The PhD fresher
Learning out loud and investigating the conditions for public relations to support innovation in organisations.
Almost 30 years after I graduated, I’ve returned to university to study a PhD at Leeds Business School, part of Leeds Beckett University. Today I joined fellow students for the induction with the same nervous anticipation that I had as an undergraduate.
Today was an introduction to systems, the PhD learning journey, and university resources. Tomorrow is the rudiments of research methods, design, and ethics. My first supervision meeting is on Monday followed by an individual skills audit to create a formal training programme so that I can get cracking.
I plan to investigate the contribution that public relations makes to organisational innovation, and conditions might be nurtured to promote the profession in the future.
COVID-19 has elevated public relations as a professional discipline. We’ve lived through the biggest experiment in human behaviour and change since the First World War.
Professional communicators in the public sector and NHS have supported public health safety and vaccination
In public and private sector organisations we’ve helped manage transformation and supported productivity and wellbeing
In the arts, culture, entertainment, hospitality, and sports we’ve helped organisations manage their way in and out of lockdowns
We’ve helped organisations get to grips with emerging issues such as diversity, climate change, minformation, and post COVID-19 recovery
Finally, we’ve supported organisations in identifying new markets, retooling supply chains, and reaching new customers
If public relations wasn’t part of a management function before the pandemic it almost certainly is now. I’ve been fortunate to observe and record many of these changes through my work at Wadds Inc. It formed the basis of my PhD research proposal.
Motivation for study
A part time PhD is a six-year project. It’s a significant undertaking. When I launched Wadds Inc. I wanted to incorporate research and publications alongside professional advisory services. My hope is that research for my PhD will support my professional practice, but that’s not my only motivation.
I’m an actual imposter. I’ve practised public relations for more than 20 years. I’ve run agencies, edited and written books on practice, taught and mentored at universities, served in leadership roles including the CIPR, but I have no formal qualifications. My degree is in electronic engineering.
There’s also an issue of making a broader contribution to the body of knowledge. Public relations may be an emerging professional discipline, but it has a significant role to play in organisations and one that deserves academic investigation.
Goals for my first year of study
The next few months will be a combination of discovery to refine my research topic and formal learning of research methodologies.
Skills audit and training plan
Training on research methodologies, design, and ethics
Supervision meetings
Reading, reading, reading
Finalise research paper and project plan
Confirmation of registration to proceed to second year
Leeds Beckett was a natural fit for study and it already feels like home. Public relations sit within the business school rather than in arts or social sciences. The team has an international reputation for teaching and research and its application in practice.
Finally, I recognise that as a middle-aged white man I’m in a position of huge privilege to be able to undertake a PhD. It’s a point that was well made by a research fellow during one of today’s sessions. I’ve a supportive partner, family, and job that affords me the opportunity. I’m incredibly grateful and intend to make the most of every moment of the next six years.
