PhD student HSRI: Amonette Campbell

Can you tell us something about you?

My name is Amonette Campbell. I am a South African-born Phd candidate working in the department of Organisation Studies at Tilburg University. I completed my undergraduate degree at Stellenbosch University, and then went on to attain my Master’s degree in Social and Psychological Research as a postgraduate merit-award scholar at the University of the Witwatersrand. My PhD research is a multidisciplinary project that looks at online labour platforms and their impact on workers in my home continent. Specifically, it considers how online labour platforms’ governance models, client firms’ behaviour, and workers' reactions to such factors influence the working conditions and well-being of workers in the Global South.

Did cross-departmental research play a role during your bachelor’s/master’s studies? To which extent?

Throughout my undergraduate studies, I enrolled in a variety of programs ranging from English Literature to Sociology and Psychology, which all explored similar topics from different perspectives and gave me an appreciation for multidisciplinary work. This appreciation was reaffirmed during my Master’s degree, where I was able to see the value of interdisciplinary collaboration as a member of the University of the Witwatersrand’s Neuropsychology lab. Furthermore, throughout my work as a Master’s student, I explored a range of socio-economic, political and psychological challenges which are endemic to my home country, and consequently cultivated a belief that such multifaceted problems could only be holistically addressed through multidisciplinary work.

What excited you about this multidisciplinary project you applied for?

When I applied for this research project what primarily excited me was the opportunity it offered me to not only continue my academic work, but to do so in a collaborative environment in an entirely different country which would nevertheless provide meaningful insight to my home country.

Why is cross-departmental research important for your PhD project? What does it add to the project?

Through my work, I have really seen the value of multidisciplinary work. Firstly, taking an interdisciplinary approach allows us to understand and analyze the complex dynamics and interdependencies within online labor platforms more comprehensively. Online labor platforms are multifaceted systems involving various actors, who operate at the intersection of different disciplines; drawing from expertise in these various disciplines allows for a more holistic overview of my research questions. Moreover, due to the novelty of the field, there is a lot of definitional and conceptual opacity which can be alleviated by taking a broader interdisciplinary approach. Finally, I also believe that by collating insights from various disciplines, this research can generate findings that are directly applicable to policy-making and industry practices.