Contact Dr Lyn Lanka
- Tel: +44 (0) 1234 750111
- Email: Lyn.Lanka@cranfield.ac.uk
- Google Scholar
- ResearchGate
Background
Dr. Evelyn (Lyn) Lanka's educational background is in Psychology and Management. She obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from California State University, Monterey Bay located in California, USA. Due to her outstanding academic achievements Lyn graduated Magana Cum-Laude, with distinction in the major and was also inducted into the honor societies of Phi Theta Kappa as well as Psi Chi, the academic honor society for Psychology students. Evelyn obtained a Master of Science degree in Psychology from the University of Essex, located in Colchester, UK. She was awarded a Doctorate of Philosophy (Ph.D. Management) from the University of Sheffield which is located in Sheffield, UK. Lyn is the recipient of numerous academic scholarships and awards including the Boronda Scholarship, The June Perkins Award, The Sheffield Methods Institute 'Methods Fund' and the 2021 FGV-EAESP Best Faculty Scholarly Publication, to name a few.
Lyn has over 10 years of teaching experience including international teaching experience in China, the UK, Brazil, and the U.S.A. Lyn has taught a range of courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, including work psychology, occupational psychology, organizational behaviour, research methods, human resource management, business writing, statistical analysis, Social psychology for business practice, gender in organizations, and the dark side of leadership, among others. She also previously worked in early childhood education for a number of years, teaching preschool and lower elementary students before transitioning into higher education. Lyn has also applied her psychology degrees by working as a registered mental health counsellor in a mental health crisis treatment center and in addiction recovery.
With a strong background and knowledge of learning theory and human development, Lyn's pedagogy focuses on helping students to utilize their existing strengths to build new skills and knowledge. She believes in helping students to become critical thinkers through critical analysis, reflexivity, and evidenced based teaching. She is also committed to helping her students to become employable global citizens by bringing real world examples and research into her teaching. As a student focused educator, Lyn enjoys mentoring her students and helping them to achieve their academic and career goals. She also enjoys employing diverse and adaptive teaching practices. Lyn is honored to be a Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy, a Chartered Psychologist with the British Psychological Society, and an Associate Member of the American Psychological Association.
Lyn is proud to represent Cranfield University as the North American Reginal Experts Group (REG) Chair. This leadership role enables her to utilise her expertise in the Norther American educational sector to develop partnerships between Cranfield and North American higher education and research focused universities.
Research opportunities
Lyn's research interests are currently in the areas of leadership, followership, identity, gender, mentorship, and role models. Her research corpus focuses on looking at leadership, identity, and interpersonal interactions and the role of followers in the leadership process. Her research also touches on areas of personal development in leadership through mentoring and role models and organizational issues around these issues. Her research is cross-disciplinary and seeks to provide greater understanding of how we as individuals construct identities in the workplace. She is currently open to fostering research collaborations around gender, diversity, non-traditional leadership, mentoring, role models, and identity construction topics, within the context of organizations.