Department of Social Work interviews Nathalie Nunner

From bachelor’s thesis to academic publication: Insights from Nathalie Nunner

Nathalie Nunner is a graduate of the bachelor’s program in Social Work at MCI | The Entrepreneurial School® and, in an interview with the department of Social Work, discusses her publication in the “Young Researchers” section of the online journal soziales_kapital, the development of her work, and the importance of scholarly discourse for Social Work practice.

Your bachelor’s thesis addresses a topic that is the subject of heated debate within the field. How did you come up with this research question, and what made you so fascinated by it?

I chose this topic because substance use among adolescents is currently a very pressing issue and is the subject of heated debate both in society and within the academic community. As I delved into the subject, I realized just how multifaceted it is and how widely varying the scholarly perspectives on it are. It was precisely this complexity that motivated me to explore it more deeply and to examine the topic in my bachelor’s thesis.

Between the thesis, the final stages of your studies, and the published article lies a revision process. How can the text and the findings from the thesis be adapted for a significantly shorter article, and what did you learn from working with the editorial team?

The biggest challenge for me was condensing the essential content of my bachelor’s thesis into the limited scope of the article without losing the key messages. To do this, I had to set priorities and focus more on central findings and their practical relevance. Working with the editorial team helped me in this regard by providing constructive feedback that made this possible.

Many graduates feel their work isn’t “good enough” for a academic journal. What would you say to someone who’s hesitating at this very point?

I’d say: Go ahead and submit your work. Especially when you’ve been working intensively on a topic for months, you’re aware of every weakness in your own work and often overlook its strengths. Working with the editorial team also offers the opportunity to further develop the text and adapt it to the journal’s requirements. That’s why I would advise everyone to take advantage of this opportunity - not only do you gain experience in academic writing, but you can also make your findings accessible to a wider academic audience.

What does it mean to you now to have published a research article based on your bachelor’s thesis in an academic journal?

For me, the publication means above all that my work can contribute beyond my studies. I’m pleased that other experts can engage with the findings and that the content will thus reach a wider audience. Furthermore, the publication is confirmation that the painstaking effort I put into exploring the topic was worth it.

Nathalie Nunner’s example illustrates the potential of theses and the contribution MCI graduates can make to the academic discourse. Academic inquiry does not end with graduation but can provide important impetus for research and practice in Social Work. The department of Social Work therefore encourages other alumni to share their research findings and innovative practical perspectives. Anyone interested in publishing their thesis in the “Young Researchers” section of the journal soziales_kapital is welcome to contact Laura Feith González or Moritz Reisberger. They will help assess whether and in what form a thesis is suitable for publication and will guide authors through the process of transforming their thesis into an academic article.