Work and working life research group

A group of people sitting at a table discussing.

Work and working life are large parts in everyday life for most people. Our research focuses on various conditions that contribute to sustainable workplaces and a sustainable working life. The research advances different topics related to working conditions, learning, competence and skills development, innovation, leadership, gender, gender equality and health. The labour market and labour market policies are also focused. 

Learning and competence development in working life can be achieved in various ways. To find out how it is achieved, we focus on what is learned, in the form of knowledge, competencies or skills, and on how this is done. How can workplace learning be organized and how can it be lead, and what are the relationships between formal and informal learning and between individual and organizational learning? Other foci are managerial work, leadership and health. We also study the significance of gender and gender equality in designing good working conditions for everyone.

Our research also includes studies on change- and development processes and innovations in organizations. We tackle issues connected to development strategies and different work forms in organizations such as networks and partnerships, which are developed to bring about innovation and institutional change. The change- and development processes are studied in an interactive research approach, in which we take part in a joint learning with people in the studied workplaces and organizations.

The relationship between work environment and health, and welfare is also on our research agenda. We study the work environment’s impact on peoples’ health, the influence of norms, and power in the relations between institutions, organizations or professional actors on one-side and clients, patients or caretakers on the other. In addition, we study people on long-term sick leave and their interaction and communication with different facilitators and rehabilitators.   

Our research into the labour market and labour market policies includes, for example, norms, social exclusion, and labour market measures. It also includes vocational education and training and students’ learning and transition between school and work.  

Contact

a man in a suit walks in the forest.

GROWL: Greening of Working Life

To meet climate goals, the world of work must undergo a transformation. The GROWL research group focuses on the people, organizations, and policies involved in the green transition of working life.

Two people in protecting clothes welding.

Apprenticeship – learning occupational identity in industrial work

How is identity developed? In this project we focus on conditions for learning and identity development within the Industrial Technology program.

Nurse student trains care on doll lying in bed.

Attracting and retaining healthcare professionals the magnet hospital model

The magnet-hospital model can be described as a management idea to remedy staff shortages where the idea is that a hospital, like a “magnet”, can attract, recruit and then retain staff even in the event of a labor shortage.

Publications

2025

Cathrine Reineholm, Daniel Lundqvist, Christian Ståhl (2025) International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-being, Vol. 20, Article 2563399 (Article in journal)
Johan Andersson, Carolina Bråhn, Hongru Zhai, Erica Mattelin, Ann-Charlotte Münger, Laura Korhonen (2025) European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (Article in journal)
Agneta Blomberg, Gunnel Hensing, Monica Bertilsson, Carin Staland-Nyman, Christian Ståhl, Lisa Bjork (2025) BMC Public Health, Vol. 25, Article 3046 (Article in journal)
Hanna Fernemark, Janna Skagerström, Ida Seing, Elin Karlsson, Per Nilsen (2025) Journal of Healthcare Leadership, Vol. 17, p. 477-492 (Article in journal)
David Redmalm, Clara Iversen, Marcus Persson, Elin Thunman (2025) Nordic Journal of Working Life Studies (Article in journal)
Christian Ståhl (2025) European Journal of Social Theory (Article in journal)
Johanna Köpsén (2025) Lära till yrkeslärare, p. 69-80 (Chapter in book)
Eva Lövbrand, Cecilia Enberg, Veronica Brodén Gyberg (2025) Environmental Policy and Governance, Article eet.70019 (Article in journal)
Ronny Högberg, Johanna Köpsén (2025) Lära till yrkeslärare, p. 81-109 (Chapter in book)
Per Andersson, Susanne Köpsén, Johanna Köpsén (2025) Lära till yrkeslärare, p. 367-382 (Chapter in book)
Susanne Köpsén, Johanna Köpsén, Per Andersson (Editorship) (2025)
Elaine Sjögren, Gun Sparrhoff, Karin Valeskog (2025) Pedagogisk meritering i och för förändring, p. 51-73 (Chapter in book)
Sanaz Nikghadam-Hojjati, Eda Marchetti, Maria Gustavsson, Filipa Ferrada, Ana Inês Oliveira, Agneta Halvarsson Lundqvist, Anna Fogelberg Eriksson, Oliviu Matei, Jose Barata, Sepideh Kalateh, Nataša Božić, Simona Stojanova, Said Daoudagh, Laura Andreica (2025) Sustainability, Vol. 17, p. 6215-6215 (Article in journal)
Mattias Elg, Andreas Wallo, Ulrika Harlin (2025)
Jason Martin, Andreas Wallo, Mattias Elg (2025)
Christian Ståhl, Daniel Lundqvist, Cathrine Reineholm (2025) Safety Science, Vol. 191, Article 106917 (Article, review/survey)
Andreas Wallo, Cathrine Reineholm, Daniel Lundqvist, Helene Öhman (2025)
Mattias Nylund, Per Andersson, Andreas Fejes, Johanna Köpsén (2025) Journal of Curriculum Studies (Article in journal)
Marcus Persson, Clara Iversen, David Redmalm (2025) How that robot made me feel, p. 107-125 (Chapter in book)
Olof Hjelm, Agneta Halvarsson Lundqvist, Jörgen Eklund, Marianna Lena Kambanou, Eleftherios Spyrou (2025)