dr. Merel Feenstra-Verschure is Assistant Professor of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior at TIAS School for Business and Society. Since 2023, she has been serving as the Academic Director of the Masterclass Diploma Track in Non-profit and the Starting Leadership and Management Program. Feenstra-Verschure completed a Master's in Social Sciences and Work and Organizational Psychology at Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam.
She subsequently held various advisory roles within corporate organizations but also government agencies and obtained her PhD in 2022 as an external PhD candidate at Tilburg University on the phenomenon whereby people are 'locked in their jobs' or also 'locked at the job'; a state in which the individual experiences dissatisfaction with the current job as well as the perception that there are limited job opportunities to leave the current dissatisfied situatio
n.
At the beginning of her scientific career, Feenstra-Verschure focused on organizational changes and the role of leadership in this. She subsequently expanded her expertise in the direction of stimulating sustainable mobility within organizations, by focusing her research on themes such as labor mobility, sustainable employability as well as the role of leadership, specializing in the phenomenon of people being 'locked in their jobs'. In her doctoral research, Feenstra-Verschure conducted a literature study and developed a conceptual model and new scale for job entrapment, based on both quantitative and qualitative data collection. Concrete applicability of her scientific research in practice is essential for Feenstra-Verschure. By promoting labor mobility, she focuses on the individual with the aim of reducing absenteeism figures, increasing productivity and offering new insights for senior management to shape their workforce in a more sustainable way. In addition, Feenstra-Verschure is the founder and owner of The People Society, a strategic organizational consultancy company in the field of promoting sustainable advancement and developing soft skills among managers.
Feenstra-Verschure, M. (2024). Hoe creëer je beweging? Opgesloten zitten in een baan. Tijdschrift voor ontwikkeling in organisaties, 14(1), 58-63.
Feenstra-Verschure, M.T., Kooij, D., Freese, C., (2023). Opgesloten werknemer ook nadelig voor werkgever. Tijdschrift voor HRM, 26(2), 73 - 90.
Feenstra-Verschure, M.T., Kooij, D., Freese, C., Van der Velde, M. & Lysova, E.I., (2023). Building on job immobility concepts: a conceptual model and future research agenda on “locked at the job” Journal of Organizational Effectiveness: People and Performance.
Feenstra-Verschure, M.T., Kooij, D., Freese, C., Van der Velde, M. & Lysova, E.I., (2022). “Locked at the job”: a qualitative study on the process of this phenomenon. Career Development International, 28(1), 92-120.
Feenstra-Verschure, M.T., (2022). Wat als floreren (even) niet lukt? Tijdschrift Positieve Psychologie.
Feenstra-Verschure, M.T., (2022). Locked at the job: Examining antecedents, consequences and it's process. Doctoral Thesis, Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands. (link: https://research.tilburguniversity.edu/en/publications/locked-at-the-job-examining-antecedents-consequences-and-its-proc )
- Maar beluister zeker óók de: ‘Op je plek’ podcast waarin verschillende gasten, vaak anoniem, hun verhaal deelden over hun opgesloten situatie. (link: http://open.spotify.com/show/0iqTU3Z5wGT7sWGyKvKwZm?si=F8QyBOTQCu03MgS2OzIZA )