Research is something I have always enjoyed, and the area of corporate accountability is one I feel particularly passionately about. The process of writing my Honours thesis revealed several avenues I wanted to pursue further, but time constraints meant that I wasn’t able to develop some of my ideas as fully as I would have liked. Undertaking a PhD gave me the opportunity to explore those areas in greater depth, and may hopefully lead to a point where I can in some way help improve organisational accountability in practice.
My study examines whether organisations engage in social and environmental reporting for accountability purposes, and whether motives for social and environmental reporting influence the choice of communication methods used, with a particular focus on the use of multi-modal impression management strategies.
It’s given me more confidence in myself, in both my ideas and expressing those ideas publicly. It’s also taught me to listen more carefully to those around me. I’ve come to value my family and friends even more, not only for their support, but more importantly for reminding me not to become too self-absorbed.
I’ve really enjoyed the opportunities to meet and learn from other researchers, and have found the support and guidance provided by my supervisory team to be invaluable. But the best part of the experience has been undertaking the research itself. I feel privileged to have the opportunity to devote so much of my energy to a project I feel so strongly about, and a PhD is something I intend to do only once so I’m determined to get as much out of it as I can!