Professor Schoburgh is a public policy expert who served as Senior Lecturer, Department of Government and Associate Dean (Special Initiatives), Faculty of Social Sciences, at the Mona Campus. Her academic specialisations are the areas of public policy analysis and management, subnational governance and local economic development.

The UWI alumna holds a PhD in Government (2003); MSc in Public Administration and International Relations (1995) and a BA (Hons) in History and Political Science (1992).  A teacher at heart, Professor Schoburgh also has a Certificate in Primary Education from St. Joseph’s Teachers’ College.  

Her current research interests include local governance and economic development; organisational development and change in the public sector,where she focuses on examining the capacity and strategies employed for public sector change; and thirdly, social relations and the political economythrough exploring the role and impact of informal institutions on public management and governance, at all levels, and theorising informal citizenship. Her work is valued for its wide applicability with her research set in both Caribbean and non-Caribbean contexts. 

An external assessor praised her saying, “I find her work theoretically suggestive and methodologically very sound” adding that “her research is what other academics are citing in their papers and publications”.

She has authored the book, Local Government Reform: The Prospects for Community Empowerment in Jamaica;  co-edited two volumes: Developmental Local Governance and The Handbook of Subnational Governance and Development;  written 14 book chapters and nine peer-reviewed journal articles that have appeared in highly respected publications such as Journal of Public Administration and Development, Commonwealth Journal of Local Governance, Social and Economic Studies and the Journal of Human Values and has another five manuscripts in preparation. She has also presented at 28 conferences, supervised 39 MSc research papers and five active doctoral theses, conducted numerous workshops both regionally and internationally and has a wide public service portfolio, including serving as an expert contributor to the activities of the Commonwealth Local Government Forum and select United Nation’s projects.

In 2010, 2012 and 2016 Professor Schoburgh received The Mona Campus Principal’s Award for Best Research Publication in the Faculty of Social Sciences.