Department of Organizational Psychology Tackles Evidence-Based Practice and Diversity in Research at Summer Seminar and Alec Rodger Memorial
Professor Rob Briner and Professor Alexandra Beauregard delivered keynote talks at this annual event for staff, students, alumni and friends of the department.
How can we ensure that academic research is inclusive and impactful in the workplace? This was the key question tackled in the annual Organizational Psychology Summer Seminar and Alec Rodger Memorial Lecture held at Birkbeck on Wednesday 29 June 2022.
Based on the theme of diversity and work-life balance, the Summer Seminar welcomed staff, alumni and current students to share insights from their research. Professor Alexandra Beauregard gave the keynote address entitled ‘The Diversity of Work-Life Balance’. Alexandra stressed the importance of recognising research’s social, economic and cultural context, emphasising that perceptions of work-life balance differ in different cultures.
The keynote was followed by a series of talks exploring diversity and inclusion in research. Dr Uracha Chatrakul Na Ayudhya shared her journey into doing diversity research differently through collective writing, while Dr Lukas Wallrich discussed how to harness the benefits of diversity in teams.
Current and former students Paula Fitzgerald and Joanna Wiles provided different perspectives on diversity and work-life balance through their research into the experiences of professional ballet dancers and small business owners respectively.
The Summer Seminar was followed by a drinks reception and the 2022 Alec Rodger Memorial Lecture, delivered by Rob Briner, Professor of Organizational Psychology at Queen Mary, University of London and Visiting Professor at Birkbeck. The lecture explored the controversies around evidence-based practice and provided actionable guidance on how to begin implementing evidence-based practice in the workplace.
We would like to thank our speakers for their thought-provoking talks and all those who contributed to making the event a success.