Diane. M. Phillips

Background

About Diane. M. Phillips

Teaching and Research Philosophy I am a creative and critical thinker who contributes to the university as a research led educator in the discipline areas of management and education. The specific research fields of working in organizations’ are: organisational knowledge, entrepreneurship, innovation and creativity, freedom, research practice and governance and sustainable education. As an educator, I contribute to the school of management through a broad range of management units and knowledge areas: ‘Research and Problem Solving, Critical and Creative Thinking, Logic and Argument, Entrepreneurship’, ‘Creativity’, ‘Innovation and ‘Diversity in Organizations’. Since commencing my PhD my research has been more focused on the changing research environment and universities as organisations, in terms of education, governance and research practice. More recently defining my research direction and brand, my research narrative revolves around ‘What happens inside organisations, specifically universities, when the external environment changes: people, practice, processes and philosophy’. From a philosophically position, senior colleagues tell me my research is underpinned by critical realism explaining how and why certain results emerge from the changing environment in an institutional context. As a critical theorist in the making, Foucault’s work on Power, Governmentality, Surveillance and Self-Care and Self- Technologies fit in with the broad research narrative above. With a background in educational psychology: thinking and specifically critical and creative thinking in my always play a role in my research identity. As a research manager, I have undertaken large quantitative research; however, since working in the organisational studies space my preference is qualitative methodologies such as ethnography, phenomenology and action research. I take a planned and strategic knowledge engagement approach to research, as you will see with the below planning