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Work and working life research group

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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

2026

Therese Grip, Maria Gustavsson (2026) Vocations and Learning, Vol. 19, p. 1-22, Article 6 (Article, review/survey)
Andreas Wallo (2026) Cogent Business & Management, Vol. 13, p. 1-19, Article 2653311 (Article in journal)
Viktor Vesterberg (2026) Management Learning, Article 13505076261424472 (Article in journal)
Peter Johansson, Andreas Wallo (2026) Production planning & control (Print) (Article in journal)
Fergal Finnegan, Maja Maksimovic, Diana Holmqvist (2026) European Journal for Research on the Education and Learning of Adults, Vol. 17 (Article in journal)
Andreas Wallo (2026)
Diana Holmqvist, Filippa Millenberg (2026) Om vuxenutbildning och vuxnas studier: en grundbok, p. 379-396 (Chapter in book)
Song-ee Ahn, Madeleine Abrandt Dahlgren, Diana Holmqvist (2026) Om vuxenutbildning och vuxnas studier: en grundbok, p. 335-354 (Chapter in book)
Andreas Fejes, Per Andersson, Diana Holmqvist, Karolina Muhrman (2026) Om vuxenutbildning och vuxnas studier: en grundbok, p. 439-461 (Chapter in book)
Johanna Köpsén, Karolina Muhrman (2026) Om vuxenutbildning och vuxnas studier: en grundbok, p. 75-97 (Chapter in book)
Diana Holmqvist, Karolina Muhrman, Per Andersson (2026) International Journal of Lifelong Education (Article in journal)
Andreas Fejes, Madeleine Abrandt Dahlgren, Maria Gustavsson (2026) Studies in Continuing Education, Vol. 48, p. 1-4 (Article in journal)
Madelene Ostwald, Tina-Simone Neset, Maria Jernnäs, Mathias Fridahl, Cecilia Enberg (2026)
Marcus Persson, Ann-Charlotte Bivall, Elin Thunman (2026) Digital Health, Vol. 12, Article 20552076251411208 (Article, review/survey)
Andreas Fejes, Per Andersson, Johanna Köpsén, Mattias Nylund (2026) Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, Vol. 70, p. 101-115 (Article in journal)

2025

Maja Nordström, Marie Wadstedt, Johanna Köpsén (2025) Skönlitteratur i andraspråksundervisningen: Symposium 2025, p. 235-248 (Chapter in book)
Ellinor Tengelin, Linda Corin, Christian Ståhl, Monica Bertilsson (2025) Disability and Rehabilitation (Article in journal)
Viktor Vesterberg, Magnus Dahlstedt (2025) Nordic Social Work Research (Article in journal)
Ignacio Gonzalez Vazquez, Alvaro Mariscal De Gante Martin, Carin Håkansta, Pille Strauss-Raats, Christian Ståhl, Lisa Ferm, Rafael Grande, Alberto Vallejo, Ruben Lind, Lisen Löwstedt, Ninni Norlinder (2025)
Andreas Wallo, Cathrine Reineholm, Helene Öhman, Daniel Lundqvist (2025) Journal of Workplace Learning, Vol. 37, p. 152-168 (Article in journal)