Authors:Anders Buch Abstract: I am delighted to present the first issue of the 13th volume of Nordic Journal of Working Life Studies. In this issue, you will find four research articles from Finland, Sweden, Denmark, and Iceland. PubDate: 2023-03-07 DOI: 10.18291/njwls.136347
Authors:Klara Þorsteinsdóttir, Thamar Melanie Heijstra Abstract: Like other Nordic nations, Iceland has a reputation of gender-equality, despite 98% of the country’s nursing profession being women. This paper examines power dynamics within the profession. Fifteen semi-structured interviews with nurses were analyzed with a thematic analysis. Our theoretical framework draws on an ecological perspective highlighting nurses’ vulnerability to power dynamics, and Allen’s work on organizational labor and the invisibility of nurses’ ‘glue work’. The findings reveal that the nurses experience power imbalances when their autonomy is restricted in cooperation with other professionals, demanding their time and disrespecting their professional workspace, and they miss support from their supervisors. They feel their professionalism is belittled, and that the gender imbalance hinders equality. For coping and meeting norms and expectations, the nurses use silencing, which with time pressure and unclear boundaries preserve and enhance stereotypical images. Attracting more male nurses could enhance equality, but additional effort at multiple levels is needed. PubDate: 2022-08-26 DOI: 10.18291/njwls.133852
Authors:Henrik Barth, Ghazal Zalkat Abstract: The recent forced migration to Europe has created more challenges for the labor market integration. However, the Swedish government encourages unemployed immigrants to seek employment in the farming, gardening, and forestry industries. Thus, this article focuses on the matching process in the Swedish agricultural sector by using an exploratory, qualitative, in-depth interview with representatives involved in the matching process. Immigrants experience challenges of Swedish language proficiency, lacking a driving license and adapting to new cultures in the workplace, while employers attribute challenges of effective hiring process and the absence of evidence of immigrants’ work experience. Furthermore, the employment service offices struggle with scant knowledge of agricultural employment that needs to be combined with limited contact with employers and the bureaucratic delays caused by requirements of qualifications validation. The paper concludes with a Labour Market Matching Model, which focuses on critical aspects before, during, and after the matching process. PubDate: 2022-07-26 DOI: 10.18291/njwls.133567
Authors:Jaana-Piia Mäkiniemi, Salla Ahola, Eveliina Korkiakangas, Tiina Kaksonen, Kirsi Heikkilä-Tammi, Jaana Laitinen, Markku Kekkonen, Matti Muhos, Tuula Oksanen, Harri Oinas-Kukkonen, Anna-Mari Simunaniemi Abstract: Even though entrepreneurial work is stressful, health promotion interventions are seldom targeted at entrepreneurs, and we know little about how to reach and recruit this hard-to-reach group to such studies. We described and evaluated the recruitment process of a mobile health application intervention study aimed at enhancing work ability and recovery. Finnish microentrepreneurs (N = 1243) were registered for the intervention. We analyzed surveys, interviews, and registration data. Most participants registered through email invitations. The registered microentrepreneurs were not representative of all Finnish microentrepreneurs; females and highly educated individuals were overrepresented, and those working in agriculture were underrepresented. Differences be- tween registration routes were observed: females registered more often through the self-enrollment route, whereas males and older entrepreneurs registered more often through email invitations. The findings indicate that recruitment strategies are associated with participant characteristics. To increase participation rates, persuasive recruitment approaches are needed. PubDate: 2022-06-21 DOI: 10.18291/njwls.132982
Authors:Annette Meng, Iben Louise Karlsen, Vilhelm Borg, Thomas Clausen Abstract: Background: Individual use of selection, optimisation, and compensation (SOC) is positively associated with work ability; however, this association has never been explored at the group or leadership levels. Aim: The aim of this study is to explore the strength of associations between employee-rated use of SOC at the individual, group, and leadership levels and self-rated work ability among nurses. Method: A random sample of 2000 nurses were invited to participate in a questionnaire survey, among whom 785 responded. Results: Employee-rated use of SOC at the individual and group levels was positively associated with self-rated work ability when controlling for psychosocial working environment factors and health. The association was strongest at the group level. Conclusion: Efforts to enhance the collective use of SOC may prove beneficial to maintain the work ability of nurses and retain them in the profession. PubDate: 2022-04-30 DOI: 10.18291/njwls.132467
Open Access journal
[2 journals]
