Dr. Giulia Parola is Interim Professor of Entrepreneurship at Munich Business School and a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Economics and Management, University of the Bundeswehr Munich. She also collaborates with the European Center for Social Finance, a competence center affiliated with MBS.
Beyond academia, Giulia works as an expert, project lead, and trainer, conducting workshops and webinars for professionals. She leads several EU-funded vocational education and training projects in areas such as social entrepreneurship, workplace wellbeing and family businesses.
Originally from Italy, Giulia has built an international profile through academic and professional experiences in Spain, Morocco, and India. Since 2014, she has been based in Germany, where she earned a Master’s degree in Life Science Economics and Policy from the Technical University of Munich and a Doctorate in Economic and Social Sciences from the Bundeswehr University Munich. Her doctoral research focused on bridging the science-practice gap in management.
Professor for Entrepreneurship
Pre-Bachelor, Bachelor International Business, Master’s Programs, and MBA
Idea Development and Startups, Critical Thinking and Media Literacy, Critical Thinking, Data & Text Literacy II & III, Academic Writing, Introduction to the Bachelor Thesis, Master Thesis Preparation
Academic Journals
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Parola, G. (2024). Philosophy is everywhere: A much-needed roadmap to finding it: Philosophy and management studies: A research overview, by R. Mir & M. Greenwood, London, Routledge, 2023, 116 pages, pbk £17.99, ISBN 978-1032073637. Culture and Organization, 1–4. https://doi.org/10.1080/14759551.2024.2433460
Parola, G., Thaler, J., & Solivo, M. (2024). Metaphors in career development: Using ZMET to explore how an employment initiative changes NEETs’ mental models. Journal of Career Assessment, 32(1), 154–181. https://doi.org/10.1177/10690727231185174
Parola, G., Spiess-Knafl, W., & Thaler, J. (2022). The butterfly effect: How academics and practitioners’ micro-practices shape turning points in response to paradox. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 21(3), 369–393. https://doi.org/10.5465/amle.2021.0235
Parola, G. (2020). Escape from parents’ basement? Post COVID-19 scenarios for the future of youth employment in Italy. Labour Economics Papers, 111(1), 51–71.
Books
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Parola, G. (2023). Seeing the practice light at the end of the research tunnel: Toward an integration of theory, research and practice in career management. University of the Bundeswehr Munich.
Parola, G. (2023). Collaborating in European projects: Many hands (don’t always) make light work. Self-published.
Academic Conference Presentations (selected)
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Parola, G. (2025, July 21–23). Positioning career identity through alternative narratives in neoliberal academia: The case of the Writing Differently movement. Paper presented at the Gender, Work & Organization Conference (GWO 2025), Audencia Business School, Nantes, France.
Wolber, L., Englert, B., Thaler, J., & Parola, G. (2025, August). Volunteers’ perceived person–environment misfit. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Parola, G., Thaler, J., & Solivo, M. (2021, August). How do young adults perceive employment initiatives? In Navigating qualitative dissertations (Professional Development Workshop). Paper presented at the 81st Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management (AoM), Virtual Conference.
Parola, G., Spiess-Knafl, W., & Thaler, J. (2020). Managing paradoxes of performing in academic–practitioner collaborations. Paper presented at the Academy of Management Learning and Education (AMLE) Virtual Paper Development Workshops I and II, Virtual Conferences.
Parola, G. (2019, September 2–4). Explaining and linking political trust to job search self-efficacy in three disadvantaged regions in Europe: A cross-sectional study. Paper presented at the Social Innovation Research Conference, Glasgow Caledonian University, Glasgow, Scotland.
Parola, G., & Scheck, B. (2018, December). Scaling trust-based partnership models to recharge youth entrepreneurship: Supporting underserved communities with innovative entrepreneurship support instruments. Paper presented at the 2nd Social Impact Investments International Conference, Rome, Italy.
Working Papers/Reports
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Parola, G. (2024). Transnational research report (STAY OK project: Rethinking Well-being at Workplaces in European SMEs). https://www.stay-ok-project.eu/results/
Parola, G., & Blazy, C. (2021). Multi-method, iterative and user-centered needs assessment for the next generation of social enterprises [BEYOND CAPITAL project report]. BEYOND CAPITAL. https://www.beyond-capital.eu/project-results
Parola, G., Alexopoulos, Y., & Perifanos, I. (2021). Impact assessment reports 2021 (Italy, Greece, Poland, Spain) (Young Enrepreneurs Succeed YES! Project). https://youngentrepreneurssucceed.com/resources/
Parola, Giulia (2023): Podcast guest appearance “#85 Collaborating in EU projects: A book conversation w. guest Giulia Parola”, The Grant Podcast https://open.spotify.com/episode/1WLIt51jX0otxX7j87OtXy.
Elsenheimerstraße 61
80687 München Germany