Organisational temporal landscapes and individual timescapes : experiences of time in an e-learning and e-mentoring project in a UK university business school.

This thesis focuses on time and the relationships between the temporal characteristics or landscapes of an educational project located in a university business school, and the individual experiences of the project members. The specific focus of the research is the EMPATHY Net-Works project which supported women into employment through a taught module and e-mentoring. Using Giddens's structuration theory, I explore the temporal landscapes of the EMPATHY Net-Works project and the ways in which it was influenced by its context and project members, and also the ways in which the temporal landscapes influenced the experiences of project members. I use an interpretivist approach and develop an ethnographic case study in which my role is participant-as-oberserver. My data came from project documentation, online discussion group messages and interviews. I use two approaches to data analysis: a classification framework based on contemporary temporal research; and also temporal metaphors. My interpretation of the data indicates that the temporal landscape of the project is complex and there are many commonalities and some differences between the temporal landscapes of the Business School, the EMPATHY NetWorks project and the taught module. The mentoring process appears to have a distinct temporal landscape. My study explores the subjective experiences of project members and their temporal personality or timescape. I demonstrate that within the project team we reproduced a traditional academic temporal framework. This framework facilitated the students' learning experiences. I also explore the importance of temporal frameworks in supporting the mentoring process. I reflect on both the impact of my temporal personality and perspectives on this research and also my temporal experiences during my work on this thesis. Finally, I identify my contributions to knowledge, areas for future research, and the implications of my findings for facilitators and managers of e-learning and e-mentoring projects.