People

“The people are what make this place special. I really get the sense that everyone wants me to succeed here.”

You could say that Justine Murray’s (she/her) first unofficial research subjects were her friends in the financial sector. Observing her colleagues at her first job after graduating from Wharton, she noticed many of them working hard to find meaning in their careers. “I started looking into research surrounding questions of meaning, passion, and the relationship between money, time and wellbeing in professional settings, and I found that there were only a handful of researchers delving into these topics,” she says. “Quite a few of them, I realized, were at HBS.”

Even though pursuing a PhD hadn’t originally been part of her plan, Justine soon found herself excited by the idea of undertaking her own research. She volunteered as a research assistant at the London Business School, which confirmed her interest in organizational behavior. “I solidified a lot of skills while I was in London that have since served me very well here,” she says. She was drawn to HBS not only because of the research being produced, but because of the collegial atmosphere that was immediately apparent. “The people are what make this place special,” she says. “Students ahead of me reached out right away and answered all of my questions. I really get the sense that everyone wants me to succeed here.”

“This is a very entrepreneurial program,” Justine says. “Your research moves forward to the extent that you push it forward.” She credits her three years in finance prior to starting at HBS with helping to instill the discipline required for self-driven work. She’s maintained strong connections with her former colleagues in the industry, and this ongoing connection to practice continues to benefit her academic efforts. “I run my ideas by them all the time. Their on-the-ground perspective has been incredibly valuable in helping me refine my research questions.”

Research

While the literature related to professional calling has traditionally focused on high social impact, low-paying careers, Justine is interested in how people in other fields derive meaning from their work. “Not everyone can be a minister or a nurse or a teacher. You shouldn’t have to give up a sense of meaning and purpose if you’re in a different field, like finance.” She hopes to focus her research on ways to foster a sense of meaning no matter your field.