Susan James Relly is Professor of Vocational Education and Head of the School of Education, University of Adelaide.

Her research interests include: theories of learning, school-to-work transitions, VET systems, apprenticeship, work-based learning, on-the-job and off-the-job training, and low skill/low wage work.

Current research projects include examining post-16 UK policy and examining models and theories of recruitment and selection (R&S) to try to understand R&S practices as a critical point in mediation and exchange between the labour market, a job and government policy.

Susan was the Principal Investigator of an ESRC funded research project (RES-000-22-4343) titled, ‘Graduates on the property ladder: Skills, work and employment in a graduatising industry’ researching the supply of graduates into the labour market and the impact on a focus profession: real estate agents. Susan has recently completed work on a study of low skill, low wage occupations, focussing on food processing operatives and room attendants in hotels in England, funded by the American-based Russell Sage Foundation. She was also involved in the second phase of this project which compared and analysed low wage work in the food processing industry, particularly meat and confectionary processing, in five European countries and the USA.