Community engagment and organisational psychology : friends in need

Abstract

The working life of an academic has been conceived as an interplay of equally important roles, namely teacher, researcher and public intellectual. Strong academia is thought to be one where there is meaningful engagement of all three purposes and domains (Star, 2004). Being an organisational psychologist by profession and a resident academic within the Department of Psychology I get personally interested in how different organisations function in order to reach their aims and objectives. Furthermore, it is also very positively intriguing for me to see people succeed in their work-life endeavours and in their career progression. Moreover, I feel enriched and better able to offer a good service to my students when the knowledge I impart is filled with the experiences which I bring back from what I learn within my community practice. Such are the reasons for my heavy involvement in performing outreach because I believe that my knowledge as an academic and scholar within our University is undoubtedly enriched and better passed on to students.