Occupational Psychology MSc: Who teaches this course

• Staff teaching on this course

This course is taught jointly by:

• the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences; and
• the Faculty of Business and Law. 

Faculty of Business and Law

Kingston Business School, alongside Kingston Law School forms the Faculty of Business and Law. Both schools are internationally recognised as leading centres of postgraduate learning, providing a stimulating and supportive study environment.

International reputation for teaching expertise: Our academic staff are recognised for providing a high quality service to their students and external partners, with some individuals having gained international reputations for their leading work in research and development. Full-time staff are augmented by visiting specialists from industry and the professions to ensure that we keep abreast of the latest thinking and developments.

Our teaching is focused very much on applying theory to real, practical situations. All our courses are structured to ensure a stimulating and balanced programme of study. Plus your learning experience is enhanced with the use of a wide range of teaching resources including e-learning technologies, interactive classroom sessions and student-led group projects.

Innovative research environment: In the most recent Research Assessment Exercise (RAE 2008) Kingston Business School and Law School recorded excellent results, demonstrating the significance and impact of research in the Faculty.

Where is the Faculty based? The Faculty is based at the modern Kingston Hill campus, which is set in landscaped gardens and enjoys a real community feel.

Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

Students in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences benefit from a lively study environment, thanks to the wide range of postgraduate courses on offer in the Faculty. Programmes cover everything from English literature and music to human rights and politics.

The Faculty provides a vibrant and forward-thinking environment for study with:

• courses designed in collaboration with industry professionals – keeping you up to date with the latest developments;
• established connections with the London arts and media scene – with a range of guest speakers, professors and lecturers visiting the University; and
• committed and enthusiastic staff – many of whom are expert practitioners as well as leading academics and researchers.

The Faculty's combination of academics and practitioners makes it a unique environment in which to further your studies and your career.

Where is the Faculty based? Most students in the Faculty are based at the University's Penrhyn Road campus, with our music and education courses taught at the Kingston Hill campus. Our extensive facilities include:

• state-of-the-art psychology and film/media labs;
• specialist archives and libraries; and
• two theatres, plus music recording and post-production facilities.

Business and Psychology staff

Lecturers from both Kingston Business School and the Psychology Unit bring the best of both worlds to the understanding of human behaviour at work. This programme has been designed by a course team who have comprehensive experience in both research and practice in the area of occupational psychology.

All members of the team are experienced lecturers, research active and enjoy enabling students' development in understanding the theory and evidence base that drives progress in occupational psychology and the actual practice of becoming an occupational or business psychologist.

The team members include:

Dr Rachel Lewis (course director) 11

Rachel is a chartered psychologist and a registered occupational psychologist. She is currently continuing her work in the areas of leadership and employee wellbeing, looking particularly at:

• the link between manager behaviour and employee stress and wellbeing in the workplace; and
• the impact of team relationships on the manager-employee relationship.
  

Dr Maria Daskalaki

Maria's research interests include social networks and knowledge; post-structuralism and the construction of individual and group identities; space and art in relation to organisational theory and practice; and autobiographical methods in organisational analysis.

Dr Stephen Gourlay

Research interests include the conceptual aspects of knowledge management with special concern for tacit knowledge and knowledge transfer. General research interests include knowledge management; tacit knowledge; the application of sociocultural psychology to cross-cultural knowledge transfer (with particular reference to China–UK relations); and research methods and methodology.

Dr Miguel Imas

Miguel's principal research interests are radical and alternative forms of organising; post-modern and critical organisation theory; literary fiction and storytelling; art and management; skateboarding architecture and free running; management change and globalisation effects in Latin America.

Current research projects include:

• the Argentinean Organisational Change Experience – this project looks at new forms of organising that are emerging in Argentina as a result of the country's economic collapse in 2001; and
• Changing Narratives of Corporate Building Architecture for the XXIst Century (with Dr Maria Daskalaki) – this on-going project in Europe and Latin America seeks to provide subversive narratives for the way organisational actors experience working (architectural) space.
  

Dr Louisa Pavey

Louisa's broad research interest is in social psychology. In particular, she is interested in applications of self-determination theory and self-affirmation theory to the promotion of health and pro-social behaviours. Other topics of interest include materialism, self-presentation, defensive coping strategies, self-esteem and reactance.

Dr Gaelle Villejoubert

Gaelle's research aims to contribute to the psychology of risk and uncertainty and the psychology of decision-making.

Her focus is on how individuals reason about, judge, communicate, or make decisions under uncertainty both in the laboratory and in applied settings such as forensic, health or medical settings.This includes work on:

• how individuals communicate and interpret uncertainty qualitatively;
• how they draw conclusions based on uncertain information; and
• how judgements, decisions and choices are shaped by individuals' motivations, mode of thinking (intuitive or deliberative) and the way information is distributed in their environment.
  

Dr Hans-Joachim Wolfram

Hans studied Psychology and Cultural Studies at the Humboldt-University Berlin, Germany. He acquired a psychotherapeutic qualification in Logotherapy/Existential Analysis and is a Chartered Psychologist.

Before joining Kingston University in 2008, Hans conducted research at the University of Leipzig, Germany and for London Business School. His main areas of interest are gender in the workplace, leadership, and social psychology perspectives within organisational settings.

Dr Stephanie Morgan

Stephanie is a chartered psychologist and a registered occupational psychologist. She is the author of The Human Side of Outsourcing: Psychological Theory and Management Practice (Wiley, 2009).

Stephanie is currently continuing research into best practice in outsourcing management, remote management of staff, technology change and leadership development in the NHS. Special interest in the use of technology in research, and during organisational change (including e-rostering); and in blended learning to enhance higher education.

Dr Emma Russell

Dr Emma Russell is a chartered occupational psychologist, with a background in both academia and consultancy.

Emma's research interests include new technology interruptions and strategic work behaviour in multi-goal environments; measuring wellbeing as an antecedent and consequence to strategy choice; the role of personality in strategic activity at work; and organisational identity and identity processes involved in using internet forums and networking sites.

Dr Sunitha Narendran

Dr Sunitha's background is in organisational psychology and HRM. Prior to her academic career, Sunitha worked in HRM roles in a number of multinational organisations.

Sunitha's research interests focus on the psychology of managerial decision making and cross-cultural analysis of strategic decision making. She has published in a range of academic journals, including the Journal of Trans-National Management Development, the Journal of Social Psychology. She has also reviewed articles for the Asia Pacific Journal of Management and the Asian Case Research Journal and Psyence: Psychology and Science Decision Research.

Dr Marie Juanchich

Marie has a MSci and a PhD in socio-cognitive psychology from the University of Toulouse (France). She is a lecturer in occupational psychology.

Marie's research aims to gain a better understanding of the the factors affecting risk perception and decision making within two perspectives:  a basic experimental psychology perspective (eg, focusing on cognitive processes) and a more applied perspective in organisations (eg, how HR managers are making personnel selection). Additionally, Marie is interested in how individual differences account for variations in risk perception and decision making quality, with a particular focus on expertise, decision making styles, decision-making strategies, personality and cognitive abilities.