Baylies was particularly notable for her work on the ways in which the AIDS epidemic threatened existing social structures and food security, a connection which she was one of the first to make.
Following this she took a teaching post at the University of Zambia,[1] during which time she also undertook research on the trade union movement and labour policies.
Her work at the university also included her involvement in the founding of the Centre for Development Studies, of which she served as a director for two terms (1990–93, 1997–99).
[2] Baylies also helped to shape the University of Leeds' interdisciplinary Master of Arts course in development studies, expanding the capacity for postgraduate research in the field.
[2][3] Baylies was married to fellow University of Leeds academic, Dr. Morris Szeftel, with whom she coauthored the book The Dynamics of the One-Party State in Zambia, published in 1984.