Dr Yi-Ling Lai
Lecturer of HRM and Organisational Behaviour, Module Leader of Leading Sustainability, Innovation and Change, online Master in Management courses
Overview
Yi-Ling is a Lecturer at the University of Southampton Business School. She had several years’ professional experience in a global management consulting firm before pursuing her PhD.
Her research mainly focuses on the ways in which coaching approaches make impacts on people's work-life, learning and development (L&D), as well as organisational change management. Yi-Ling's research interests also extend to the understanding of people’s work-related identities and their professional development.
Yi-Ling is a Chartered Psychologist and received the British Psychological Society (BPS) President’s Award 2024. This award recognises her efforts into producing a body of outstanding research. It is one of the most prestigious honours awarded by the BPS.
Research interests
Psychological evidence and critical management in coaching
Social identity approach and HRM policies
Identity work and organisational behaviours
Career highlights
- Recipient of the University of Southampton Business School Dean’s Award 2025, Research for Output
- A three-year (Sep 2019 – Sep 2022) PhD funding (tuition and stipend) by the Royal Surrey County Hospital & Health Education England. Research project: The development of a coaching framework for cancer care. (Awarded Student: Andrew Marren)
- Emerald Literati Awards 2023 Outstanding Paper. Emerald Group Publishing: Wang, Q., Lai, Y., Xiao, X., & McDowall, A. (2022). The effectiveness of workplace coaching: A meta-analysis of contemporary psychologically informed coaching approaches. Journal of Work-Applied Management, 14(1), 77–101.
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