Esther has held research positions at the University of Melbourne and Victoria University. She has over 15 years' experience in conducting research  projects and evaluations across all parts of the education and training system from early childhood, primary and secondary schooling, school resourcing, vocational education and training, adult learning and initial teacher education. She is skilled at combining sources of qualitative and quantitative data into readable reports for clients, external stakeholders and academic publications.

She has a particular interest in comparative research of education systems, which includes their structural arrangements, history and policy settings. Esther was involved in the International Study of City Youth across 14 cities coordinated by Professor Stephen Lamb, and was a co-author of a chapter called 'inequality in student skills across the schools of Melbourne’.

Her doctorate compared education systems from Australia and Germany and identified that each system structure reinforces educational inequality, while acknowledging that structures also require the active engagement of families through their choices and actions.