Dr Nicole McDonald is a Senior Research Officer – Agri-tech Education and Extension at CQUniversity Australia with Bachelor of Science Hons 1 (Psychology) and a PhD in the Vocational Psychology of Agriculture. Nicole is an early career researcher in the field of career development within the agricultural industry and has worked on projects within the Australian cotton industry that explore the psychological factors contributing to job satisfaction, and more recently seeking to understand and plan for the future cotton industry workforce. These projects have developed her knowledge of attraction and retention of the agricultural workforce, technology acceptance and adoption, skills development, and leadership within agriculture. She is experienced in survey design, semi-structured interviews, focus groups, quantitative and qualitative approaches to data analysis. Nicole’s objective is a commitment to understand, improve, and promote the quality careers that exist within food and fibre industries. Joining CQU to work on the RACE Gippsland project, she is excited to apply the research she has been doing on workforce attraction to the agriculture industry to design effective career development interventions for primary and secondary students.
University of Southern Queensland
Doctor of Philosophy
Thesis: Exploring cotton farm workers’ job satisfaction by adapting social cognitive career theory to the farm work context
Bachelor of Science (Psychology, First Class Honours)
Thesis: The Reciprocal Relationship between Negative Problem Orientation, Mindfulness, and Depression: A Path Analysis
University of Southern Queensland
Position: Postdoctoral Research Fellow
2019 Career Development Association of Australia Excellence in Research Award
2017 Australian Psychological Association Prize for USQ Psychology Honours
National Farmers Federation 2030 Leaders Program
Career Development Association of Australia
I am currently accredited for supervision in the following:
Agriculture, Land and Farm Management - Farm Management, Rural Management and Agribusiness
Leadership, People management, Workforce development
Agriculture, Land and Farm Management - Sustainable Agricultural Development
Social Sustainability of Agriculture
Psychology - Industrial and Organisational Psychology
Psychology of Work; Career Development; Vocational Psychology