Berntson, Erik (Department of Psychology)

Postdoc grant: Employability perceptions - relationship with gender, age and health. Is the labour market divided into segments?

Erik Berntson — Sat, 22 May 2010 02:00:24 GMT

Employability is a concept that has become more important due to changes in working life over the past decades. A more flexible environment in combination with individualization imply that people are faced with a more turbulent working environment, manifested by organizational changes for example. At the same time, working life has been individualized, indicating that the individual to a higher degree is responsible for a successful work life career. In this context, the concept of employability has become more important to people. Being employable is important since people no longer necessarily work within one organization a whole working life, and consequently has to change jobs occasionally. The perception of employability, on the other hand, is important as such feelings imply a new form of security, the so called employability security, where security is due the ability of being able to find new employment.

In this post-doc project there are two central research questions. Firstly, an important issue to investigate is if there are any dual labor market effects. In line with this, important research questions are how people in different labor market groups report their perceptions of employability, and furthermore, if there are any differences in the perception of employability depending on age, gender and socio-economic position. Secondly, it is necessary to further investigate the association between employability and health. Previous research has found that employability is related to health and well-being. However, it is somewhat unclear in what direction, why another question in the present project is to investigate if employability and health are reciprocally associated.

Characteristics of social relationships, organisational prerequisites and significance for the individual in contemporary working life

Tina Forsberg Kankkunen, Erik Berntson — Sat, 22 May 2010 02:02:46 GMT

Work organisations occupy a central arena where social changes at the macro level are manifested in everyday relationships among people. The effects of changes in working life on individuals are mediated by interactions in their workplace relationships. Changing forms of organisation and more flexible forms of employment are creating workplaces based less on stable, clearly defined relationships than has previously been the case. Social relationships, at the same time, are receiving increasing focus in the organisation and management of employees, in the form of their relationships to management, fellow team members, and clients.

Our general aim is to seek knowledge concerning the significance of these social relationships with respect to men's and women's job performances, their health and their enthusiasm for work, in various industries in contemporary working life.

The aim of the project is to describe (a) those circumstances and forms of social relationships which favour both organisations and their employees, and (b) those which have negative effects. The project, a continuation of five ongoing or recently concluded studies, will use existing data in quantitative and qualitative analyses. Changes in and the significance of social relationships in the quantitative material will be studied by combined analyses of multiple materials. The form and content of these relationships will be studied using the qualitative material. Many questions in the investigation address structural differences having to do with gender segregation in the labour market. Thus, we are particularly interested in the significance of social relationships for individuals who face different conditions in the labour market (in terms of class, education and gender).

The findings are expected to have practical applications for managers, employees, organisation consultants and occupational healthcare providers at the levels and contexts at which the knowledge can best be implemented.

Organizational prerequisites for management – healthy jobs and efficient operations in public sector

Tina Forsberg Kankkunen, Erik Berntson — Sat, 22 May 2010 02:02:46 GMT