Projects
Together with Rebekka Steiner and Andreas Hirschi (both from the University of Bern, Switzerland), I edited a special issue in the Journal of Career Development on school-to-work transitions. The issue was published in 2022 and contains nine articles, one of which is our introduction article.
You can find the introduction article, providing a brief overview of the state of the literature and the articles in the special issue, HERE.
The entire special issue is available HERE.
With rapid changes in the way that we do our work, and an ever more complex career landscape, it has become critical that people manage their employability. In my research, I examine employability in different target groups and across occupational types, all guided by the question of how we can better understand its predictors and outcomes. I have also been critical over the overly agentic focus of employability research, arguing that a more contextualized perspective on employability is needed. To this end, I have published a provocation paper (Forrier et al. 2018) and have also been involved in research about employers' role in employability development (e.g., Akkermans et al., 2018).
I am also one of the guest editors of an upcoming special issue about "New frontiers in employability research: Towards a contextualized perspective of employability development" in the European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, which is scheduled for 2023. More details about this special issue can be found HERE.
Publications in this area include (for more details see the "Publications" section):
Akkermans, J., Tomlinson, M., & Anderson, V. (2023). Initial employability development: introducing a conceptual model integrating signalling and social exchange mechanisms. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1080/1359432X.2023.2186783
Peeters, E. R., Akkermans, J., & De Cuyper, N. (2020). The only constant is change? Movement capital and perceived employability. Journal of Career Assessment, 28(4), 674-692. https://doi.org/10.1177/1069072720918195
Akkermans, J., Tims, M., Beijer, S., & De Cuyper, N. (2019). Should employers invest in employability? Examining employability as a mediator in the HRM - commitment relationship. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, Article 717. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00717
Blokker, R., Akkermans, J., Tims, M., Jansen, P., & Khapova, S. (2019). Building a sustainable start: The role of career competencies, career success, and career shocks in young professionals' employability. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 112, 172-184. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2019.02.013
Forrier, A., De Cuyper, N., & Akkermans, J. (2018). The winner takes it all, the loser has to fall: Provoking the agency perspective in employability research. Human Resource Management Journal, 28(4), 511-523. https://doi.org/10.1111/1748-8583.12206
Together with Max Chipulu (University of Southampton, UK), Udechukwu Ojiako (University of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates), and Terry Williams (University of Hull, UK), I edited a special issue in Project Management Journal (the scientific journal of PMI, Project Management Institute) entitled: "Career Paths and Career Systems for Project Managers". The special issue was published in March 2020. It contains an introduction article, a review article, and five empirical articles.
The full special issue can be found HERE.
The introduction article can be found HERE.
The review study that I contributed to can be found HERE.
Together with fellow guest editors Ricardo Rodrigues (Kings College London), Stefan Mol (University of Amsterdam), Scott Seibert (Rutgers University), and Svetlana Khapova (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam), I edited a special issue on the role of career shocks in contemporary career development. The special issue was published in 2021.
More information about the original call for papers can be found HERE.
Our introduction article, in which we briefly summarize the state of career shocks research and the special issue article, is available HERE. It is freely available for anyone.
The entire special issue is available HERE.
Together with Beatrice van der Heijden, Ans de Vos, Judith Semeijn, Mel Fugate, Daniel Spurk, and Mandy van de Velde, I guest edited a special issue on sustainable careers for the Journal of Vocational Behavior. The title of the special issue is: "Sustainable Careers Across the Lifespan: A Contemporary Perspective". The special issue was published in March 2020. The final issue contains an introduction article, two conceptual articles, and nine empirical articles that all shed new light on understanding career sustainability.
The full special issue can be accessed HERE
The introduction article can be accessed HERE
The conceptual article can be accessed HERE
Careers research originally paid quite some attention to unexpected events that occur in people's careers. However, a paradox has emerged: whereas careers are becoming ever more complex and unpredictable, research has increasingly focused on individual agency and control. It is my strong belief that we need to re-integrate the role of major unexpected events when we study career development and career success. Career shocks - unexpected events that lead to a deliberate thought process about one's career goals - have therefore become one of my primary research interests. I want to contribute to a better understanding of what types of career shocks people experience across career stages, occupations, and cultures, and how these shocks impact their career choices, goals, and paths.
To achieve this goal, I have published an initial definition and conceptualization (Akkermans et al., 2018) and am involved in various empirical and conceptual research projects. I am also the lead guest editor of a special issue on the role of career shocks in contemporary career development, that will appear in Career Development International in 2021.
Publications in this area include (see "Publications" for more details):
Akkermans, J., Collings, D. G., da Motta Veiga, S. P., Post, C., & Seibert, S. E. (2021). Toward a broader understanding of career shocks: Exploring interdisciplinary connections with research on job search, human resource management, entrepreneurship, and diversity. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 126. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2021.103563
Akkermans, J., Richardson, J., & Kraimer, M. L. (2020). The Covid-19 crisis as a career shock: Implications for careers and vocational behavior. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 119, 103434. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2020.103434
Akkermans, J., Seibert, S. E., & Mol, S. T. (2018). Tales of the unexpected: Integrating career shocks in the contemporary careers literature. SA Journal of Industrial Psychology, 44, e1503. https://doi.org/10.4102/sajip.v44i0.1503
Blokker, R., Akkermans, J., Tims, M., Jansen, P., & Khapova, S. (2019). Building a sustainable start: The role of career competencies, career success, and career shocks in young professionals' employability. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 112, 172-184. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2019.02.013
Rummel, S., Akkermans, J., Blokker, R., & Van Gelderen, M. (2021). Shocks and entrepreneurship: A study of career shocks among newly graduated entrepreneurs. Career Development International. https://doi.org/10.1108/CDI-11-2018-0296
Young adults are an often overlooked group on the labor market, yet they typically face higher unemployment rates than the overall workforce, and they face many major challenges in a relatively brief period of time. Therefore, a better understanding of young workers during their early careers is crucial in order to support them in laying the foundation for their sustainable careers. I am involved in several projects that focus on early careers of young adults, both before and after the transition to the labor market. Some of the key questions we are trying to answer include: “What are key factors predicting an adaptive transition from school to work in today’s labor market?”, “When exactly can we call this transition successful, what are the criteria for attaining this?”, and “How can we enhance employability of young adults?”.
This research topic has been close to my heart ever since entering academia, and was the key focus of my PhD thesis (Akkermans, 2013). I also supervise several PhD candidates who do research in this area, such as Rowena Blokker's project on university-to-work transitions in the new career, Di Dong's project on graduates' career resources and employability, and Chloe Nguyen's project on career sustainability and resource exchanges among young professionals.
Publications in this area include (see "Publications" section for more details):
Akkermans, J., Blokker, R., Buers, C., Van Der Heijden, B. I. J. M., & De Vos, A. (2021). Ready, set, go! School-to-work transition in the new career. In A. Marshall & J. Symonds (Eds.), Young adult development at the school-to-work transition: International pathways and processes (pp. 77-106). Oxford University Press.
Akkermans, J., Brenninkmeijer, V., Huibers, M., & Blonk, R. W. B. (2013). Competencies for the contemporary career: Development and preliminary validation of the career competencies questionnaire. Journal of Career Development, 40(3), 245-267. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894845312467501
Akkermans, J., Brenninkmeijer, V., Schaufeli, W. B., & Blonk, R. W. B. (2015). It's all about CareerSKILLS: Effectiveness of a career development intervention for young employees. Human Resource Management, 54(4), 533-551. https://doi.org/10.1002/hrm.21633
Akkermans, J., Nykänen, M., & Vuori, J. (2015). Practice makes Perfect? Antecedents and Consequences of an Adaptive School-to-Work Transition. In J. Vuori, R. W. B. Blonk, & R. Price (Eds.), Sustainable Working Lives - Managing Work Transitions and Health throughout the Life Course. (pp. 65-86). Springer Publishers. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9798-6_5
Akkermans, J., Paradniké, K., Van der Heijden, B. I. J. M., & De Vos, A. (2018). The best of both worlds: The role of career adaptability and career competencies in students' well-being and performance. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 1678. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01678
Blokker, R., Akkermans, J., Tims, M., Jansen, P., & Khapova, S. (2019). Building a sustainable start: The role of career competencies, career success, and career shocks in young professionals' employability. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 112, 172-184. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2019.02.013
De Vos, A., Akkermans, J., & Van Der Heijden, B. I. J. M. (2019). From occupational choice to career crafting. In H. Gunz, M. Lazarova, & W. Mayrhofer (Eds.), The Routledge Companion to Career Studies (pp. 128-142). Routledge.
Lo Presti, A., Capone, V., Aversano, A., & Akkermans, J. (2021). Career competencies and career success: On the roles of employability activities and academic satisfaction during the school-to-work transition. Journal of Career Development, 0894845321992536. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894845321992536
O'Sullivan, C., Symonds, J., & Akkermans, J. (2018). An evaluation of Career LEAP: A work-readiness programme for young adults not in education, employment or training. Temple-na-Sceilg Press. https://doi/org/10.13140/RG.2.2.10332.62081
With careers becoming ever more volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA), individuals are faced with increasing challenges to become and remain happy, healthy, and productive throughout their working life. In our research on career sustainability, we aim to better understand how individual, contextual, and temporal elements interact to shape the sustainability of people's careers. What are the key career resources (such as career competencies) that individuals can acquire to enhance their person-career fit? How can employers support employees in their sustainable career development? And what is the role of changes in people's motivations and external circumstances (such as career shocks) in their long-term happiness, health, and productivity? These are just a few examples of research questions that we try to answer within this line of research.
In 2020, we published a special issue dedicated to the topic of sustainable careers. The full special issue can be found HERE. Our introduction article with a future research agenda can be found HERE.
Publications in this area include (see "Publications" section for full details):
Retkowsky, J., Nijs, S., Akkermans, J., Jansen, P., & Khapova, S. N. (2023). Toward a sustainable career perspective on contingent work: A critical review and a research agenda. Career Development International, 28(1), 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1108/CDI-06-2022-0181
Van den Groenendaal, S. M. E., Akkermans, J., Fleisher, C., Kooij, D. T., Poell, R. F., & Freese, C. (2022). A qualitative exploration of solo self-employed workers' career sustainability. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 134, 103692. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2022.103692
De Vos, A., Van der Heijden, B. I. J. M., & Akkermans, J. (2020). Sustainable careers: Towards a conceptual model. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 117, Article 103196. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2018.06.011
Van der Heijden, B., De Vos, A., Akkermans, J., Spurk, D., Semeijn, J., Van der Velde, M., & Fugate, M. (2020). Sustainable career across the lifespan: Moving the field forward. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 117, 103344, Article 103344. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2019.103344
Akkermans, J. (2019). Sustainable careers. In W. De Lange, P. De Prins, & B. Van der Heijden (Eds.), Canon HRM (pp. 864-881). Vakmedianet.
Together with Beatrice van der Heijden (Radboud University Nijmegen), Karen Pak (Tilburg University) and Maral Darouei (VU Amsterdam), I supervise a PhD project focused on studying the school-to-work transition of emerging adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder. The doctoral researcher on this project is Lars Veerhoff, who will conduct this research between 2023 and 2028. Due to the volatile contemporary labor market, emerging adults, and in particular those with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD),face a turbulent school-to-work transition (STWT). However, we have little empirical knowledge about how students with ASD navigate the STWT and its impact on their careers and life. The current PhD project will adopt a sustainable career lens to systematically study the interconnectedness between individual and contextual factors influencing the STWT. This longitudinal research aims to gain a profound understanding of the crucial mechanisms and prerequisite conditions that determine how emerging adults with ASD navigate today's STWT toward a sustainable career.
I am co-supervisor of a double degree PhD project entitled "The Role of Career Competencies and Career Shocks in the Contemporary Labor Market." Assunta De Rosa is the doctoral candidate on this project, which she conducts at Università degli Studi della Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli” and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. The other supervisors are Alessandro Lo Presti (Campania) and Svetlana Khapova (VU). During the project, Assunta will focus on three studies focusing on career competencies and career shocks. In the first study, she will validate an Italian version of the Career Competencies Questionnaire (CCQ). Her second study will be a meta-analysis of career competencies research. Finally, her third study will focus on how career competencies and career shocks may jointly impact career outcomes. The project started in 2022 and will end in 2025.
I am supervisor (copromotor) of Di Dong's project that focuses on the employability development of Chinese students who move to Europe for their studies and then transition into working life. In this project, we study the motivations and expectations of Chinese students that make the trip to Europe for their graduate studies, and aim to understand how they build their employability. Using longitudinal qualitative research, we explore how they navigate the transition from China to Europe, and then the second major transition that takes place after they graduate and move into their professional career. This project was funded by the China Scholarship Council (CSC). I supervise this project together with Svetlana Khapova (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam). Di started her project in November 2020 and aims to end in 2024.
I am supervisor (copromotor) of Chloe Nguyen's project that focuses on the role of resource exchange processes in the career sustainability of young professionals. Chloe focuses specifically on how coworkers may exchange career-related resoures at work that enable them to nurture the sustainability of their careers. She conducts quantitative research to study these processes, for example looking at how career mentoring between peers can cross over between them and lead to resource gain cycles. Follow-up studies focus on the predictors and outcomes of such resource exchange processes. This project was funded by the Amsterdam Business Research Institute (ABRI). I supervise the project together with Svetlana Khapova (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam). Chloe started her project in October 2020 and aims to finish in 2023.
I am supervisor (copromotor) of Sjoerd Gerritsen's project about how students in higher education can prepare for a transition into their working life. In this project, Sjoerd conducts qualitative research in which he interviews students and other relevant stakeholders in the ecosystem to explore how they can optimally design their preparation for the transition into working life. In addition, he will also develop an intervention to enhance their early career sustainability. The main theoretical framework we depart from is the sustainable career model. The supervisory team of this project further consists of Beatrice van der Heijden (Radboud University Nijmegen), Karen Pak (Radboud University Nijmegen) and Maral Darouei (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam). Sjoerd started his project in 2020 and aims to finish in 2024.
I am a supervisor (copromotor) of Jana Retkowsky's project on the work and careers of flexible workers. Labor markets are becoming increasingly flexible, and there is a clear increase in various types of flexible work, ranging from project work to gig work and everything in between. There is a need to better understand how the sustainability of their careers develops and can be enhanced, as most research in this area has focused on traditional workers in organizations. Therefore, this project aims to contribute to knowledge of sustainable careers among different types of flexible workers. Specifically, we have conducted a critical review of the flex work literature and present a way to unify the separate streams in this area. Jana has also conducted qualitative research among contingent workers and gig workers to better understand how they navigate their career. The project is funded by Instituut Gak. I am the project leader, and the rest of the team consists of Sanne Nijs (Tilburg University), Paul Jansen and Svetlana Khapova (both Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam). Jana Retkowsky started her project in September 2018, the project will end in 2022.
Output from the doctoral project:
As part of the project, we wrote an opinion piece in the Dutch newspaper Het Parool, which you can read HERE (in Dutch).
In January 2023, we published the first scholarly article of Jana's doctoral project. It is a critical review article in which we advocate a sustainable career perspective on contingent work. You can find the article, available for free for anyone, HERE.
I am the supervisor (copromotor) of Leon Hupken's PhD project about commitment systems and career success. This project aims to understand how people's different commitments may impact on their overall career development and career success. Leon has conducted qualitatives studies on how people's commitment to certain career success goals may change over the lifespan, and he has done mixed-method research to empirically explore the content of multiple commitment systems. The supervisor team further consists of Svetlana Khapova and Omar Solinger, both from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Leon's project started in December 2017 and will finish in 2024.
I am supervisor (co-promotor) of this PhD project on team work engagement. The PhD candidate on this project, Marieke Gersdorf, examines what exactly the phenomenon of team work engagement comprises, and how it is related to several antecedents and consequences. She first aims to elucidate the construct of team (work) engagement via a structured literature review, followed by several empirical studies in which she studies antecedents and consequences with both qualitative and quantitative research methods. Specifically, we introduce the notion of a team work engagement climate, we look at its emergence over time, and we develop a measurement instrument to assess team work engagement climate. Professor Svetlana Khapova is the promotor of this project, Ludwig Hoeksema (Berenschot) is another supervisor on the project. Marieke started her PhD project in January 2016 and intends to finish the project in 2023.
Project output:
The first scholarly article of the dissertation was published in 2023. The article presents a qualitative study introducing the concept of teamwork engagement climate. You can find the article, which is freely accessible to anyone, HERE.
I am supervisor (co-promotor) of this PhD project about contemporary theorizing on the school-to-work transition, a project that I developed and received a grant for from both Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and the VU postgraduate Accountancy program. The project aims to enhance our understanding of the university-to-work transition in the contemporary labor market. Although we have a strong understanding of this transition in general, much of the literature and theories we use are quite dated. Therefore, we believe it is crucial to come up with fresh perspectives in analyzing and understanding this major transition in young adults’ lives. As part of this project, Rowena Blokker will perform a systematic literature review that will elucidate what exactly comprises an adaptive transition to the labor market, to examine crucial predicting factors of such an adaptive transition, and to present several avenues of research that might be crucial in this process. In addition, she will conduct multiple wave longitudinal research projects among VU students to study their transition to the labor market in more detail, thereby following them from the start of their Master’s program until after they have entered the labor market. Professor Paul Jansen and Professor Svetlana Khapova are the promotors of this project. Rowena started with her PhD project in February 2016, the projects is scheduled to be finished in 2021.
Project output:
Blokker, R., Akkermans, J., Tims, M., Jansen, P., & Khapova, S. (2019). Building a sustainable start: The role of career competencies, career success, and career shocks in young professionals' employability. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 112, 172-184. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2019.02.013
Since 2020, I am part of the steering committee of the Department of Management and Organization, which is part of the School of Business and Economics, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. The steering committee is the management team of the department that deals with issues related to the department vision, strategy, personnel, and overall profiling.
Since 2019, I have been an editorial board member for the European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology.
Since 2019, I have been an editorial board member for the Journal of Career Development.
Since 2018, I have been an editorial board member for Career Development International.
I was elected in the Leadership track of the Academy of Management Careers Division in 2018. This means I will have various leadership roles within the division between 2018 and 2022, specifically:
2018-2019: PDW Chair
2019-2020: Program Chair
2020-2021: Incoming Division Chair
2021-2022: Division Chair
2022-2023: Outgoing Division Chair
I am an Associate Editor for the Journal of Vocational Behavior (JVB). In this role, I am responsible for manaing the full publication cycle of submitted manuscripts. For more information, see the JVB website.
I am a member of the examination board for teach professionalization at VU Amsterdam. Specifically, the committee supervises the quality of the University Teaching Qualification (UTQ), Senior University Teaching Qualification (SUTQ), and the Program for Educational Leadership.
Since 2013, I have been a board member of the Netherlands Foundation for Management Development (NFMD). In this role, I organize meetings for management development, talent development, HRD, and HRM professionals in the Netherlands. We have a broad membership base, comprising both large corporate organizations and smaller businesses. The NFMD has a rich history in providing cutting-edge knowledge and insights in these fields, thereby building a bridge between practice and science. As NFMD, we organize 5-6 meetings each year, recently focusing on themes such as sustainable career management, traineeships, diversity, job crafting, and contemporary leadership.
More information can be found HERE (in Dutch).
I was the newsletter editor of the Careers Division of the Academy of Management. In this role, I compiled and sent out a newsletter to division members twice per year. Newsletters include messages from the program chair and division chair, new publications in the field, and other noteworthy information such as conferences and special issues.
I served as the Careers Division Newsletter editor between 2015-2018.
Between 2016 - 2018 I was an Associate Editor for Career Development International. In this role, I was responsible for managing the publication process in this journal, assessing submitting manuscripts and leading them through the publication cycle. In total, I handled around 50 manuscripts for CDI.
I am a member of the applied science board of Knowvium, an organization that specializes in offering science-based practical advice in the field of sustainable employability. As an applied science board member, I provide critical advise about new practices and programs that Knowvium develops based on scientific knowledge, and I regularly discuss these with the board members, which is composed of both practitioners and scientists.
Since 2016, I have been involved in the development of a new vision on sustainable employability at FrieslandCampina, a global dairy company with over 20.000 employees worldwide. This projected resulted in the "(S)ken Jezelf" tool: a science-based online tool that allows the thousands of factory workers in the company - and also in the broader Dutch dairy industry - to score their own sustainable employability. The tool also offers customized suggestions for potential follow-up interventions if someone scores low on a certain indicator of sustainable employability. This tool is an achievement that I am very proud of as it is an example of the connections between science and practice that I am to contribute to with my research.
More information can be found HERE (in Dutch) and in THIS file (in Dutch).
In close cooperation with Carmel O'Sullivan (Trinity College Dublin) and Jennifer Symonds (University College Dublin), I have co-developed the Career Leap intervention program, which aims to support young adults not in education and training (NEET) in finding a job. The program comprises a 2-week training program followed by a 3-week work placement. The contents of the program are firmly based on scientific research, covering topics such as developing career competencies and gaining social, emotional, and cognitive skills. The pilot study of the intervention program was done during summer 2016 and was a great success. The intervention program has been further developed ever since, and has been successful in helping the majority of these young adults find paid employment.
On November 9th 2017 we had the official launch of the second part of the program. More details can be found HERE.
The program has been featured in the Irish media several times, for example in the Irish Times, thejournal, and RTE.
More information about the program can be found HERE. A detailed report of the intervention can be found via the following citation:
O'Sullivan, C., Symonds, J., & Akkermans, J. (2018). An evaluation of Career LEAP: A work-readiness programme for young adults not in education, employment or training. Temple-na-Sceilg Press. https://doi/org/10.13140/RG.2.2.10332.62081
Together with Janneke Oostrom, I designed and coordinate a Master's course on Recruitment and Selection, which is part of the VU Master program in Human Resource Management (specialization of the MSc Business Administration). The course features a discussion of the state-of-the-art in recruitment and selection, integrating scientific findings with business practices. Also, an explicit goal of the course is to familiarize students with the typical dilemmas in the field, for example balancing the need for an optimal candidate experience with the need of having valid and reliable measurement instruments. The course works closely together with businesses, for example through connecting the course assignment with current business challenges: currently, students create an evidence-based knowledge clip for HR professions about a range of recruitment and selection topics (e.g., employment interviews, reference letters, CVs). Also, the course features a session with selection interview training with professional recruiters.
I have been the program coordinator of the HRM Master program of VU Amsterdam, a specialization of the MSc Business Administration. In this role, I am the primary connection between the program and the students, and I am responsible for the quality of the program. In close cooperation with the course coordinators and teachers, I try to make sure that students enjoy an effective and valuable year in which they learn the essential knowledge and skills to prepare them for a future in HRM. Among other things, I oversee the learning line of the program, we talk about course evaluations and ways to improve our program, I am responsible for information talks for potential new students, and we organize several meetings for students (e.g., an alumni meeting at the start of their Master's year).
Between the 2014-2017, I was part of the Servant Leadership Research Program (SLRP), teaching two sessions on research questions and methods and acting as a coach for participating teams. The SLRP program was hosted by VU Amsterdam for business professionals with an interest in gaining new knowledge and skills, looking at their own leadership from a servant leadership perspective. Among other things, participants performed community work and an in-company research project in which they systematically analyzed an important dilemma in their own organization. Participating organizations include KPMG, KLM, and Lidl.
Since 2018, I have taught a module on Behavior, Ethics, and Decision Making as part of the International Executive Master of Auditing (IEMA). This executive program is taught by Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Maastricht University, and Florida State University. I designed this module in 2018 and have taught it since then. Topics we discuss include motivation, perceptions, conflict, and leadership.
More information about the IEMA program can be found HERE.
In 2014, I developed the HRM & OB introduction course for the BSc Business Administration and BSc International Business Administration programs of VU Amsterdam. This course featured an introduction to the core themes of organizational behavior (e.g., motivation, leadership, change) and HRM (e.g., SHRM, recruitment & selection, training & development). In addition, we focused specifically on reflective skills by organizing a bootcamp session during which students are engaged in active learning practices and theoretical reflections on those experiences. The course consistently received excellent evaluations, scoring well above faculty and VU criteria with typical scores between 4.2 - 4.6 out of a possible 5. The course is still taugt today and has retained many of the key elements that I introduced in its course design, such as the overall structure and topics covered in the course.
In 2017, as part of my training to become a senior educator – the senior university teaching qualification – at VU Amsterdam, I developed a comprehensive learning pathway of the HRM courses in the BSc International Business Administration. Together with the course coordinators of the four courses in this program, I developed a learning line in which all courses are outlined, as well as their integration in terms of intended learning outcomes, teaching/learning activities, and assessment. The courses now have a cumulative effect on learning of students as each course constructively builds on the previous course, and thereby guides students through the HRM program.
I am the program director of the MSc program in Business Administration at the School of Business and Economics, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. The program consists of six following specialization programs: Financial Management, Human Resource Management, International Management, Leadership & Change Management, Management Consulting, and Strategy & Organization. In this role, I am responsible for the overall quality and execution of these six Master programs. In close cooperation with the program coordinators of those programs, we manage the integration between our programs, the learning lines, and we consistently monitor possibilities for improvement.
Since the start of the renewed program in 2017, student numbers and student evaluations have gone up significantly. During my tenure as program director we passed the accreditation audit of the Dutch/Flemish Accreditation Organization (NVAO) and we are currently in the final stages of having the program pass the AACSB accreditation as well.
In 2019, the Association of Dutch Universities (VSNU) published a position paper about necessary changes in the way scholars are rewarded and recognized for their work and in their career. This position paper was supported by all Dutch universities, and each of them is now creating a roadmap to implement changes in this regard. I am part the VU committee on Recognition and Rewards, which means I have been part of the creation of the VU vision on this topic, as well as an implementation plan at the university. I am also involved in thinking about ways that HR can make changes that fit with new ideas on recognition and rewards.
More information about the ideas on recognition and rewards can be found HERE.
I was part of the committee that wrote an update on the VU vision on teaching, which was finalized in 2019. With this committee, we updated the formal teaching vision of the VU after carefully examining the previous vision document and organizing brainstorm sessions with various stakeholders in the university, such as students, teachers, and program managers. The new teaching vision of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam was formalized in 2019.
More information can be found HERE.
I was the chair of the 2018 Best International Paper Award committee for the Academy of Management Careers Division, consisting of Yehuda Baruch, Akram al Ariss, Fida Afiouni, Kaye Thorn, and myself. Together, we decided which paper would ultimately win the division prize for the Best International Paper.
Together with six other members of the Careers division executive team, we gathered nominations for the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 executive team members (i.e., PDW chair, secretary, and representative-at-large roles) and decided upon the final list of nominees for these positions.
I was part of the committee for deciding the winner of the Academy of Management Careers Division Best Symposium award. With a team of five persons, we decided the winner of this award from a group of highly evaluated submission for the Academy of Management 2017 conference.
Between 2015 and 2017, I was part of the Committee Elfring, a committee chaired by Professor Tom Elfring with the aim of developing the foundations for the new MSc (graduate) programs of the School of Business and Economics of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. My role was also to prepare the development of a completely redesigned MSc program in Business Administration as its future program director. Throughout the committee period, we worked on developing a vision and mission for the new Master programs, based on a large number of interviews we had organized with students, alumni, and organizations. In addition, we started working on the central faculty learning goals and we built the foundations of the new programs.
Between 2016-2017, I was part of a committee at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam that worked with Jaap Winter, then chair of the executive board of the VU, and Vinod Subramaniam, then rector of the VU, on finding concrete educational implications of new ways of findings educational value at VU. As examples, we explored ways in which students at our university could broaden their horizon to become open, personal, and responsible as an academic, professional, and citizen. This included topics such as working with diversity and making societal impact beyond the objective criteria (e.g., grades). The committee ultimate led to the VU's adoption of the Broader Mind program, an interdisciplinary teaching program at VU that traines students to be open-minded and reflective professionals.
