Thursday 16 November 2023
12pm – 1pm
Boardroon, Gateway Building
Presenters:
- Alexander Fleischmann and Alyson Meister, IMD Lausanne, Switzerland.
Chronic illness is an often-overlooked dimension of diversity. It can enter one’s life at any point in time and many people struggle to reconcile their professional identity with their chronically ill body/mind. This is further complicated by the often-invisible nature of chronic illness.
This talk will give first insights into an ongoing qualitative empirical study on how individuals navigate chronic illnesses in the context of work. The emerging topics include:
- a desire to ‘pass as normal’, which can often only be fulfilled when not in an ‘illness crisis mode’
- seeing the chronic illness as a ‘second full time job’
- the stress involved in ‘coming out’ towards supervisors and colleagues.
The presentation will highlight the fluid and ever-changing face of chronic illness. It will also reflect on the barriers that the chronic illness imposes physically and mentally, as well as the barriers that appear in workplaces and with colleagues that are not prepared to accommodate for invisible diversities and conditions that change over time.
All welcome.
Lunch will be served. Please email [email protected] to register your attendance for catering purposes and note any dietary requirements you may have.