Dr Alexandra Bristow

Professional biography

I joined the OU in 2018, having previously worked at the Universities of Lancaster (where I completed my PhD), Surrey, and Birmingham. 

I am Senior Lecturer in Organisational Behaviour at the Open University Business School and Director of Research Degrees for the Faculty of Business and Law.  

Beyond the OU, I Co-Chair the Academy of Management Critical Management Studies (CMS) Division (with Ghazal Mir Zulfiqar at LUMS, Pakistan), and serve as Associate Editor of Management Learning, and Associate Editor of Organization.  I am also a founding Editor of CMS InTouch, and Co-Founder of the Critical Careers Network (CCN).

Research interests

My research takes a critical approach to management, work, and organisation. I am particularly interested in:

• complexity, including tensions, contradictions, dialectics, and paradoxes
• political aspects of organisation, organising, and leadership, and their relationship with other organisational issues (change, identity, inclusion, knowledge, learning, expertise, technology)
• careers and, in particular, both doing and researching careers differently
• innovative approaches to research and writing

I have published widely in high-quality international journals, including Academy of Management Learning and Education, Ephemera, Human Relations, Journal of Business Ethics, Leadership, Management Learning, Organization, and Organization Studies. I have co-edited/am currently co-editing four journal special issues, the book Doing Academic Careers Differently: Portraits of Academic Life (2024), and the new Routledge book series on Doing Academia Differently. I have also authored and co-authored multiple book chapters.

My work has been supported by funders including ESRC, BA/Leverhulme, The Wellcome Trust, and SAMS, as well as industry sources. Current projects include:

• Bristow, A. (PI), Primecz, H. (CI), Górska, A. (CI). Post-pandemic experiences of women’s careers in post-socialist illiberal contexts.  Funded by The Wellcome Trust through the British Academy/Leverhulme Small Research Grants Scheme, SRG2324\241754. 
• Bristow, A. (PI) Doing Academia Differently: Professional Development Symposium for Doctoral Students and Early-Career Academics. Society for the Advancement of Management Studies (SAMS) Developing the Management Studies Community funding.

Teaching interests

I have over 20 years of Higher Education teaching experience, having taught at all levels (PhD, MBA, MSc and undergraduate, including degree apprenticeships), modes of delivery (full-time, part-time, executive, international, face-to-face, distance learning, online, work-based), and cohort sizes. I have successfully designed, validated, delivered, and led modules and programmes in a range of subject areas and levels. I have also supervised numerous postgraduate taught students (MBA and MSc) to successful completion of their dissertations.

I have co-authored the Research Philosophies and Approaches chapter in the 7th, 8th, and 9th editions of the Saunders et al (2015, 2019, and 2023) bestselling Research Methods for Business Students textbook (named in 2021 the World’s most influential business and economics textbook by the “FT (Financial Times) Teaching Power” league table). The three versions of the chapter are freely available on Academia.edu (see the link above) and have been viewed over 50,000 times by students and researchers around the world.

At the OU, I am currently serving as Director of Research Degrees for the Faculty of Business and Law, which also involves leading the FBL Doctoral Training programme, including sessions on research philosophies, meta-theoretical aspects of research, and qualitative research methods. Prior to this, I have most recently contributed to the redevelopment and delivery of the MSc HRM programme. I have authored and co-authored several sections of the new module on ‘Creating evidence-based value in people management’ (B812), and the re-designed HRM Dissertation module (B894). Previously at the OU, I have led, developed, and delivered modules on the Chartered Management Degree Apprenticeship (CMDA) programme.

I have supervised ten Doctoral students to successful completion, with four further supervisions currently in progress. I am also actively involved in the training and development of Doctoral students and early-career academics at institutional, national, and international levels. I have contributed to the development of innovative Doctoral programmes, designed and led Doctoral training modules, and developed the FBL Teaching Scheme for PhD students. I am currently at full PhD supervision capacity but welcome invitations from current PhD students and supervisors seeking an examiner.

I am also an active external examiner, currently examining  PGT business programmes at the Adam Smith Business School, University of Glasgow, and the MA in Human Resources and Consulting at Lancaster University. Recently, I have completed my term as external examiner of the BSc Business Management programme at Bayes Business School (formerly Cass), University of London.

Impact and engagement

I am an Academic Consultant on the OU and BBC radio series The Bottom Line, which runs weekly on BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds.

I am also a co-founder of the Critical Careers Network (CCN), an international, interdisciplinary community for those interested in researching careers critically and also developing their own or others' careers differently from established mainstream norms. By 'critical' we mean questioning career performativity, functionalism, managerialism, linearity, and individualism, as well as other career norms. The purpose of CCN is to foster collaboration in critical career research and education, and to act as a forum to support career development for those who do not identify with expected career conventions. CCN is open to all academics, activists, and practitioners interested in critical approaches to careers.

Additionally, I am a founding editor of CMS InTouch, a global digital platform for real-time conversations on critical issues in management and organisations. CMS InTouch works in partnership with the Academy of Management CMS Division and the journal Organization to connect and support critical scholars, activists and practitioners across geographical, political, financial and other boundaries through free and open webinars and online events.

Eventbrite page to register for upcoming events

YouTube channel with recordings of past events

External collaborations

I am Associate Editor of Management Learning, and have co-edited a Special Issue of the journal on 'One hundred years of Paulo Freire: Rethinking critical pedagogy, management learning and education' (2024) and am currently co-editing a Special Issue on ‘Learning to do careers differently: challenges, tensions, and possibilities’ (paper submission deadline 2^nd October 2024).

I am also Associate Editor of Organization and have co-edited the longest-running Special Paper Series of the journal on 'Populist Responses to Austerity and Cultural Change: Brexit, Trumpism and Beyond'. I am currently co-editing a Special Issue on 'Expert futures? Re-examining the role of experts and expertise in organizations and organizing’ (in production). 

I am also an inaugural member of the British Academy of Management Peer Review College.

International links

I am an executive member of the Academy of Management Critical Management Studies Division, in the five-year Division Chair track role. As part of this track I have completed my terms as PDW Chair (2021-2022), Scholarly Program Chair (2022-2023), and Division Chair Elect (2023-2024), and am now serving as Division Chair - a role I share with Ghazal Mir Zulfiqar at LUMS, Pakistan.