Anna Czaplewska-Jaffery is a PhD student in Organisational Behaviour in the Department of Management. Prior to LSE, Anna had a career as a Business Psychologist and Management Consultant spanning over a decade. In this blog, she discusses her experiences of studying a PhD at LSE and undertaking a PhD mid-career.

I have always known that I wanted to do a PhD one day, but I wanted to ensure I had hands-on experience, and an in-depth understanding of the challenges businesses are facing before deciding on the topic that I was ready to commit to.

Therefore, after completing my Masters in Organisational Psychology, I worked as a Business Psychologist and a Management Consultant, which solidified my interest in cross-cultural leadership and gender equality. The coaching and corporate training I undertook in the space of Leadership Development and Emotional Intelligence further informed my research topic, whilst the connections I built across years of consulting provided some truly wonderful opportunities for research collaboration and data collection.

However, the decision to do my PhD in the middle of a successful career was not one I made lightly.

At first, I was anxious that returning to academia would put a pause on what I had been building all these years; but where there’s a will, there’s always a way, and I managed to continue working alongside my first year of the PhD.

It wasn’t easy going back to studying after so many years, especially as a first-time mum, but I was lucky to have very supportive team both at work and at LSE. That first year also provided a smoother transition from a practitioner to a researcher and having received the opportunity to teach at LSE, I was then able to take a plunge into academia. I have managed, however, to keep one foot in the business world, as a freelance consultant and coach.

Why LSE’s Department of Management?

You often hear about how slow things can move in academia. Prior to joining LSE, I heard from friends who teach that the administrative and political aspects of academic work can really distract one from their research focus, but I haven’t found any traces of that at LSE.

LSE is a truly amazing place to be.

The expertise of the Professors at the Department of Management is impressive, and every interaction leaves you confident that you are working with truly accomplished scholars. There is a wonderful depth and breadth of expertise across a variety of topics and research methods, which allows you to not only become an expert on your own field but a well-rounded Management scholar in general.

I am also lucky to have the most incredible cohort of fellow PhD students, who I know I can count on. We have a very impressive PhD office in the beautiful Marshall Building, providing an inspiring setting to work in.

There is a great representation of various cultural backgrounds in our group (important for me given my cross-cultural research interests) and, I have been very fortunate to work with many incredibly talented female professors (in fact, in both the classes that I teach, as well as in my PhD research, I work in female-only teams which has been a very refreshing and empowering experience).

The department grants us a lot of freedom to pursue our research interests and there is a strong culture of mutual respect and support.

Members of our faculty are very accessible and not only willing to always help but appear genuinely interested in your work and try their best to help to shape your research to a level that deserves a publication in a top tier journal.

What does life look like post-PhD?

I hope my PhD helps me to become an expert in cross-cultural management and provides me with opportunities to conduct research that supports leaders, and especially female leaders, in the workplace. I am passionate about conducting research that addresses organisational challenges, particularly those related to gender equality and cross-cultural understanding, and I hope to use my expertise to provide organisations with evidence-based solutions.

I feel at home in academia and aim to continue this journey after my PhD, whilst also allowing space for the Organisational Psychologist I am at heart. To combine my research expertise with the practitioner experience, I have launched my own business, called InPsy Consulting, which focuses on leadership development, coaching for individuals working in international settings, and supporting gender equality in the workplace.

In the next few years, I would like to see myself on the way to becoming a tenured professor and growing my business as a way of sharing my practical experience and providing my clients with evidence-based solutions informed by the latest research.