Derin Kent

I am an assistant professor of organization studies at Warwick Business School, United Kingdom. My research examines group and organizational processes in extreme contexts, i.e., those that are isolated, confined, and have the potential to cause severe physical or psychological harm to participants. In these settings, I study small-scale interactions like sensemaking, group tradition, and work engagement to understand how people flourish under adversity. To explore these topics, I have studied physicians responding to lethal viruses (SARS-1), storm chasers hunting tornadoes, and people restoring their workplaces after terrorism, embedding as an ethnographer wherever possible.

My research has been published in Organization Studies, Journal of Business Venturing, and Academy of Management Annals, and has appeared in Harvard Business Review and The Conversation, among other outlets. In addition to research, I have experience as a university instructor for undergraduate and MBA programs, teaching subjects like change management, organizational behavior, career management, and research methods.

Prior to joining WBS, I was a postdoctoral researcher at Aalto University, Finland. I earned my PhD in Management at Smith School of Business, Queen's University at Kingston, Canada.

Research areas: ethnography; extreme contexts; group culture; identity; sensemaking; work meaningfulness