Karena Menzie-Ballantyne

Karena compares undertaking a doctorate to a “research apprenticeship” and describes the tears during research studies as a “sign that you are pushing your brain to new levels of thinking”.

It was during her research studies that Karena learned to have faith and confidence in herself and her judgement. Her best memory from studying at CQUniversity is receiving support from colleagues, ranging from resources, articles and advice to wine, tea and tissues.

Karena is now paying it forward, working at CQU, and supervising a cluster of research students from Australia, Indonesia and Pakistan. Their research is exploring various aspects of education for global competence, which is also Karena’s area of interest.

Karena finds that the way research studies are nowadays conducted is more structured and there is extra support available for both research students and their supervisors.

Thesis title: Hearing their voice: Exploring the self-reports of adolescents’ experiences of a community-based, active citizenship program in the context of global competence.