching quality such as through a Deakin Strategic Teaching Excellence Project (STEP). An experienced academic, educational leader and passionate advocate for student success, Sarah brings more than 15 years of teaching experience across undergraduate and postgraduate education. Her work is underpinned by a strong commitment to teaching excellence, authentic learning experiences, student engagement and graduate employability.

Sarah's contribution to higher education has been recognised through several prestigious awards. In 2025, she received a Deakin Award for Outstanding Contribution to Education and Employability and the Faculty of Business and Law Service Excellence Award. She is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and was the recipient of an Australasian award recognising excellence and contribution to student learning through the Peer Assisted Study Sessions (PASS) program. Earlier in her career, she received a Vice-Chancellor's Award for her honours thesis examining the value and usefulness of student evaluations of teaching, reflecting her longstanding interest in evidence-informed approaches to educational practice.

Sarah's research interests span workplace behaviour, human resource management and employee environmental behaviours. Her doctoral research investigated employee environmental behaviours within the banking industry, and she has experience designing and undertaking quantitative, qualitative and mixed-methods research. She is particularly interested in developing innovative, accessible and engaging educational resources that bridge theory and practice. Her educational scholarship includes the development of the open educational resource (OER) Workplace Role-Play Scenarios: Practise Navigating Difficult Conversations, Negotiation and Mediation, which provides students with practical opportunities to develop essential interpersonal and professional skills. She was also a recipient of the 2022 Student as Partners program grant.

Sarah has developed a growing profile in open education, contributing to national and international conversations about open educational practices (OEP), educational innovation and the evolving role of generative artificial intelligence in higher education. Her work has been featured in several podcasts, international webinars and open education forums, including Stories of Openness, LI Chronicles, Speaking of Open and Open Education Global. 

Beyond teaching and research, Sarah has made significant contributions to academic leadership, mentoring and student development. Her experience includes supervising research projects in the Master of Leadership, mentoring new academic staff in teaching and learning, coaching MBA students, and serving as Chair and panel member of the Faculty of Business and Law Academic Progress Committee. Across these roles, she is committed to fostering an inclusive, supportive and engaging academic environment that enables students and colleagues to thrive.