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.