Cohort: ESOL 37°

Topic of the thesis: When Public Administration hires: Paradoxes and coping strategies

Abstract: Personnel recruitment and selection are undoubtedly important for every Public Administration, and in the Italian context, they are the object of re-thinking and reform, to improve the capabilities of the introduction of “new professional resources based on the analysis and planning of necessary skills” (Brunetta, 2021). Punctually, this change is the object of increased debate because reforming hiring in PA leads to a multitude of tensions as change-vs-stability, bureaucratization-vs-debureaucratization, centralization-vs-decentralization. Thus, the research project aims at studying the recruitment and selection in PA through paradox lens, which suggests that tensions are incompatible because they are logical when considered in isolation, but irrational, inconsistent, and absurd when juxtaposed. The research will employ Mode 2 approach, ideal to achieve results both scientifically rigorous and practically relevant through transdisciplinary collaborations, involving practitioners and stakeholders: research will be conducted with (rather than on) PA practitioners since the beginning of the knowledge-creation process. To better understand the PA’s internal context, the research project will be conducted with qualitative methods, such as case studies, ethnography, and action research.

Research interests: Public Administration, organization studies, recruitment & selection, human resource management, paradox theory.

Graduated from: University of Milan (BA and MA).

Degrees obtained: Administration and Public Policy (MA); Political Science and International Relations (BA).

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