Dr Rachael Thompson

Academic: Maternity Transitions | Parents at Work | Intersectionality | Leadership and Followership | Visual Research Methods

My current research interests centre on the lived experiences of working Parents, Maternity Transitions and Return to Work Journeys. I am also a co-lead on our "Mum Chat" group at Northumbria University, as part of the wider Parents & Carers Network.

An active member of the Followership research community, contributing publications via academic journals and book chapters, as well as leading on special issue editorials in the Journal of Management Development, New Directions for Student Leadership, and the journal of Industrial and Commercial Training. I have work published in Management Learning, the Journal of Business Ethics, the Journal of Leadership Studies, the Journal of Leadership Education, and HRM Online. Winner of best paper at the International Leadership Associations Followership Symposium (2014, San Diego), subsequently delivering the closing plenary session. Other roles have included co-chairing the 1st Global Followership Conference (Canada, 2019), chairing the Followership Learning Community within the International Leadership Association (ILA) (2019-20) and being an invited discussion panel member at the ILA International Conference (Brussels, 2017).  I hold a position on the Editorial Advisory Board for the journal of Industrial and Commercial Training (2023).

Successfully awarded my doctorate in 2016, with my research focused on Followership within Public Sector contexts, utilising qualitative and visual research methodologies within this.

• Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
• Boy Meets Girl, Boy Likes Girl, Boy Changes Underlying Social Order: The representation of leadership in Antz and a re-presentation inspired by ants, Bowden, A., Robinson, E., Collins, D., Thompson, R. 15 May 2026, In: Culture and Organization
• Guest editorial: Insights into followership: implications for developing effective organizations, Thompson, R., Hurwitz, M., Shufutinsky, A. 30 Jan 2026, In: Journal of Management Development
• Learning from Poor Leadership Practice, Thompson, R., Patterson, N., Mavin, S., Corlett, S. 1 Sep 2025, In: Management Learning
• The power of we in followership: Strategies for followership development, Thompson, R., Gresh, S., Hurwitz, M. 28 May 2021, In: Industrial and Commercial Training
• Editor's Notes, Thompson, R., Hurwitz, M. 1 Sep 2020, In: New directions for student leadership
• Followership Identity Work, Thompson, R. 1 Sep 2020, In: New directions for student leadership
• Disrupting the leadership focus by facilitating the social construction of followership in the classroom: student responses to a visual method pedagogy, Morris, R., Corlett, S. 19 Jan 2017, In: The Journal of Leadership Studies
• Followership, Hierarchies and Communication: Achieving or Negotiating Buy-in within the Public Sector?, Morris, R., Corlett, S. 3 Feb 2016, Followership in Action: Cases and Commentaries, Emerald
• Exploring employee engagement with (corporate) social responsibility: A Social Exchange perspective on organisational participation, Slack, R., Corlett, S., Morris, R. Mar 2015, In: Journal of Business Ethics
• Organizational influences upon following: capturing the context through the use of visual research diaries, Morris, R. Oct 2015, International Leadership Association Annual Conference - Leading Across Borders and Generations

• Jyoti Deoo Kishnani Managing Generation Z in Startup Organisations: Management Challenges and Opportunities Through a Psychological Contract Lens Start Date: 01/10/2024
• Jyoti Deoo Kishnani Start Date: 01/10/2024 End Date: 17/10/2025

• Education Other Qualification October 13 2014
• Management BA (Hons) September 30 2011
• Fellow (FHEA) Higher Education Academy (HEA) 2014
• Member British Academy of Management (BAM) 2014