Leadership Studies - MRes, MPhil, PhD
Qualification: Master of Research (MRes) / Master of Philospohy (MPhil) /
Doctor of Philosophy degree (PhD) in Leadership Studies
School: School of Business & Creative Industries
Campus(es): Lanarkshire
Start date: October, February, April, or June
Admissions Deadline: September, January, March, or May
Duration: MRes: Minimum of 12 months full-time or 24 months part-time
MPhil: Minimum of 24 months full-time or 48 months part-time
PhD: Minimum of 36 months full-time or 72 months part-time
Fees: Tuition Fees for Research Degrees
Leadership Research
In today’s vastly complex and evolving world, leadership is important to either combat or accelerate change and identify opportunities.
Organisations that develop their leadership talent pools find that the teams associated with talented leaders have less turnover, higher engagement scores and better well-being than that of other teams with less talented leaders. Leadership is central in the creation of social, environmental, and economic value within organisations.
Within the team, we supervise research across a range of leadership themes drawing on established and contemporary theories of leadership. We focus on a nuanced conceptualisation of leadership, putting into context the limitations of fixed notions of human development that have influenced a range of leadership theories and even some current work-based interventions. However, we also focus on more recent and current theories of leadership, ensuring that empirical studies that will provide more insight on new paradigms are examined.
Our leadership research challenges conventional wisdom and combines with our work involving policy makers, we aim to inform and develop leadership practice(s).
Current Research Themes & Areas of Expertise
Our broad-based research themes and areas of expertise include supervising research based in the UK, Europe, Africa and south east Asia:
- Traditional paradigms of leadership, including traits, behaviour and contingency approaches
- Leadership during and following a crisis
- Transactional leadership
- Entrepreneurial leadership
- Sustainable leadership
- Cross-cultural studies of leadership
- Leadership and decision-making
- Strategic leadership
- Leadership skills and development
- Women and leadership
- Leading with vision
- Leaders as agents for change
- Leadership and business sustainability
- The role of leaders in reinforcing social inequalities
- Attributional perspective on leadership
- Ethics and leadership
- Authentic leadership
- Servant leadership
- Psychodynamic approach to leadership
- Charisma and leadership
- Transformational leadership in organisations
- Distributed, shared or team leadership in organisations
- Leadership in education
- Leadership in public sector and services
- The dark side of leadership
- Leading change
- Emerging leadership theories
- Leadership research methodologies and methods
Areas of expertise:
- Employer Value Propositions (EVPs)
- Employee Engagement and Organisation Culture
- Digital Transformations in Talent Management
- Social Care and caring
- Fair and Decent work
- Achieving equality and diversity
- Talent Management in China
- Organisational development
We welcome applications from anyone whose research ambitions links, however broadly, with these areas, and members of the Unit are happy to discuss the possibility of developing studentship and funding applications.
United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
We can confidently state that our activities directly map to 5 UN SDGs:
SDG 3 - Good Health & Wellbeing; SDG 5 - Gender Equality; SDG 8 - Decent Work & Economic Growth; SDG 9 - Industry Innovation & Infrastructure; SDG 10 - Reduced Inequalities.
Social Impact, Leadership and Management Research Group
The Social Impact Leadership and Management (SILM) group engages in research aimed at enabling change and addressing major challenges across wellbeing, empowerment and equality.
Our activities include theorising and advancing new forms of ethical leadership and management development; developing new systems and models of social care; progressing equality and diversity; changing organisation cultures.
Find out more about SILM, including active research themes, by using the link below:
SOCIAL IMPACT LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT
Entry Requirements
MRes / MPhil / MPhil-PhD
The minimum requirements for an applicant for registration for the degree of MRes or MPhil or for the degree of MRes/MPhil with the intention of transfer to PhD shall be a first or second class honours degree of a university in the United Kingdom, or of an equivalent qualification.
Applicants holding qualifications other than those specified in (above) shall be considered on their merits and in relation to the nature and scope of the programme of work proposed.
PhD - direct application
Direct registration for the degree of PhD may also be approved, at the discretion of the University if the applicant holds an MRes/MPhil degree of a United Kingdom University, or an MRes/MPhil degree of equivalent standard of a non-UK University, provided that the MRes/MPhil degree is in a subject area which is appropriate to the proposed programme of work.
Exceptionally, direct registration for the degree of PhD may also be approved, at the discretion of the University, even if the applicant is not the holder of an MRes/MPhil degree, but does hold an exceptionally high-quality honours degree or taught master’s degree (or equivalent) in an appropriate discipline, AND has appropriate research experience at postgraduate level which has resulted in significant peer-reviewed publications, and where verifiable evidence of accomplishment is supplied.
English Language Requirements
For applicants whose first language is not English, the University sets a minimum English Language proficiency level. The qualifications below must have been gained within two years of the start of your course.
General English language requirements at UWS: International English Language Testing System (IELTS) Academic module (not General Training)
For our research degrees (MRes, MPhil, PhD, DBA, DProf), applicants are required to have an IELTS score as follows:
- Overall score of 6.5
- No sub-test less than 6.0
ENGLISH LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS
HOW TO APPLY
Applying for postgraduate research study at UWS has never been simpler. Click the link below to find more information about:
Postgraduate Research step-by-step guide – everything you need to know to submit a successful application
Link to our online application system