As an expert on the Psychology of Entrepreneurship, I explore how societies and individuals can thrive through entrepreneurship. My research builds evidence on how contexts (culture and institutions) shape entrepreneurship and how entrepreneurship, in turn, can help to build more inclusive societies and be a meaningful career for the individual entrepreneur. Recent work explores how entrepreneurs can navigate the stresses of entrepreneurship to protect their mental health and grow their personal productivity, creativity, and well-being.
Professor Ute Stephan
Professor of Entrepreneurship, King's College London, King's Business School, SIME, Bush House, 30 Aldwych, London WC2B 4BG, United Kingdom +44 207 848 09 07 | Ute.Stephan@kcl.ac.uk
Find out about my research and publications, teaching, awards, speaking & media activities.
Web-profiles: King's College London | LinkedIn
Research Profiles: Google scholar | ResearchGate
Fellow of the International Association of Applied Psychology and 21st Century Entrepreneurship Research Fellow
Editorial appointments: Associate Editor at Journal of Management (since July 2023), Editor at Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice (since 2019), Consulting Editor at Journal of International Business Studies (2019-12/2022), Editor-in-Chief: Applied Psychology: An International Review (2015-2019),
Special issue editor: Journal of Business Venturing (Entrepreneurship across the Lifespan), Personnel Psychology (OB/HRM Perspectives on entrepreneurship), Journal of Occupational Health Psychology (Leadership and Heath/Well-being), Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice (The Biological Perspective in Entrepreneurship), Applied Psychology (Advancing The Psychology of Entrepreneurship)
Editorial review boards: Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Journal of Business Venturing, Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice
Podcasts
Invited podcasts:
LOWcast Are Entrepreneurs the Happiest People on Earth? link (spotify) link (LOW website)
Brain for Business Podcast The Psychology of Entrepreneurship link
The Most Awesome Founder Podcast Mitigating Startup Founder Burnout link
NAKED Podcast by the Future Farm Entrepreneurs' Mental Health link
Enterprise Research Centre: The mental health and wellbeing of entrepreneurs link
King's Business School Connections Podcast: How entrepreneurs can focus on their wellbeing while building their businesses (I speak to entrepreneurs Janos Barberis and David Walsh)
Talks
upcoming:
Keynote, 22nd European Congress of Work Psychology, May 21-24, 2025, Prague, Czech Republic https://eawop2025.com/
recent talks
European Commission, SME Assembly 2024, Nov 18-20, 2024, Budapest, Invited speaker on Sustainable Enterprise panel, and for Policy workshop 'The future ways of working: Mental Health Burden'
Keynote, 4th Health in Entrepreneurship Research Forum, Oct 10 & 11, 2024, Montpellier, France https://he-2024-montpellier.fr
Measuring Progress Seminar Series, STATEC, National Institute of Statistics and Economy, Luxembourg, March 21st, 2024, online research talk "Wellbeing and Entrepreneurship: What we know and what we still need to know", recording: https://youtu.be/fq7vbWDAPPM
European Commission, SME Assembly 2023, Nov 15-18, 2023, Bilbao, Expert Roundtable Sustainable Enterprise
Malta Enterprise Festival Oct 6, 2023, Malta, Keynote "Mindful Entrepreneurship" (link)
Keynote "Entrepreneurship and the Pandemic", ERC State of Small Business Britain Conference, London, 21 June 2023
Keynote "Experimenting to Enhance Entrepreneur Well-Being?", Conducting Experiments in Entrepreneurship Research, 4th Paper Development Workshop for Early-Career Scholars, Feb 28-March 2, 2023
Keynote "Culture and Innovation", LERU Enterprise & Innovation (ENTE) Policy Group Meeting, March 7, 2023
see 'speaking, blogs & media' for full list
Press coverage of my research (examples)
Capital, Interview Burnout bei Gruendern [in German], 3 March 2024
Financial Times, Nutrition, sleep and mental health advice offered to tech founders at risk of burnout, 6 July 2023
The Times, Happiness is being your own boss, 19 April 2022, for coverage in German see Der Standard, Wer ein Unternehmen fuehrt ist zufriedener, 20. Juni 2022
Medium US, Founder with Benefits, 17 Aug 2022
Wall Street Journal, Are entrepreneurs happier than everyone else?, 3 Nov 2021
BBC London Evening News, Has Covid hit London entrepreneurs particularly hard? 19 March 2021
AlJazeera Surviving Covid, 24 Dec 2020
Financial Times How lockdown encouraged young people to step up their side hustles, 6 Nov 2020
The Guardian Covid leaves 6m UK small businesses and 16m jobs in 'precarious position', 26 Oct 2020
WIRED The pandemic has hit female entrepreneurs hard, 8 Oct 2020
Forbes, How to jump-start your innovation: 8 Ways to be more innovative, 5 Jan 2020