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PhD research on legitimising strategies of HR professionals

Hi all, 

I am a doctoral researcher at Warwick Business School, University of Warwick and I am seeking HR professionals (across a range of roles and seniority levels) to be interviewed as part of my research. 
My PhD at Warwick explores how the legitimacy of the HR profession is understood, the strategies in which HR professionals engage in to increase their legitimacy, and whether the gender composition of the HR profession in the UK has any influence on such strategies.
Interview duration and location can be flexible based on interviewee availability, but average 1-1.5 hours in length. The questions will centre on: the changing nature of HR, HR’s interactions with other functions, professional identity, and HR qualifications/accreditation. All interview data will be anonymised and secured within the University of Warwick’s confidentiality procedures.

It is intended that findings from this research will have practical implications for the HR profession. CIPD, a key witness and driver of changes in the HR profession in the UK, emphasises the importance of a professional identity for HR. As such, this research will provide insight into what extent practitioners view themselves as part of a collective profession and what the barriers to a collective identity may be. This study also aims to allow practitioners to understand on what terms legitimacy may be most successfully is pursued. Finally, the study provides findings on whether the gender composition of HR and unconscious gendering of organisational practices have an impact of how the profession is viewed. 

Your participation would make a real contribution to this study and I would be very grateful if you would consider being interviewed.

If you would like more information, please contact me at: phd17cb@mail.wbs.ac.uk

Thank you for you time. 
Best wishes, 
Catherine Berrington.
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