In this article, I am going to present some results of the study titled Management Theory between Science and Practice: The First Professional Experiences of the Graduates of the Warsaw School of Economics. The text will begin with a discussion of important issues related to the methodology of the research mentioned above, then I will present the preliminary results of the analysis of the empirical material and describe narrative models—patterns of stories about choosing the studies that emerged from the content of the interviews conducted by me.

Research Methodology

In my doctoral dissertation, I tackle the problem of the extent to which the training in the area of management offered by the Warsaw School of Economics (SGH, commonly referred to as esgieha due to the pronunciation of the abbreviation) can be put into use in the professional practice of its graduates. The analyzed material consists of narrative biographical interviews with the students of the last year of studies at the School and also with its graduates. The interviewees were chosen via the snowballing technique (Biernacki & Waldorf, 1981). In the first place, I turned to the people that I know from studies at the School. The business environment is fairly tight and therefore difficult to test. That is why I decided to take advantage of contacts gained in the social space already during my own studies.