Ylva Wallinder
Senior Lecturer
Department of Sociology and WorkAbout Ylva Wallinder
Ylva obtained her PhD in Sociology at the University of Gothenburg. Her field of research focus on labour market issues, related to welfare, lifelong learning and social mobility.
Current research
Ylva defended her thesis in November 2018.
The studies presented in the thesis examine perceived labour market opportu-nities and conditions for labour market mobility for European employees. The European labour market strategy has created an opportunity-oriented employability-logic that emphasises individual characteristics and individual responsibility for employment. Within this logic, individuals are active job seekers and should continuously develop their employability skills, a one-dimensional focus on employability. In contrast, the thesis argues that the current employability discourse fails to account for two further relevant and interdependent dimensions of employability, namely the institutional context and the local recognition of employees’ resources at the workplace. Thus, individual characteristics, institutional conditions and local recognition for resources are vital for employment. The institutional context influences individuals’ access to education and employment, as well as employers’ mode of recruiting employees. The resources held by individuals are also relational in the sense that they are influenced by everyday practices of recognition and workplace situations.
The theoretical argument of the thesis is that labour market opportunities are primarily socially framed, which challenge the current European opportunity-oriented policy approach. The process of social framing is a consequence of the dominant institutional conditions and the local social settings which provide or limit access to important labour market resources. As such, the thesis acknowledges that employability requires recognition of individuals’ resources, and that this recognition is context-dependent.
Teaching experience
Teaching Quantitative methodology (including Bachelor and Masters level) and Theory of Science from spring 2013. Introductory course to Sociology from autumn 2015, Research Ethics and Research Design from autumn 2016, Department of Sociology and Work Science. Secon cycle sociology-cources from spring 2017. Course administrator 2016-2017 (L3K50G/LGK50G, Theory of Science for teachers and theory of Professions, for Pre-school teachers and high school teachers).
Supervising Bachelor theses since 2014, in Sociology, Human Resource Management and European Studies. Supervising both Quantitative and Qualitative methods.