400: Bridging the Practitioner-Researcher-Gap for Effective Collaboration in Career Research (11991)

Saturday, August 10, 2024

14:00 – 16:00 CT (GMT-5/UTC-5)

Location: Swissotel: Montreux 1

Session Number: 400
PDW (workshop)
Orientation: Practice,International,Theme,Research
Highlight
Shareable link: https://cdmcd.co/wjp6EJ

Organizer(s)

MH

Madeleine Haenggli

U. Carlos III of Madrid, Spain

Session Chair(s)

MH

Madeleine Haenggli

U. Carlos III of Madrid, Spain

Organizer(s)

DV

Domingo Valero

Lucerne U. of Applied Sciences and Arts, Switzerland

Session Chair(s)

DV

Domingo Valero

Lucerne U. of Applied Sciences and Arts, Switzerland

Panelist(s)

AD

Ans De Vos

U. of Antwerp/ Antwerp Management School, Belgium
DJ

Denise Mary Jepsen

Macquarie Business School, Macquarie U., Australia
SK

Simone Kauffeld

Technische U. Braunschweig, Germany
EP

Emma Parry

Cranfield U., United Kingdom
RR

Ramon Rico

U. Carlos III de Madrid, Spain

“There’s nothing so practical as a good theory.” – Lewin (1951, p. 169) ”There’s nothing so theoretical as good practice.” – Ployhart & Bartunek (2019, p. 493) Aligned with the AoM conference theme, Innovating for the Future: Policy, Purpose, and Organization, this PDW tackles a pivotal dimension of innovation by actively bridging the gap between theory and practice to drive tangible real-world impact and drive innovation in our field. Despite being vital partners, researchers and practitioners often find themselves lost in translation – a challenge that frequently hampers the potential of collaboration. Central to this challenge is a disparity in goal alignment, originating from a fundamental divergence in the evaluative frameworks of research (differentiating between truth from non-truth) and practice (differentiating financial gain from non-gain) (Kieser & Leiner, 2009). This misalignment raises questions about the practical relevance of research findings and the effective involvement of career counselors, HR professionals, and organizational changemakers in advancing professional practice in their fields. However, the rewards and impact that may result from cooperation between research and practice are substantial, promising far more mutual benefits than the initial disparities might suggest (Bartunek & Rynes, 2014). In this PDW, we unravel the challenges and explore strategies to connect research and practice; we discover how collaborations can be not only fruitful but also powerful agents of meaningful transformation. By engaging in discussions and interactions, the PDW aims to raise awareness of the practitioner-researcher gap and provide actionable ideas for fostering successful collaboration.