4th Annual Southern PHD Economics Conference

Oxford Brookes University, United Kingdom, 20–21 June 2024

Call for papers

We are pleased to announce the call for papers for the 4th Annual Southern PhD Economics Conference (ASPEC) which will be held from 20-21 June 2024. The PhD conference is supported by the economics departments and schools of nine universities:

  • University of Bath
  • Oxford Brookes University
  • City University of London 
  • University of East Anglia
  • Royal Holloway
  • Middlesex University 
  • University of Reading
  • University of Southampton
  • University of Sussex

The conference committee is accepting papers from PhD students and postdocs on any topic that falls within the discipline of economics. This will be a two-day conference and will be held in person at Oxford Brookes University. Consideration will be given to those who can present their work in person.

Paper submission

Submit your extended abstracts or full papers to: aspec2024@gmail.com. The deadline of submission is 1 May 2024 and decisions will be communicated on 15 May 2024.

Conference registration fee

The conference fee is £30 and should be paid by deadline May 20th, 2024. It covers access to all sessions, buffet lunches, conference coffee breaks and conference material. Conference fees will not cover the participation in the voluntary dinner planned on the 20th of June.

Oxford Brookes Business School Doctoral Research Conference

20 June 2023

This year’s conference focuses on developing your research profile through publishing high quality innovative work and engaging wider audiences.

We hope you can enjoy a full day of talks and roundtable discussions delivered by high profile guest speakers and our alumni. We will also be showcasing some of the great work of our wonderful current doctoral students in a Research Poster Exhibition session.

Do come along to learn and contribute to exciting research conversations.

The event will be of interest to doctoral students, Early Career Researchers and supervisors.

Location

The conference will take place on Headington Campus and online.

Conference organisers

Dr Sylwia Ciuk

Dr Sylwia Ciuk

Reader in Organisation Studies

Dr Judie Gannon

Dr Judie Gannon

Director of Doctoral Programmes - Oxford Brookes Business School

Conference programme

TimeEvent
09:00Coffee
09:15–10:30Welcome and Professor Helene Tenzer (LMU Munich School of Management): Crafting a research identity and publishing from the PhD
This session aims to provide PhD students in different stages of their dissertation projects with ideas how to craft their distinctive research identity, how to build a coherent research portfolio, and how to convert their dissertations into successful publications in prestigious journals. We will discuss how to frame a topic, how to select suitable target journals, how to find co-authors and academic mentors, and how to navigate the review process. Considering the challenging nature of the PhD phase, we will also talk about techniques for maintaining one’s motivation and work-life balance.
Helene Tenzer is Associate Professor of International Management at LMU Munich School of Management. Her research focuses on language diversity in multinational organizations, multinational and virtual teams, global leadership, international human resource management and organizational behaviour. She has published on these topics in outlets such as the Journal of International Business Studies, Academy of Management Learning and Education, Leadership Quarterly and Journal of World Business. In addition, she has founded a research network on language in management with currently over 100 international members.

Register for this talk - External guests only

10:30–10:45Coffee break
10:45–12:00Dr Emily Yarrow (University of Newcastle): Optimising the practical impact of your doctoral research
The objective of this workshop is for you to reflect on experiences in designing and conducting research that engagesbpractitioners, links theory and practice, and impacts society and organisations. We will consider multiple forms of impact and discuss optimising impact, which also requires clear communication strategies in the (social) media, as well as knowledge dissemination to bridge gaps between theory and practice. The workshop will focus on engaging and engaging with a range of audiences and the effective dissemination of your research through social media. Dr Emily Yarrow is a Senior Lecturer in Management and Organisations, in the Leadership, Work and Organisation Subject Group at Newcastle University Business School. She is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA), and an Academic Member of the CIPD (MCIPD).
Emily's scholarly work focusses on and contributes to contemporary understandings of gendered organisational behaviour, women's experiences of organisational life, and the future of work. Her research interests broadly include organisational theory, gender and inequality regimes, impact, and governance in higher education. She is passionate about social justice in education and equality of opportunity in a multitude of organisational settings. Emily is also interested in the algorithmic perpetuation of inequality and is keen to develop potential global collaborations in this domain.
Emily earned her doctorate at the Centre for Equality and Diversity (CRED) at Queen Mary, University of London, UK. Bringing both academic and blue-chip commercial experience, Emily has also worked for organisations such as Procter and Gamble as a Buyer, and Scottish Widows (Lloyds Banking Group), as well as having been involved in research projects for the Scottish Government, and Diageo. She has contributed to leading journals including: Gender, Work and Organization; Work, Employment and Society; Public Management Review; The British Educational Research Journal, and International Review of Administrative Sciences. Emily is an Editorial Review Board Member of: Gender, Work and Organization; Work, Employment and Society; and Group Organization Management.

Email: Emily.yarrow2@newcastle.ac.uk
Twitter: @Emilyyarrow1
https://uk.linkedin.com/in/emily-yarrow-00573721

Register for Dr Emily Yarrow talk - External guests only

12:00–12:45Lunch 
12:45–14:15Student Research Poster Exhibition
  • Abigail Muchecheti: Barriers to career progression for BME women aspiring to be leaders in higher education institutions (HEIs).
  • Abdelrahman Abudirbala: The determinants of Climate change risk disclosure: The case of institutional ‎investors in the UK.
  • Amina Mahmood Yakubu: Determinants of Earnings Differentials in Nigeria.
  • Reginald Kadzutu: Preaching Water Drinking Wine: An Investigation of Exchange Rate Regimes.
  • David Lowe: What is the experience and meaning of conversational humour in coaching dyads?
  • Helen Townshend: The role of coaching for clients facing tensions between personal and organisational values
  • Philippa Eddie: Coaching adults with ADHD in the workplace: a language lens
  • Andy Bird: An exploration of the roles that coaching and mentoring play for charity CEOs.
  • Janine Roberts: Coaching with the heart in mind. A grounded theory exploration of leadership coaching and its influence on emotions and organisational relationships
  • Ruth Simpson: Group Coaching Leaders in Transition to Senior Positions
  • Jane Darvill-Evans: What magic occurs in intellectual coaching?
  • Hui Zhang: Research on the optimization of the sustainable supply chain for shale gas based on a multi-level coupling model of disaster prevention, environment and energy
  • Elizabeth Okoro: The ageing digital entrepreneur: better late than never or too late to start?
14:15–14:30Coffee break
14:30–15:45Parallel sessions
Professor Stefanie Reissner (University of Essex): Qualitative interviewing and knowledge claims
In this keynote, Stefanie Reissner will argue for greater awareness of the onto- epistemological paradigm in which a research project is situated. Using qualitative interviewing as an illustrative example, she will outline how the researchers’ assumptions about social reality and the generation of knowledge shape research practices, knowledge claims and decisions where to publish. The keynote will conclude with a plea to delegates to engage more deeply with their onto-epistemological paradigm and to use commensurate research practices in their work.
Stefanie Reissner is Professor of Work and Organization Studies at the University of Essex. Her research interests are identity, narrative / storytelling, and interpretive work / sensemaking as well as research methodology, reflexivity, and learning. Stefanie has received external research funding from the Economic and Social Research Council, the British Academy / Leverhulme Trust and the British Academy of Management and her work has been published in high quality management and organization journals and two monographs. Stefanie is an experienced doctoral supervisor and examiner and has contributed to doctoral training at her institution, nationally through the Northern Advanced Research Training Initiative

Register for Prof. Stefanie Reissner talk - External guests only

Panel discussion: Challenges and opportunities of quantitative approaches with panellists are Professor Cowling, Dr Jeremy Zwiegelaar, Dr Husni Kharouf and Dr Robin Robin
The session will focus on using quantitative data in publication. The speakers will consider two common mistakes that people make when analysing quantitative data and developing papers for journal submission. People with more modest analytical skills do not do enough analysis and leave themselves open to questions about selection bias, unrepresentative data, developing hypotheses after the fact to fit the results, and not using techniques that are robust enough. At the other extreme, people with high level analytical skills often bury themselves in sophisticated models and a battery of robustness checks and often lose sight of the research question that they were supposed to be investigating and fail to bring the key findings to life. Both will make it hard for referees and editors to 'like' your paper and see its value. In this presentation we consider what the 'happy medium' is and how good and focused quantitative analysis can add insight and generate exciting new findings that are appealing to journal editors and reviewers. We will supplement these considerations with a specific focus on using multivariate data analysis and subsequently shaping the discussion section of quantitative papers.
15:45–16:00Coffee break
16:00–17:15Alumni roundtable panel discussion and Q&A

Dr Sally Bonneywell, Dr Priscila Pereira Law, Professor Jean-Pierra van der Rest, Dr Hany Shoukry, Dr Ivan Mitchell, Dr Karen Dennis

In this session the panellists will reflect on their experiences of the doctoral journey and how their doctorate/ PhD has affected their subsequent careers. There will also be an opportunity to answer questions from the audience.

17:15–17:30Drinks, closing of the conference