Karoline Strauss

Education

Ph.D. in Organizational Psychology, University of Sheffield Magistra rerum naturalium (MSc) in Psychology, University of Vienna

Biography

Karoline Strauss teaches Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management across different programs at ESSEC. Previously she was an Associate Professor at Warwick Business School, and an Assistant Professor at the University of Sheffield. Karoline’s research interests broadly focus on individuals’ relationship with the future. Her research on future work selves explores how individuals create the future in their mind and will, and how this helps them in managing their career. In her research on proactive behavior she investigates individuals’ attempts to influence their own future, and the future of their organization, such as by contributing to innovation or sustainability. She currently leads a project on the well-being consequences of proactive behavior, funded by the Agence Nationale de la Recherche. Karoline’s work has been published in journals such as the Journal of Management, the Journal of Applied Psychology, and Human Resource Management.
Karoline is representative-at-large at the Academy of Management’s Managerial and Organizational Cognition division and serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Applied Psychology, the British Journal of Management, and the Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology. She is an academic member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, and a Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy.
You can find her full CV here.

Research Areas

Areas

My research centers around two broad themes that evolve from my fascination with how individuals and organizations deal with the uncertainty of the future. My resesarch on future work selves explores how individuals create the future in their mind and will through processes of mental time travel and episodic prospection. In my work on proactive behavior I investigate individuals’ agentic attempts to influence both their own future, and the future of their organization. Exploring these processes provides insights into how individuals contribute to organizational effectiveness in uncertain environments through foresight and the creation of change; and how they ensure their future employability and create sustainable careers that align with their values.
Organisational Behaviour, Psychology, Human Resource Management