School of Business and Economics

School of Business and Economics

Professor Judi Marshall

Judi joined the School of Management at Bath in 1978. She had previously studied psychology at Manchester University, worked in industry in marketing and then undertaken research on managerial job stress at UMIST for her PhD, from which she published extensively, mostly with Cary Cooper.

Judi has an international reputation for her work on women in management. Core publications in this area include two books - Women Managers: Travellers in a Male World (Wiley, 1984); and Women Managers Moving On: Exploring Career and Life Choices (International Thomson Publishing, 1995)- and analyses of careers, communications and job stress. Her 1995 research concerned women who had reached middle or senior level management positions and decided to leave or temporarily pause their careers. A key feature of the book which reports this study was finding appropriate forms of representation to tell the women’s stories, provide a critical analysis and work openly with notions of 'truth'.

A major strand of Judi’s research work has been the development of self-reflective, action- oriented forms of inquiry, contributing to the field of action research. A sequence of publications shows the emergence of these ideas and practices. These include: ‘Living Life as Inquiry’, Systematic Practice and Action Research, 1999, 12(2) pp155-171; ‘Doing Gender in Management Education’ Gender and Education, 1999, 11(3) pp 251-263. ‘Self-Reflective Inquiry Practices’ in the Handbook of Action Research, P. Reason and H. Bradbury (eds), London, Sage, 2001 pp 433-439; and ‘Living systemic thinking: Exploring quality in first-person action research’ Action Research, 2004, Vol 2 (3) pp 309- 329. Judi supervises and coaches research students using action research in some form. With her colleague Peter Reason she initiated a series of biennial research conferences entitled Emerging Approaches to Inquiry. These attract participants from around the world. The tenth conference in the series was held in September 2004. Judi is frequently invited to act as external examiner to people adopting self- reflective, action-oriented approaches to their MPhil and PhD research. She is especially interested in issues of representation and form when writing from action research.

Judi’s other research interests have included organizational cultures, change and careers.

In 1997, Judi and colleagues Gill Coleman (then at the New Academy of Business) and Peter Reason launched the MSc in Responsibility and Business Practice. The MSc was designed to address the challenges of seeking to integrate successful business practice with concerns for environmental, social and ethical issues. The course is part-time over two years, consisting of eight intensive 5 day residential workshops. Participants explore a range of topics including globalization, new economic approaches, deep ecology, sustainable corporate management, human needs in the workplace, diversity, corporate responsibility, systemic thinking and change. In order to address these issues robustly, the course is innovative in educational approach as well as in content. It is question-posing, critical and values-aware, and based in principles and practices of action research to enable engagement with challenging and contentious issues, and development of participants’ practice alongside their intellects. Judi wrote about this education approach in ‘Matching Form to Content in Educating for Sustainability: The Masters (MSc) in Responsibility and Business Practice’ in Galea, C. (ed) in Teaching Business Sustainability: Vol 1, Greenleaf Publishing, 2004, pp196-208.

Judi has been the MSc’s Director of Studies since its inception, guiding its growth and development, and teaches on the programme. At November 2005, the degree has 125 graduates and 48 current participants; it has achieved an international reputation. Judi and Gill Coleman are currently researching the MSc in Responsibility and Business Practice, exploring graduate’s experiences of the degree and its educational approach, and how the course has contributed to people’s career development and activities in corporate responsibility.

In December 2005, Judi received a prestigious 'Beyond Grey Pinstripes European Faculty Pioneer Award' for her pioneering activities in promoting management education into sustainability and social justice issues. This recognised her work on the MSc and on other School of Management programmes. The Award was in joint cooperation between the European Academy of Business in Society (EABIS), the Aspen Institute's Business and Society Program, and the World Resources Institute (WRI).

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