DBA Testimonial: Graduate and Supervisor Share Their Collaborative Success

Dr. Séverine Le Loarne-Lemaire, Senior Professor and Head of the Women and Economic Renewal Research Chair

"Working with DBA students is one of my favorite tasks as a full professor. They bring brilliant empirical questions, and my job is to help them translate these into research questions, thereby opening underexplored research topics."

Stacy came to see me with her impressive life experience. In just three months, we developed two meaningful questions: What is the work-life balance of entrepreneurs in practice, and what is the actual timetable of entrepreneurs, especially women entrepreneurs? Through numerous meetings, Stacy crafted a dissertation that she successfully defended, winning the Best Dissertation Award. We not only met her planned deadlines, but also developed a real friendship. Together, we co-authored two book chapters and a paper published in the well-ranked "Journal of Business Research." Is this the end? No! A collaboration was born!"
 

Dr. Stacy Brecht,  
DBA 2023 Graduate

"Grenoble Ecole de Management's (GEM) triple-accreditation and international recognition provides significant opportunities to work with top academic scholars who have extensive knowledge and insight about research communities in the social sciences. This is invaluable, especially if transitioning into academia and publishing high-caliber, impactful research are goals. During my Doctorate of Business Administration (DBA) journey at GEM, I was fortunate to have Dr. Séverine Le Loarne-Lemaire, Senior Professor and Head of the Women and Economic Renewal Research Chair as my Doctoral Supervisor. Dr. Séverine Le Loarne-Lemaire selected me to be on an international research team that focuses on supporting women entrepreneurs all over the world, which enhanced my learning and research initiatives.

My paper-based doctoral thesis titled, "Time Management of Female Entrepreneurs in Practice: Challenging Gendered Assumptions and Perceived Work–Life Practices", consists of four separate research papers that are connected to the overall research question: How do women entrepreneurs manage time in practice? To explore this overall research question and four sub-research questions, Dr. Séverine Le Loarne-Lemaire and I developed and implemented a new research methodology that entailed collecting digital calendar schedules that were recorded prior to the study and conducting two separate in-depth interviews. Our research was published in the Journal of Business Research and two textbook chapters as well as presented at six international academic conferences.

Furthermore, the DBA at GEM helped equip me to transition into academia full-time as an Assistant Professor teaching graduate and undergraduate courses when I was still pursuing the degree. In addition to serving as an Assistant Professor of Marketing and Entrepreneurship at Azusa Pacific University (APU), completing my doctorate with a focus on entrepreneurship helped prepare me to lead the APU Zuventurez campus-wide entrepreneurial pitch competition and the APU Sigma Nu Tau entrepreneurial honor society as the faculty advisor.

I am thankful for this journey and am grateful for all of the expertise, mentoring, and guidance I received from all of the accomplished faculty and staff at the GEM Doctoral School, especially from my Supervisor, Dr. Le Loarne-Lemaire. Pursuing this DBA helped me evolve professionally and personally, and now I see the world differently through a more analytical, critical lens. Currently, Dr. Séverine Le Loarne-Lemaire and I are working on additional research projects, and I recently taught a GEM undergraduate course module with the Women and Economic Renewal Research Chair about intersectionality and implications for managers. I look forward to continuing to pursue impactful research that contributes to the academic literature and highlights how to apply theory to practice!" 

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE DBA

_{Brecht, S., Le Loarne-Lemaire, S., Kraus, S., & Maalaoui, A. (2023). The role of time management of female tech entrepreneurs in practice: Diary and interview results from an innovative cluster. Journal of Business Research, 163, 113914.}

_{Brecht, S. & Le Loarne – Lemaire, S. (2023). Women entrepreneurs: Time management, life - work continuum and wellbeing. In Human Centered Management and Crisis: Workplace Disruption, Wellbeing, and Organizational Sustainability. Routledge.}

_{Brecht, S. & Le Loarne – Lemaire, S. (2023). Reconsidering the practices of home-based entrepreneurs: How mum and dad entrepreneurs manage work time. In Women and Family (Businesses) Across Entrepreneurial Contexts. Edward Elgar Publishing.}

_{Brecht, S. & Le Loarne – Lemaire, S. (2023). Gender, Work, and Organization Conference; Emancipation of women entrepreneurs in practice: What time management is saying. Stellenbosch University, South Africa.}

_{Brecht, S. & Le Loarne – Lemaire, S. (2023). Diana International Research Conference; Emancipation of women entrepreneurs in practice: What time management is saying. Babson College, Wellesley, Massachusetts.} 

_{Brecht, S. & Le Loarne – Lemaire, S. (2022). Diana International Research Conference; High-growth women entrepreneurs and work-life balance: Challenging gendered assumptions and perceived work/life practices. Digital Collections at Babson College: Conference Proceedings 2022. Dublin City University, Ireland.}

_{Brecht, S. & Le Loarne – Lemaire, S. (2022). Engaged Management Scholarship Conference; High-growth women entrepreneurs and work-life balance: Challenging gendered assumptions and perceived work/life practices. Universidad Panamericana, Guadalajara, Mexico.}

_{Brecht, S. & Le Loarne – Lemaire, S. (2021). Babson College Entrepreneurship Research Conference; Home-based entrepreneurs, work-life balance and time management.}

_{Brecht, S. & Le Loarne – Lemaire, S. (2021). Diana International Research Conference; Reconsidering the practices of home-based entrepreneurs: How mum and dad entrepreneurs manage work time.}