Denise MacDermott completed her social work degree at the University of Strathclyde in 2003. During this time, Denise was employed by the Northern Ireland Association for the Resettlement of Offenders (NIACRO) as a Project Worker and later a Senior Practitioner for a regional Mentoring programme. In 2008, she took up the post of Practice Learning Centre Manager with Bryson Care. In 2012 she completed the MSc in Professional Development in Social Work from Ulster University.

Denise is committed to promoting civic engagement, volunteering and social justice, she was Chairperson for Le Cheile Youth Justice Support Services a National charity based in Ireland from 2009-2015. More recently she has been actively involved in fundraising projects to tackle food poverty in the North West in partnership with the Churches Trust and the Ulster University Stand Up for Social Work Society.

Denise MacDermott joined Ulster University in 2013 as a lecturer in social work, she has held a number of leadership roles including course director for the BSc (Hons) Social Work and is currently the Chair of the Practice Assessment Panel. Denise holds the Leadership and Strategic Award in Social Work (2015) and received an Excellence in Educational Leadership Award (2019) from Ulster University. She has extensive experience of External Examining of social work courses in the UK and Ireland. Denise is currently an External Examiner for the MSW at Sligo Institute of Technology and more recently the University of Strathclyde MSW. Denise is a peer reviewer for Practice and Social Work Education and a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. She has written several articles and book chapters making important contributions to the field of social work and particularly to the improvement of both social work practice and reflective practice more broadly.

Research Interests

Service users, carers and survivors’ involvement within social work education

Professional identity and social work

Creative assessments within social work programme

No risk peer and lecturer feedback model

Digital storytelling with students and experts by experience

Denise contributes to both undergraduate and post graduate teaching in social work at Ulster.