DrMaria Psyllou

Maria Psyllou is a Senior Teaching Fellow in the Department of Economics and Public Policy at Imperial College London. She previously held academic positions at the University of Portsmouth, University of Birmingham and Queen Mary University of London. She holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Leicester.

Her research lies in the economics of education, with a focus on student engagement, learning outcomes, and inclusive teaching practices, alongside a broader interest in widening participation in economics. Her work examines how active and innovative pedagogies, including gamification, group-based learning, and interactive classroom design, can enhance the student learning experience. This research directly informs her teaching practice, which emphasises structured group work, applied activities, and game-based learning to make economics accessible and relevant for diverse student cohorts. She is also a member of the Cartoon Creation Centre, a global collaborative initiative that uses visual storytelling and analogy-based interactive narratives to support inclusive and innovative teaching in economics and related disciplines. Over the past four years, she has regularly presented her work at established national and international conferences, contributing to academic debate in economics education and pedagogical scholarship. Her work has also engaged wider public audiences through media contributions on economics education and the economic impact of cultural phenomena.

Maria is deeply committed to increasing diversity within the economics profession and to supporting women and students from disadvantaged and underrepresented backgrounds to pursue studies and careers in economics. She serves on the steering committee of the Royal Economic Society UK Women in Economics Network (UK WEN) and has led its Inspire Initiative since July 2023, which focuses on inspiring young women to engage with economics and supporting the development of early-career women economists. She is also an elected Council Member of the Royal Economic Society for the 2024–2029 term. At Imperial College London, she joined the Imperial Business School People and Culture Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Committee in February 2026, contributing to institutional discussions and initiatives to develop inclusive practices and culture within the school.

Maria is a Discover Economics Academic Champion and led extensive outreach initiatives between 2022 and 2024, working with schools and universities to widen participation in economics, particularly among young women and students from disadvantaged and underrepresented backgrounds. Since 2025, her outreach activity has focused on supporting Economics events at Imperial College London, working in collaboration with Discover Economics to engage prospective students and introduce them to the study of economics.

Alongside her outreach work, she has a strong mentoring profile. She has served as a mentor for the Women in Economics Initiative and on the Aurora Leadership Programme, supporting the professional development of women in academia. In her previous academic roles, she has also mentored undergraduate and postgraduate students through formal and informal schemes, supporting academic progression, career development, and transitions into further study and employment. She is a co-founder and former lead of the Birmingham Economics Education Seminars (BEES), an economics education seminar series that continues to grow and attract participation from multiple universities, fostering cross-institutional collaboration in economics education.

Her wider academic service includes serving as an External Examiner at Queen Mary University of London, membership of the Operational Research Society committee since 2023, and appointment to the Editorial Review Board of Intelligent Technologies in Education of an international education journal since 2024. She also regularly reviews for the International Review of Economics Education and is an ongoing member of the scientific committee for the International Conference on Higher Education Advances. More recently, she has developed a growing interest in academic coaching and has completed training as an academic coach at Imperial College London.

Maria’s contributions to inclusive teaching, pedagogical scholarship, and academic service have been recognised through multiple awards and nominations. She is the recipient of the Inclusive Teaching Award in the Imperial Business School Teaching Excellence Awards 2024/25 at Imperial College London. She has also received the Pedagogical Scholarship Award at the Birmingham Business School Teaching Awards and an Exceptional Performance Award from the College of Social Sciences at the University of Birmingham for 2023/24.