After studying management at Trinity College Dublin, I was recruited by an investment bank in London, JP Morgan. The bank was in the process of merging with another bank and I was able to observe the behaviour of individuals and groups in this highly charged context. What emerged from this experience was the importance of feelings of justice. This theme of justice became a common thread for me. I returned to Trinity College Dublin to do a PhD in Organisational Behaviour. I then got a post as a visiting researcher at the Stern School of Business in New York, and then my first post as a lecturer at Durham University in the UK.

I first came to know Toulouse Capitole University and TSM through a workshop on organisational justice organised by researcher Patrice Roussel. That first meeting with the Human Resources and Organisational Behaviour team was decisive. I finally joined in 2010, when a position became available. TSM has one of the best organisational behaviour teams in France. Research in this field is essentially interdisciplinary, as it lies at the intersection of several disciplines: management, sociology and psychology. My research therefore focuses on the attitudes, motivations and reactions of individuals and groups at work.
 

The aim of JuDy was to study the dynamics of justice at work, and in particular to shed light on new perspectives concerning the career gap between men and women. This project is also based on the idea that differences in perceptions of justice at work vary according to individual motivations, which we call motivated justice reasoning. To support this theory, three empirical studies were carried out.

The first focused on women's return to work after maternity leave. We found that situations experienced as unfair during this period of professional transition could have an impact, directly or indirectly and over time, on the attitudes, ambitions at work and career decisions of the participants. Popular opinion tends to think that women decide not to get involved after this key moment. Others suggest that it is the companies that push them out. These two explanations are interrelated. Our participants did indeed experience many incidents of injustice during this period. I was struck by the fact that a huge number of events even went against French law. This study illustrates how victims of injustice can sometimes be led to justify the unfair, even illegal, treatment they have suffered. We observe increasing professional disengagement over time in relation to these experiences. To remedy this, we offer practical advice to companies wishing to improve their management of maternity leave.

The second study, carried out among teleworking parents during the Covid-19 period, demonstrated how the day-to-day experience of teleworking can increase the career gaps between men and women. In our surveys we found that women were more heavily penalised by recurrent interruptions due to childcare. What emerges from the interviews is that underlying role expectations still differ between fathers and mothers. Women feel much more guilty.

The third societal context is the difficult decisions often faced by managers within companies, which have negative consequences for at least some employees (redundancies, reclassifications, etc.).
While the literature on organisational justice has often focused on the employees who suffer injustice, we have chosen to study the experiences of these managers. They are expected to apply rationalisation logic and at the same time look after the well-being of their team. We observed very different dynamics: some managers were unable to reconcile their idea of justice and resigned; others managed the situation by mobilising a mechanism known as moral disengagement.
 

In fact, I was director of this doctoral programme from 2020 to 2023. It's a highly international programme, with one specific feature: all doctoral students must have funding to be able to devote sufficient time to their research.  We choose the best candidates, regardless of their nationality. Last year, there were 32 different nationalities in a group of around 80 doctoral students. All courses are in English and they are encouraged to spend a semester visiting during their PhD and to take part in international conferences.
Our efforts to obtain EFMD and then EQUIS accreditation have greatly helped us to improve this programme. Many aspects have been reviewed to meet the required criteria: selection, which must be absolutely transparent, financial support for candidates, communication with doctoral students, course design, appropriate assessment, etc. Finally, the results in terms of professional integration are very good: our doctoral students easily find a job in the academic world.
 

ENGAGE.EU is a European alliance of universities that allows multiple collaborations. It is a real network of stable partners, with whom we have developed shared infrastructures and teaching programmes. I've been involved in this project since its creation in 2020. In particular, I've worked to develop its Research strand, organising Think Tanks and events to help doctoral students network. Since June 2023, I have been Vice-President of ENGAGE.EU. It's an exciting role and I know that I can count on a united and motivated team. In the coming years, we hope to involve more young researchers and doctoral students, who are particularly interested in interdisciplinarity and internationalisation.
The alliance enables numerous exchanges between researchers from the different partner universities. It is a catalyst for projects on societal issues. This year, we will be focusing on targeted communication to offer students, administrative staff and teacher-researchers programmes and projects tailored to their needs.