About “Sophie Jané”

Sophie is a senior lecturer in management. She studies inclusion, legitimacy, and sensemaking in organizations, particularly within challenging and uncertain contexts.
My research explores how people navigate, make sense of, and contribute to challenging organizational situations and contexts. I’m particularly interested in social inclusion and belonging in organizations, and the ways in which perceiving others as risky or threatening contributes to social exclusion at work. A second area of interest is legitimacy. Within this stream, I study how individuals and groups construct themselves (and others) as more or less legitimate, and the implications of these constructions for professional and organizational survival. A third area of interest is trauma. To date, I have explored how trauma encountered at work impacts the “doing” of projects, as well as how past organizational trauma impacts organizational narratives. I employ qualitative methods (interviews, participant observation, fieldwork), and draw on a range of conceptual lenses (social-symbolic work, basic psychological needs, sensemaking, identity, critical perspectives) to generate novel insights into these topics.