Dr. Petra van den Bekerom is an Assistant Professor in Public Management at the Institute of Public Administration, Leiden University, Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs. At the heart of her research lies the role of public service delivery in promoting equality and ensuring all have access to the services they need. Societies are becoming increasingly complex and diverse, and the way public services are delivered is changing rapidly. Therefore, public services need to be inclusive and representative of the diverse communities they serve. Her research focuses on improving public service delivery through representative bureaucracy, performance management, and network management, often with a special focus on the educational sector. This commitment to equality extends to her teaching as well. She brings a passion for breaking down complex research concepts and methods into clear, understandable terms for students. With over ten years of experience, she has created, coordinated, and delivered a variety of courses across different academic years, utilizing diverse educational methods to engage and empower students.

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Dr. Petra van den Bekerom is an Assistant Professor in Public Management at the Institute of Public Administration, Leiden University, Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs. At the heart of her research lies the role of public service delivery in promoting equality and ensuring all have access to the services they need. Societies are becoming increasingly complex and diverse, and the way public services are delivered is changing rapidly. Therefore, public services need to be inclusive and representative of the diverse communities they serve. Her research focuses on improving public service delivery through representative bureaucracy, performance management, and network management, often with a special focus on the educational sector.

This commitment to equality extends to her teaching as well. She brings a passion for breaking down complex research concepts and methods into clear, understandable terms for students. With over ten years of experience, she has created, coordinated, and delivered a variety of courses across different academic years, utilizing diverse educational methods to engage and empower students.

Before joining Leiden University in 2011, Petra worked as a junior researcher and teacher at Utrecht University’s Department of Sociology (2009-2011). From 2011-2016, she was a PhD candidate and academic teacher at Leiden University’s Institute of Public Administration. She defended her thesis, titled “Networking and performance in public organizations: A study of primary schools in the Netherlands”, in November 2016. During her PhD research, she was a visiting scholar at the Department of Political Science at Texas A&M University (with prof. Kenneth Meier).

As of 2016, she is employed as an Assistant Professor of Public Management at Leiden University’s Institute of Public Administration. Her work has been published in leading academic journals such as the Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory and Public Administration. She is a co-chair of the new NIG colloquium 'Diversity, Representation, and Inlcusion'. She teaches courses related to social research methods as well as public management.

Publications