Beckles joined the [[University of the West Indies]] as a history lecturer at its campus in [[Mona, Jamaica|Mona]], [[Jamaica]], in 1979, but transferred to its [[University of the West Indies, at Cave Hill| Cave Hill campus]] in 1984.<ref name="bio">[http://www.cavehill.uwi.edu/principal/biography.asp Office of the Principal: Biography] – University of the West Indies. Retrieved 3 January 2013.</ref> Having been named a senior research fellow at the [[London]]-based [[Institute of Commonwealth Studies]] in 1986, he was named Chairman of the History Department at UWI in 1992, a role he served in until 1996, and he subsequently served as dean of the Faculty of Humanities from 1994 to 1998.<ref name="cv"/> Beckles received a personal professorship in 1993, the university's youngest appointment to the position.<ref name="bio"/> His work has covered a variety of areas within the broader topic of [[Afro-Caribbean history]], with works covering early slave rebellions in Barbados, the role of women in the slave trade, and the greater effects of [[colonialism]] on present Barbadian society. Other works have focused more specifically on [[History of Barbados|Barbadian history]], including education, telecommunications, the labour movement, and sporting culture.<ref name="cv"/>
