Ph.D., University of Arizona, 2005
Office: Room 221
Assistant Professor
Communication
Research:
I currently study the issues of workplace bullying
and employee emotional abuse, particularly the impact of abuse at work
on targets and the ways in which employees resist bullying. I am currently
working on projects to explore the impact of one family member’s
abuse at work on the other family members and their relationships,
impact of bullying on identity, and how people make sense of the experience.
My approach is interpretive/critical in nature and predominantly focused
toward employee-advocacy rather than organizational productivity, although
these are certainly not mutually exclusive. Furthermore, I strongly
adhere to a collaborative action inquiry/participative action research
perspective in which academics work with organizational stakeholders
to “grow” workplace systems and communication that ease
workplace tensions, improve interpersonal interactions, and enhance
individual and organizational performance (i.e., reduce/bullying and
aggression). As such, I am interested in appreciative inquiry, positive
organizational scholarship, and further exploring positive interactions
in organizations based on a strengths perspective of improving human
systems. I fundamentally believe that our best efforts to make workplaces
more humane will be through exploring, underscoring and building upon
worker, workgroup, and organizational strengths rather than focusing
all our energy on problems or weaknesses.
Sample Publications:
Lutgen-Sandvik, P., Tracy, S.J., & Alberts,
J.K. (in-press). Burned by Bullying in the American Workplace:
A Study of U.S. Prevalence and Delineation of Bullying “Degree.” Journal
of Management Studies. September.
McDermott, V.M. & Lutgen-Sandvik,
P. (forthcoming). Communicating subtle messages: Creating hostile
and supportive environments. In B. Brushan (Ed.), Communication
in Perspectives. Amani: Germany.
Lutgen-Sandvik, P. (January,
2007). How Employees Fight Back Against Workplace Bullying.
Communication Currents, 2(1). http://www.communicationcurrents.com/.
National Communication Association.
Lutgen-Sandvik, P. (2006)
Take This Job and: Quitting and Other Forms of Resistance
to Workplace Bullying. Communication Monographs, 73, 406-433.
Tracy,
S. J., Lutgen-Sandvik, P. & Alberts, J.K. (2006). Nightmares,
Demons and Slaves: Exploring the Painful Metaphors of Workplace
Bullying. Management Communication Quarterly, 20, 148-185. “The
50 Most-Frequently Read Articles in Management Communication
Quarterly during December 2006 (#1). http://mcq.sagepub.com/reports/mfr1.dtl)
Tracy,
S. J., Lutgen-Sandvik, P. & Alberts,
J.K. (in press). Nightmares, Demons and Slaves: Exploring
the Painful Metaphors of Workplace Bullying. Management
Communication Quarterly.
Methods: My perspective as rooted in an interpretive perspective. As
such, I predominantly use qualitative methods in my research. However,
there are many questions that can only be answered using quantitative
approaches, so I adapt methodologies to suit the topic of interest
and the research questions/project at hand. I am particularly interested
in focus group research, in-depth interviewing, and ethnographic/participant
observation approaches. The latter is particularly enlightening for
the exploration of employee resistance to abuse by organizational powerholders,
since this type of bottom-up change generally occurs over an extended
period of time. On the other hand, I am invested in measuring the prevalence
of bullying in the U.S. workplace and exploring the impact of bullying
on family dynamics, human health, and social functioning.
Teaching Style: My beliefs about teaching, and what makes someone a
good teacher, are grounded in my beliefs about how all human beings
should treat one another. Teaching necessarily engages the emotions
of actors. It means challenging learners to answer questions like:
What is the contribution you will make to the world? What difference
will you make in the lives of those you touch? How can I, as a teacher,
assist in your learning journey? My teaching style is, in many ways,
rooted in my beliefs and training as a social worker. Students are
most successful when they can focus on and build upon their strengths
rather than "work on" their weaknesses. I believe their greatest
room for growth is in the area of their greatest strengths. I focus
first on what I want students to achieve in class and second on how
that can be done with the talents available to students. Last, and
equally as important as the rest, I love to laugh and want to have
fun during the process.
Favorite Classes: I love teaching courses that allow for a high level
of peer interaction, experiential learning activities, and team-based
projects. Although lecture is a necessary element of education, it
can easily be overused and is the preferred learning style of only
a small segment of students. As a result, my favorite classes are group
communication, professional communication, and organizational communication.
I am also particularly interested in emotional issues at work and enjoy
teaching about emotions in organizations, participation action research,
and both the destructive and constructive sides of organizational communication.
Why UNM? The department has an outstanding reputation in the communication
field, exceptional scholars, and is located in one of the most beautiful
areas in the western United States. I am honored to become part of
this cadre of academics and a member of the Albuquerque community.
There are three central reasons I am working at UNM: (1) the university
is committed to providing quality education to both undergraduates
and graduate students; (2) the C&J department has a reputation
for attending to the quality of life of faculty, staff, and students;
and (3) the C&J faculty and their research interests provide a
rich environment in which my own research flourishes.
Spare Time: I am a movie addict! I watch them for relaxation, escape,
recreation, and for the pure enjoyment of seeing my favorite actors.
I love to garden and see things grow, do hand crafts, sew, decorate/remodel,
and even occasionally cook something (when I'm in the mood). I am also
a total bookworm and can spend an entire day curled up with a great
story
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