• Franziska Müller, the projects Self-employment and Temporary agency work
• Philip Ström, the Retail project
• Anna Tanimoto, the Academia project

Franziska Müller

Hi, who are you?

Franziska Müller

I’m Franziska, a business economist who in 2016 completed a master’s degree in Applied IT and Learning at the University of Gothenburg. Since then, in addition to my full-time job, I have taken courses in psychology to meet the requirements for a doctoral position in the field. I entered the doctoral program in the autumn of 2021. Right now there is still a lot that I don’t know that I don’t know – I enjoy this as long as possible.

What is the focus of your thesis work?

In my thesis project I will focus on the self-employed and temporary agency workers in Sweden, different reasons for why individuals hold such an employment, and possible consequences for work-related attitudes and behaviors. I am currently preparing and testing the survey that we will send to solo self-employed and self-employed business owners.

What do you expect?

I have become a little tired of just having opinions and aim to learn more and contribute to knowledge about “new” forms of employment. I am motivated by the fact that the project is clearly connected to a target group that I recognize from my previous work experience. I am very grateful for the opportunity to do research together with such talented and experienced researchers in the field and know that I will learn a lot during the journey.

Advisors: Claudia Bernhard-Oettel, Constanze Eib & Lena Låstad
 

Philip Ström

Hi, who are you?

Philip Ström

I am a licensed psychologist and graduated from Uppsala University in the spring of 2015. Since then, I have been working with personnel selection focusing mainly on implementation and training in psychometrics and assessment. I was admitted as a doctoral student in the autumn of 2021.

What is the focus of your thesis work?

I am writing my thesis in the NOWSTARS project focusing on employees in the Retail sector. My focus will be on how different types of employment contracts (e.g., temporary and employment by the hour) relate to work-related attitudes and well-being among the employees in this sector. I will investigate the characteristics associated with different types of employment contracts, employee perceptions of work and how such factors are related to different outcomes including job satisfaction and mental health.

What do you expect?

I expect to gain a lot of new knowledge in a stimulating and learning work environment, surrounded by curious and open-minded colleagues, always with sound critical perspectives at hand. I hope that my time in the project will teach me the craft of research thoroughly, which will be associated with many challenges but also successes to celebrate!

Advisors: Jacobus Pienaar, Helena Falkenberg & Magnus Sverke
 

Anna Tanimoto

Hi, who are you?

Anna Tanimoto

Hi! I’m Anna, a doctoral student at the Department of Psychology, and a member of the NOWSTARS research team. I started my PhD in September 2020 in the academia project, one of the four sectors under investigation in our research program. In the past year, we have been making preparations for our first data collection, a questionnaire study. I have also conducted a number of analyses on data collected in 2016 and am currently preparing a manuscript based on these, which will provide us with a pre-pandemic look into the psychosocial work environment in higher education institutions in Sweden. In addition, I’ve spent the last year completing course work and preparing a number of publications, including a book chapter on the characteristics and conditions of nonstandard employment, as well as an article based on my master’s thesis which was recently published in the Journal of Occupational Health (doi: 10.1002/1348-9585.12253).

What is the focus of your thesis work?

My thesis seeks to clarify if and how certain working environment conditions are related to the professional and personal lives of individuals working in higher education in Sweden. The thesis will consist of three studies: two questionnaire studies, one primary study and one follow-up study in order to examine possible changes over time, and a qualitative interview study which will allow for a more nuanced depiction of how various perceptions of working conditions coincide with experiences of work–life balance and well-being. 

What do you expect?

Having just completed my first year, it is clear that a doctoral education provides numerous tangible learning outcomes in addition to being a vehicle for more “intangible” learning opportunities too. In the next three years, I look forward to honing my skills as a researcher and an academic writer, while also gaining experience as a teacher and advisor to undergraduate psychology students. I also hope to establish stronger connections with colleagues and researchers in my field and to expand my professional network nationally and internationally. When it comes to investigating the academic work environment in Sweden, my colleagues and I hope that this project will draw attention to the challenges as well as the opportunities which individuals working in higher education institutions encounter today. 

Advisors: Petra Lindfors & Anne Richter

Originally posted on 4 October 2021.