Name: Karoline Strauss
Industry: Academic (Psychology/Organizational Behavior)
Organization: University of Sheffield
Position: Assistant Professor
Research Experience: 7 Years
Introduction
We have selected Karoline Strauss as the Qualtrics researcher of the month. Check out this brief interview with Dr. Karoline Strauss where she discusses what she is currently doing in the career research field and how she utilizes Qualtrics.
Tell us about yourself. We would love to hear about your hobbies, education, and family.
I was born in Austria and received my Masters from the University of Vienna. In 2006 I moved to England to pursue a PhD.
Outside of work, I am a passionate rock climber. Rock climbing helps me renew my energy when I have spent too much time playing with data or thinking about research projects. Hanging off a piece of rock can put things back into perspective.
Conveniently I currently live within half an hour of some of the UK’s best rock climbing which is fantastic.
What company do you work for, and how long have you been in the research community?
I am currently an assistant professor at the Institute of Work Psychology, a research center at the Sheffield Management School, University of Sheffield. It has a vibrant community of researchers investigating a range of topics around work, well-being, and performance in organizations.
What has been the focus of your research in 2011? What is your favorite/most interesting project you have done with Qualtrics?
In my research I explore how people try to shape the future – either their own future, or the future of their organization. Within this broader scope, in 2011 my research has been particularly focused on careers. We often don’t just wait to see what happens in our career but actively try to influence it. We make plans, build networks, seek advice and develop skills we don’t necessarily need now but may need in the future. This process is driven by our Future Work Selves – by our image of who we want to become. Future Work Selves capture our hopes and aspirations and can help us to keep motivated. In my project with Qualtrics I have investigated, together with my collaborators, which characteristics Future Work Selves need to have in order to enable people to actively shape their career. This paper is now published in the Journal of Applied Psychology, a journal of the American Psychological Association.
We often don’t just wait to see what happens in our career but actively try to influence it. We make plans, build networks, seek advice and develop skills we don’t necessarily need now but may need in the future. This process is driven by our Future Work Selves – by our image of who we want to become.
What conclusions have you been able to make from your research?
I have been collecting data on Future Work Selves from different groups of people across a number of different countries. My project with Qualtrics has helped me to show that Future Work Selves are an important concept not only for people at the beginning of their career, but also for people who are active in the workforce.
Do you have a favorite experience using Qualtrics tools?
I am always really impressed with the Qualtrics support team. I am using Qualtrics in most of my studies now, and sometimes I need my surveys to do quite complicated things. The support team is really quick to respond and has patiently helped me to set up elaborate research designs. My favorite experience would be a very long phone call with the support team where we have figured out a great way of setting up quite a complicated design.
How has Qualtrics software assisted you in this research?
On my Future Work Self project I was working towards a very tight schedule and Qualtrics has been a great help in getting the data I needed within a short space of time.
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