Scholarships

Leadership development for frontline workers

The Aotearoa Centre for Leadership and Governance is seeking a candidate for a PhD scholarship position in leadership development. The research will be conducted in a large New Zealand, end-to-end manufacturing, distribution, and construction company that has designed and is in the process of delivering an innovative series of leadership development programmes to frontline teams across its various divisions. The bulk of the leadership development literature focuses on leadership development for managers and professionals. This research marks a different and exciting direction for leadership development research with its focus on frontline workers.

These leadership development programmes are oriented at building a Health & Safety culture where frontline workers are empowered to step up into making what can be life and death decisions in the moment, to influence ‘whole organisation’ processes and protocols, to engage in conversations with middle and senior managers, and to show support to their colleagues to be strong in the Health & Safety space. The selected PhD candidate will need to do more than evaluate this leadership development intervention, by exploring the nature of leadership development and learning at all levels of the organisation and across all divisions. Possible enquiry could include what leadership looks like and how it can be developed, and how organisation culture can be created, sustained, and challenged collaboratively across the different levels of an organisation. This will be an ethnographic study where the candidate will spend time immersed in the organisation, having access to in-house conversations to support this exploration and to collect rich data.

Candidates must have some expertise in critical and qualitative research approaches and be prepared to position their PhD within critical leadership studies. A Masters in management, leadership, organisation studies, or a related area would be preferable; however, candidates with a critical orientation in arts, humanities, or the social sciences may be eligible for a bridging programme into a Business PhD and will be considered. We are looking for a curious, bold thinker with a love for both theory and empirical work who isn’t afraid of complexity, ambiguity, or uncertainty. Candidates should be familiar with research written by those in the Centre and particularly articles on leadership development from Professor Brigid Carroll and Dr Rhiannon Lloyd. The Centre offers a stimulating, lively, and supportive space for such a candidate with plenty of opportunities to join additional research projects, to take on teaching opportunities (if desired), and leadership development-related activities and work.

Leadership development for youth

The Aotearoa Centre for Leadership and Governance is seeking a candidate for a PhD scholarship position in leadership development (LD) for youth. The research will be conducted in partnership with tertiary level LD programmes. The bulk of the LD literature focuses on LD for managers and professionals who are well-established in their careers and organisational positions. This research marks a different and exciting direction for LD research with its focus on how youth experience and engage with LD.

The youth LD programmes of interest here are oriented at guiding and supporting youth in tertiary educational institutions to undertake leadership in their communities and to create positive social change. As youth, their leadership is often constrained by power asymmetries and a shortage of both social capital and resources that those in organisational leadership positions often have access to. Nevertheless, their leadership practices are important and may be more likely to challenge conventionality in ways that are necessary for organisations trying to respond to grand challenges such as climate change, for example.

The selected PhD candidate will need to do more than evaluate the outcomes of youth LD intervention by exploring the unique experiences of youth as they attempt (or not) to bridge what they have learned from the programme with their real-life experiences of leadership. The research will be particularly interested in how participants of these programmes transition from development into post-programme communities (such as alumni) and work to weave their leadership skills and identity into these spaces. The aim of the research is to further theoretical understanding in this domain, whilst also offering practical insights for programme designers and facilitators so that LD for youth can be more intentionally designed to support post-programme transitions. This will be a qualitative study where the candidate will spend time with the participants of LD programmes. The specific methods are open for consideration.

Candidates must have some expertise in critical and qualitative research approaches and be prepared to position their PhD within critical leadership studies. A Masters in management, leadership, organisation studies, or a related area would be preferable; however, candidates with a critical orientation in arts, humanities, or the social sciences may be eligible for a bridging programme into a Business PhD and will be considered. We are looking for a curious, bold thinker with a love for both theory and empirical work who isn’t afraid of complexity, ambiguity, or uncertainty. Candidates should be familiar with research written by those in the Centre and particularly articles on LD from Professor Brigid Carroll and Dr Rhiannon Lloyd. The Centre offers a stimulating, lively, and supportive space for such a candidate with plenty of opportunities to join additional research projects, to take on teaching opportunities (if desired), and LD-related activities and work.