Dr Lynette Shotton

Associate Professor

School: Communities and Education

Lynette is an Associate Professor with an established track record of senior academic leadership across departmental, faculty, and institutional levels. She has held key roles including Head of Subject, Deputy Head of Department, Director of Access and Participation, and Interim Dean of Apprentices. Her leadership expertise is recognised through the award of Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (PFHEA) in 2023.

As Interim Dean of Apprentices (November 2023 – January 2025), Lynette was a member of the University’s senior executive leadership team with strategic responsibility for a complex apprenticeship portfolio of 31 programmes spanning all four faculties. This portfolio operates within a highly regulated environment, subject to oversight by the Department for Education (DfE) and the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA). During her tenure, the portfolio underwent a full Ofsted inspection, achieving a rating of Good. Lynette played a pivotal role in leading the institutional response, including the development and implementation of a comprehensive Post-Inspection Action Plan, which strengthened regulatory compliance and enhanced the student experience across apprenticeship provision.

Lynette has sustained national and international leadership impact through her external roles. She is an appointed member of the Advance HE Strategic Advisory Group for Excellence in Education, where she collaborates with senior sector leaders to shape national priorities and strategic direction. She also contributes to the Council of Deans of Health Strategic Policy Group for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, advising on policy and practice influencing healthcare education across the UK. She has recently been appointed to the senior leadership team for Nurse Academics UK, contributing to national discussions and strategic developments relating to the academic nursing workforce.

Her research on breastfeeding education and workforce development has achieved significant national and international recognition. A key indicator of esteem is the inclusion of her work within the UNICEF Baby Friendly Initiative training programme, one of the most influential global education frameworks in this field and referenced in national policy, including the NHS Plan. Her work is used widely across the NHS and is gaining increasing international recognition, including at University College Dublin (UCD). Lynette has established a formal international partnership with The University of Hong Kong, further extending the global reach of her work. Her current research focuses on the development of a digital continuing professional development (CPD) package, with an international pilot underway. In recognition of the impact of this work, Lynette was shortlisted as a finalist in the prestigious Nursing Times Awards in 2025. Through externally funded research and high-quality peer-reviewed publications, she has demonstrated sustained impact on policy and practice across the breastfeeding workforce and is regularly invited to present her work at national and international conferences.

A further strand of her research focuses on educational inequality, particularly in relation to care-experienced students. As Principal Investigator on funded research supported by the Welland Trust, Lynette works collaboratively with regional stakeholders, including the Regional Care Leaver Steering Group, and with Become, the national charity for care leavers, to inform and advance policy and practice in this area. This work is also gaining international recognition, with Lynette invited to present her research to the BSA in Italy in June 2026.

Lynette’s academic work is grounded in her professional background in nursing and health visiting, and she maintains current registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC).

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Key Publications

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
Examining the cost of learning in United Kingdom higher education: Qualitative insights from academic and professional service staff at a post-92 English university, Graham, P., Shotton, L., Goodall, A., Hayman, R. 25 Mar 2026, In: Equity in Education & Society
The impact of the Little Orange Book on how parents/carers manage symptoms of illness in children: A mixed methods study, Johnson, A., Carruthers, K., Breckons, M., Harland Shotton, L. 22 Jan 2025, In: PLoS One
A mixed methods evaluation of the breastfeeding memory aide CHINS, Shotton, L., Collins, T., Cordier, R., Chikwava, F., Steen, M. 1 Oct 2024, In: Maternal & Child Nutrition
A new memory aide to remember principles of attachment for effective breastfeeding, Shotton, L., Elliot, C., Nunn, R., Lane, K. 8 Apr 2024, RCN Education Forum National Conference & Exhibition 2024, Birmingham, Royal College of Nursing
Breastfeeding mothers' awareness and experience of using the breastfeeding memory aide CHINS: An exploratory descriptive qualitative study, Shotton, L., Collins, T. 1 Sep 2024, In: Reproductive, Female and Child Health
Care leavers’ journeys into university: A narrative study examined through a Bourdieusian lens, Shotton, L. 29 Jul 2024, In: Widening Participation and Lifelong Learning
Cost of living impacts on student engagement, continuation and Well-being - Staff Perspective, Shotton, L. 8 Apr 2024, Alliance of Working Class Academics
LATCHES – a memory aide for the principles of attachment for effective breastfeeding: findings of a regional pilot in the Northeast of England and North Cumbria, Shotton, L., Elliot, C. 15 Aug 2024, In: International Breastfeeding Journal
Perspective Chapter: Emotional Labour – Understanding and Responding to the Emotional Challenges of Nursing, Hareland Shotton, L. 3 Jul 2024, Nursing Studies - A Path to Success, London, IntechOpen
Sexual Violence and Abuse, Shotton, L. 13 May 2024, Supporting Survivors of Sexual Violence and Abuse, London, Routledge

Professional Activity

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
Invited talk: Working with Bourdieu across educational fields: habitus as living memory, vocational alignment, and the limits of social change” 2026
Publication Peer-review: Springer (Publisher) 2026
Invited talk: CHINS and LATCHES, International Research, Education and Practice 2026
Invited talk: CHINS and LATCHES: International research, education and practice 2026
Publication Peer-review: Health Psychology and Behavioral Medicine (Journal) 2025
Invited talk: CHINS and LATCHES: Two memory aides for breastfeeding 2025
Organising a conference, workshop, ...: Supporting care experienced students journeys into HE. 1 day training event delivered by Become The National Charity for Care Leavers 2025
Invited talk: CHINS and LATCHES two memory aides for breastfeeding education and practice 2025
Oral presentation: Annual Commercialising Social Science Innovations for Impact 2024
Invited talk: An evaluation of the Little Orange Book 2024

PGR Supervision

Marie Millican Using creative methods to improve engagement to public health services with looked after children and young people (LACYP) in the North East. Start Date: 29/11/2023
Julie Alderson Navigating Nursing Education: Experiences of Mature, Working-Class, First-in-Family Women Students: Understanding Field Structures Through Bourdieu and Feminist Intersectionality Start Date: 01/10/2023
Sarah Greenshields A retrospective, phenomenological study examining how care experience influences diet and eating practices. Start Date: 22/05/2019 End Date: 04/03/2025