Huainan Wang and Ben Thomas present their doctoral research and its implications for the Future of work

Huainan is a first-year PhD student at Southampton Business School and has majored in Human Resource Management in her undergraduate, and post graduate studies.  She is interested in examining how macro factors impact career success. As the first step, she has conducted a systematic literature review that has taken stock of extant literature to examine the mechanisms through which macro factors impact individual career success. Through her research, she strives to raise awareness of the impacts of macro factors and guide individuals in their career journeys.

Ben is a third-year doctoral candidate, researching the sociology of work. Ben’s research is funded by the National Productivity and Investment Fund via the ESRC, addressing the skills gap in the UK’s digital and creative economy. Ben is exploring what strategies are used by workers to first attain and then importantly sustain careers in the fields of websites, games development, and video (TV/film/YouTube) in the face of working conditions and organisational cultures that present challenges to workers’ abilities to continue to do the work they are passionate about as they move through the life course. Prior to his PhD, Ben was a music teacher and musician for 10 years, and he produces podcasts. This personal link to the creative industries drives his commitment to his participants as he seeks to help improve working conditions and inclusive work cultures for older workers.