Let's Talk Disability: Caring for someone with a disability
Download MP3Hosted by Professor Jackie Carter
In this deeply insightful episode of Let’s Talk Disability, host Professor Jackie Carter brings together two colleagues whose experiences shine a much‑needed light on a topic rarely discussed openly at work: the realities of being a parent carer and how caring responsibilities intersect with identity, career, and belonging.
Gill Bibby, a Comms and Content Officer at Alliance Manchester Business School, shares her honest and emotional journey as a mum to a nine‑year‑old daughter with cerebral palsy and autism. Gill talks candidly about sleepless nights, daily negotiation, the emotional transitions between home and work, and the quiet fears many carers hold — from career progression to future unknowns. Her vulnerability brings into sharp focus the hidden labour of caring and the invisible load many staff carry.
Sitting alongside Gill is Michelle Carter, Director of Equity, Diversity & Inclusion at AMBS. Together, Gill and Michelle explore how organisational culture can unintentionally disable carers, why allyship and compassionate leadership matter, and how policies like flexible working and carers’ leave work (and sometimes don’t work) in real life. Michelle reflects on intersectionality, the assumptions colleagues often make, and the importance of creating a workplace where carers feel safe to speak up without fear of judgement or limitation.
The conversation is raw, warm, and filled with powerful moments — including a bold proposal for a university “leave pot” to support staff with unmet caring needs, and a moving discussion about ambitions, identity, and not writing off your own potential.
As always, the episode concludes with real commitments: tangible actions that Gill and Michelle pledge to take to make the university a more supportive and equitable place for carers.
This is an essential listen for anyone interested in equity, disability inclusion, compassionate leadership, or understanding the unseen challenges your colleagues may face every day.
It’s a conversation full of heart, honest truths, and practical hope for change.
It’s a conversation full of heart, honest truths, and practical hope for change.
Send us your questions or comments to equalityanddiversity@manchester.ac.uk with the subject 'LTD' or connect with Jackie on Linkedin at https://www.linkedin.com/in/drjackiecarter
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Creators and Guests
Host
Professor Jackie Carter
Academic EDI Lead for Disability, member of the Shaw Trust Power 100 for 2023. Author of Work Placements, Internships & Applied Social Research. Prof of Statistical Literacy. FaCSS, NTF. 1-in-20 Women in Data. Late Bloomer. @GM4Women
Guest
Professor Michelle Carter
Michelle Carter is a Professor of Information Systems in the Alliance Manchester Business School’s Division of Management Sciences and Marketing at the University of Manchester. Michelle earned her PhD in Management (Information Systems) from Clemson University, SC. Her research focuses on information technologies’ involvement in identity and social change, factors that shape IT usage behaviors, and information systems management. Michelle's work has appeared in MIS Quarterly, the European Journal of Information Systems, the Journal of the Association for Information Systems, the Journal of Information Technology, as well as other journals, books, and conference proceedings. Michelle is co-Editor-in-Chief of AIS Transactions on Replication Research. She serves as DEI Director and a senior editor for MIS Quarterly. Michelle is a Distinguished Member – Cum Laude of the AIS. She is a past president of the Association for Information Systems (AIS) Special Interest Group on Social Inclusion and previously chaired the AIS committee on diversity and inclusion. From 2021-2024, she served on the AIS Council as Vice President for Special Interest Groups and Colleges.
