Women leaders' work-caused trauma: vulnerability, reflexivity and emotional challenges for the researcher
Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management
ISSN: 1746-5648
Article publication date: 9 August 2022
Issue publication date: 11 November 2022
Abstract
Purpose
This paper advances what is known about emotional experiences and challenges when researching work-caused trauma in organisations and illustrates learning for researchers of work-related trauma. Viewing vulnerability as strength could be conceived as an oxymoron. The paper explains how vulnerability can lead to strength for researchers/participants and focuses on researcher reflexivity in relation to one interview with a woman leader in a small-scale qualitative study.
Design/methodology/approach
The research protocols of the qualitative study are outlined: pre-interview briefings, participant journaling and semi-structured interviews. Researcher reflexivity, following Hibbert's (2021) four levels of reflexive practice (embodied, emotional, rational and relational), is applied to an interview with a woman leader.
Findings
The paper illustrates how research design and recognising vulnerability as strength facilitates considerable relational work and emotional experiences. Researcher reflexivity conveys impact of work-caused trauma on participants and researchers. The paper advances understandings of vulnerability as strength in practice, emotional experiences and challenges of work-caused trauma research.
Research limitations/implications
In this paper, a single case of researcher reflexivity is considered.
Practical implications
There are practical implications for researcher relationships with participants; demonstrating emotional awareness; responding to traumatic stories, participant distress and impact on the researcher; issues of vicarious/secondary traumatic stress; having safe psychological systems; scaffolding a process which recognises vulnerability as strength and becoming personally and methodologically vulnerable; risk of embodied and emotional impact; commitment to reflexivity and levels of reflexive practice.
Originality/value
There is lack of researcher reflexive accounts of practice when studying trauma. Few scholars suggest ways to support researchers in challenging and difficult research. There is silence in research exploring leaders' experiences of work-caused trauma. This paper provides a reflexive account in practice from a unique study of women leaders' experiences of work-caused trauma.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The author thanks Professor Paul Hibbert who generously gave his time offering feedback on an earlier draft and talking through his reflexive practices “in practice” and to Dr Sandra Corlett and colleagues who recognise my vulnerability and read earlier drafts.
Citation
Mavin, S. (2022), "Women leaders' work-caused trauma: vulnerability, reflexivity and emotional challenges for the researcher", Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management, Vol. 17 No. 4, pp. 442-458. https://doi.org/10.1108/QROM-11-2021-2242
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited