Learning, research, and practice in business communication: a careful balancing act on the road to success

Panel convenors: Astrid Vandendaele and Geert Jacobs

Students of business communication are challenged with transitioning from a learner role into that of an independent communication practitioner over the course of one or several years. Along the way, they need to understand and engage in business communication practices, find and complete an appropriate internship; conduct research; meet deadlines; manage expectations and deal with feedback; oversee various projects; master foreign languages for professional purposes; work in a team as well as individually, and establish rapport with peers and a wide range of other stakeholders.

This panel invites case-based explorations of the complex interactions between learning, research, and practice in the fields of business and professional communication (see Bruyer, Jacobs, Vandendaele 2016 a and b). We welcome proposals that raise and answer questions concerning the – at times difficult – balancing act faced by the parties (both academic and professional) involved in the training of emerging business communication specialists. In particular, we encourage empirical, data-driven research contributions to the panel, relying on ethnography, video and/or audio data, interview and/or meeting transcripts. Our aim is two-fold: on the one hand, we wish to identify when and why the difficult balancing act between learning, research and practice succeeds or fails, and how the different stakeholders negotiate their and each other’s identities in the process. On the other hand, we wish to deconstruct our own practices as business communication teachers and researchers.

Note: the panel convenors intend to propose a panel on the same topic for the ABC Annual International Conference, October 28 to 31, 2020, San Diego, California). There will be a separate call for papers for San Diego but contributors are advised to announce if they would also like to see their proposal considered for the San Diego panel as the convenors prepare to consider a methodology to collaborate and make progress from the Vienna panel to that in San Diego.

References:

Bruyer, Tom & Jacobs, Geert & Vandendaele, Astrid. (2015). Good Pharma? How Business Communication Research Can Help Bridge the Gap Between Students and Practitioners. Business and Professional Communication Quarterly. 79. 10.1177/2329490615610776.

Vandendaele A., Bruyer T., Jacobs G. (2016) “We Never Even Wondered Whether We Trusted Them or Not”: From Freedom to Mutuality in a Student Research Project. In: Alessi G.M., Jacobs G. (eds) The Ins and Outs of Business and Professional Discourse Research. Communicating in Professions and Organizations. Palgrave Macmillan, London