Mathieu Ruisseleaux's research will be presented at an internal symposium
Do you know who your work friends are? That may not be a good thing, according to research by a Gates scholar. Instead, misperceptions may benefit people who navigate fluid professional networks.
Mathieu Desruisseaux [2008] will outline his research on imaginary friends and social networks at a Gates Scholars internal symposium on Thursday.
It focuses on cognitive strategies that make leaders see useful contacts as friends and distance themselves from would-be friends that get in their way.
These two strategies seem linked to advantageous brokerage positions in organisations. Mathieu, who is in the first year of his PhD in Management, plans to further research these strategies among entrepreneurs in Silicon Roundabout, an area of London with a high concentration of web start-ups.
Other speakers at the Internal Symposium, where scholars share their research with their peers, including Shlomo Bolts [2010], who is studying for an MPhil in Modern Society and Global Transformations. He will talk about the hidden origins of revolt in Kashmir and the Palestinian Territories. Smruthi Jayasundar [2008], who is doing a PhD in Stem Cell Research, will talk about the making of the blood cell.
The symposium takes place at 10.30am in the Gates Scholars’ Common Room.
