Contact information:

Vienna University of Economics and Business

Department of Business Communication

Institute for Slavic Languages

Welthandelsplatz 1, Building D2, Entrance D, Level 2

A-1020 Wien

E-mail: lejla.atagan@wu.ac.at

Education:

• 2007 - 2010: Bachelor's degree in German Language and Literature at the University of Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina

• 2010 - 2013: Master's degree in German Language and Literature at the University of Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina

• 2014 - 2019: Master's degree in Applied Linguistics at the University of Vienna

• 2020 - present: PhD studies in Economic and Social Sciences at the Vienna University of Economics and Business

Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Nadine Thielemann

Current Research Projects:

• SlaVienna - Communicative practices in Vienna’s business hotspots run by Slavic-speaking migrants

• An ethnographic approach to communication in migrant businesses in Vienna – the role of language, culture, and communication in businesses owned by migrants from the Balkans

Research interests:

Lejla Atagan’s research interests focus on migrant businesses in Vienna that are run by people of Balkan origin. In her current research, which is part of her dissertation, she is dealing with the question of what role language plays in self-employment. On the one hand, a lack of language skills can become a barrier to social mobility. Accordingly, some migrants see self-employment as the only chance for social mobility. On the other hand, this lack of language skills can motivate some migrants to see their mother tongue and culture as a resource, which is then utilized for self-employment by commodifying it. The communicative strategies used are also of interest here. The method she uses is an ethnographic approach of Grounded Theory Methodology.