Course detail

Welcome to Re-imagining organizational socialization: The work of communication

Description:

The field of organizational socialization originates in the social sciences and is concerned with ways in which employees become integrated into organizations to meet corporate goals. This is, therefore, also often constructed as a management-centric endeavour, paying little heed to employee needs and well-being. However, changes in work, organizing, economics and politics in and around the post-modern organization requires new ways of thinking and talking about employees and organizations that address the uncertainties and unpredictability (such as job insecurity, precarity and anxiety) that follow from these changes.

The PhD-course takes a humanities perspective to this discussion, focusing on key concepts such as discourse, communication, identity, affect, power and relationality to understand organizational socialization and practices in the postmodern organization. This entails seeing the organization as a construct emerging through the joint communicative, material and embodied efforts of the people that populate it and hence, acknowledging the special condition of the employee. The PhD-course invites students to join the conversation on these concepts as well as relevant theories and methodologies to consider for their PhD-studies.

Guided by faculty with deep experience in relevant disciplines, the aim will be for students to leave this course with a more robust understanding of the field of organizational socialization set against current developments. Furthermore, students will be encouraged to use the insights from the course in the pursuit of their unique and diverse research interests.

Students must do course readings before the course to become acquainted with the scope of research. In addition, they must read fellow students’ papers to prepare them to engage in conversation about the themes of the course and potential applications.

Programme outline:

Day 1 (8:30-16:00)

• Introduction to participants and their work (5 mins each)
• Presentation of the organizational socialization canon
• Discussing the canon against changes to the organization (the end of the common narrative: Precarity, digitalization)
• Introduction to the communicative prism

Day 2 (8:30-16:00)

• Flash Talks I: Alternative approaches to organizational socialization that can grapple with changes to work, organizing, economics and politics
  • The two themes of affect and relationality will be discussed
• Student-led discussions / feedback on submitted papers*

Day 3 (8:30-16:00)

• Flash Talks II: Alternative approaches to organizational socialization that can grapple with changes to work, organizing, economics and politics
  • The two themes of identity and power will be discussed
• Student-led discussions / feedback on submitted papers*
• Recapping and reflection on themes/concepts and their inseparability

Post-course activities

• Students write an individual 5-page reflection paper to be discussed among fellow students and faculty at a post-course online meeting.

*Student-led discussions will be organized in groups of 4.

Description of paper requirements:

Students must hand in 8-10 pages including an abstract (in English) summarizing their PhD-work. The paper would describe the student’s problem/research question(s) and include a brief review of relevant literature, as well as a description of the student’s proposed approach to organizational socialization. We welcome students offering a preview of the PhD work/proposal

Organizer:

• Lise-Lotte Holmgreen
• Peter Kastberg

• Associate Professor Lise-Lotte Holmgreen, AAU
• Professor Peter Kastberg, AAU
• Professor Sine Just, RUC
• Professor Tim Kuhn, University of Boulder, USA

ECTS: 3

Date: 6, 7,8 May 2026

Place: Kroghstæde 3, 9220 Aalborg

Number of seats: 20

Deadline: 15 April 2026

Important information concerning PhD courses:

There is a no-show fee of DKK 3,000 for each course where the student does not show up. Cancellations are accepted no later than 2 weeks before the start of the course. Registered illness is of course an acceptable reason for not showing up on those days. Furthermore, all courses open for registration approximately four months before start of the course. We cannot ensure any seats before the deadline for enrolment, all participants will be informed after the deadline, approximately 3 weeks before the start of the course.

For inquiries regarding registration, cancellation or waiting list, please contact the PhD administration at phdcourses@adm.aau.dk. When contacting us please state the course title and course period. Thank you.