Christina Björklund

Christina Björklund

Principal Researcher
Telephone: +46852485263
Visiting address: Nobels väg 13, 17177 Solna
Postal address: C6 Institutet för miljömedicin, C6 IIR Björklund, 171 77 Stockholm

About me

  • I am a senior researcher and a research group leader at Karolinska
    Institutet. I have my PhD in psychology and docent in Business administration
    from Stockholm School of Economics.

    Education:

    Docent, Stockholm School of Economics, Busniess Adminstration, 2014.
    PhD in psychology, Stockholm School of Economics, Economic psychology unit,
    2001.
    Licentiate, Stockholm School of Economics, Economic psychology unit, 1997.
    B.A in psychology , University of Stockholm, 1993
    B.A. in psychology and business administration, Bethany College, Kansas, USA,
    1991

Research

  • My research focuses on different aspects of organizational behavior such as work motivation, bullying and sexual harassment, managers and leadership, well-being, work performance, teams, and work environment. Most of the research that I have conducted is related to applied psychology, which relates to problem solving within human behavior such as health issues, and workplace issues. I have also taken part in research projects focusing on intervention and implementation. Implementation research involves research on the implementation and dissemination of effective interventions into practice. These include the development of national guidelines. I am a co-author to several, for example Guidelines for mental illness in the workplace which was developed in collaboration with other researchers, practitioner and Swedish Association of Occupational Health and Safety to prevent mental ill-health. Another guideline that I have co-authored is Guidelines for managing social health risks at work – victimization and bullying.

    Research areas of interest
    • Managers as a group both in public and private sector
    • Work motivation and its relationship to well-being and performance
    • Organizational and social working environment and its relationship to health and performance.
    • Bullying and harassment and its relation to mental ill-health
    • Gender-based harassment in academia (bullying, incivility, sexual harassment)
    • Psychological safety and its relationship to health and safety
    • Interventions and implementation

    Research projects with me as a PI
    • Hierarchies of Health, which looked at managers on different levels in the public sector.
    • Managers in the Firing Line, which examined managers as targets of bullying.
    • A project on young managers from an individual and organizational perspective in the private sector [1].
    • Work environment and productivity in academia (PI together with prof. Irene Jensen)
    • The research and collaboration programme on gender-based vulnerability at KI [2].
    • The role of psychological safety in promoting occupational safety and health in private organizations.
    Other projects that I am a part of but not PI are implementation research studies which,
    aims to identify effective implementation strategies for the implementation
    of an occupational-health guideline to prevent mental ill-health among school
    teachers.

    Commission of trust
    2023- Chairman of KI Work Environment Committee [3].
    2022- Member of the work environment committee at the Institute of Environmental Medicine
    2020-2022 PI for the research and collaboration programme on gender-based vulnerability
    2021 - Expert advisor to the Swedish Work Environment Authority, focusing on victimization and bullying in academia.
    2017 -2022 Teacher representative at the Education Committee at the Institute of Environmental Medicine
    [1] https://www.afaforsakring.se/forskning/program/ung-i-arbetslivet/
    [2] https://ki.se/genusprogrammet
    [3] https://medarbetare.ki.se/arbetsmiljonamnden

Teaching

  • Course leader and examiner of the Assessment and Intervention course (7.5hp), Master’s programme Work and Health, IMM.
    Leadership course for Educational leaders at KI financed by KIs Committee for Higher Education.

Articles

All other publications

Grants

  • Swedish Research Council for Health Working Life and Welfare
    1 January 2025 - 31 December 2027
    Research problem and specific questionsTeacher retention is a problem for many schools. In some municipalities 15-25% of teachers quit every year. While some turnover is necessary, too much instability is harmful for both students’ results and teachers’ health. There is therefore an urgent need to minimize teacher turnover. Limitations of studies examining work-characteristics associated with teacher turnover are that they have mainly been cross-sectional register studies. Knowledge is lacking on the relative importance of these work-characteristics in teachers’ retention decision, and whether teachers are willing to make trade-offs between these characteristics. This project aims to investigate which work-related factors teachers consider in their decision to remain in the profession (aim 1)
    to examine the preferences of teachers and the trade-offs they are willing to make to stay in their profession (aim 2)
    to assess how national reforms align with teacher’s work-characteristic preferences (aim 3).Data and methodThe project applies a discrete-choice experiment (DCE), consisting of three parts: a Delphi-survey (n=30 teachers
    Aim 1), a DCE-survey (n=1500 teachers
    Aim 2), and four focus-group interviews (Aim 3). The Delphi-survey and DCE-survey allow for the quantification of the relative importance of teachers´ work characteristics and the trade-offs they are willing to make to remain in their profession. The interviews allow for situational context to be explored and influential ‘hidden’ variables to be elucidated. The interviews provide a more nuanced understanding of the preferences identified in the DCE-survey and of whether national reforms match teacher’s preferences.Societal relevance and utilisationDespite national reforms to attract and retain teachers, a shortage of ~12 000 teachers in Sweden is prognosed by 2035. This project will inform policymakers and schools on how to facilitate a work-environment that ensures teacher’s motivation to remain in their profession.Plan for project realisationPlan for realisation includes recruitment of participants, data-collections, statistical analysis, reporting and communicating results. The multidisciplinary group has extensive experience with the proposed methodology, including DCEs, and with conducting research in schools. Costs are mainly related to salaries.
  • Bank of Sweden Tercentenary Foundation
    1 January 2025 - 31 December 2027
    Despite national reforms and measures to attract and retain teachers, a shortage of ~12 000 teachers in Sweden, is prognosed by 2035. The project will provide insights into the factors that impact teacher retention and inform policies aimed at improving teacher job satisfaction and reducing turnover rates. The purpose is to examine teachers’ perceptions concerning the relative importance of different personal and work factors for their retention and to examine how existing national reforms and measures to attract, recruit and retain teachers align with teacher preferences, e.g., teacher salary structure, the introduction of support staff. The multidisciplinary group has experience with the methodology, and with conducting research in schools. The 3-year project consists of three consecutive studies combining a Delphi-method (n=30 teachers), a discrete choice experiment (DCE) conducted through a quantitative survey (n=1500 teachers), and a qualitative study using focus-group interviews. The Delphi-method and DCE allow for the quantification of the relative importance of teachers' work characteristics and the trade-offs they are willing to make. The interviews allow for situational context to be explored and influential ‘hidden’ variables to be elucidated and will provide a more nuanced understanding of the preferences identified and whether national reforms match teacher’s preferences.
  • Swedish Research Council for Health Working Life and Welfare
    10 December 2024 - 30 November 2026
    In this application we are applying for funding to convert our effective implementation strategy into a digital tool. The implementation strategy consists of the following components: educational meeting, implementation team, workshops, iterative problem-solving method and internal facilitator and supports organisations with the implementation of the national, evidence-based Guideline for the prevention of mental ill-health at the workplace. The goal of the tool is to make the strategy widely accessible and usable for organisations that seek support with the systematic prevention of mental ill-health among employees. The tool is expected to impact organisations’ routines and work-methods towards psychosocial risk management and employees’ mental health. By applying a user-centred approach, we will in a participatory manner include end-users’ perspectives, and ideas in converting the components of the implementation strategy to the digital tool. This will be done via design sessions and usability-testing. The tool will provide support through web-based education (e.g., pre-recorded webinars, training (e.g., video tutorials), manuals and worksheets. The target audience will be public-sector organisations (e.g., schools, elderly care, and social services), however the generic nature of the guideline and implementation strategy will make the tool applicable to other organisations.  The application builds on our previous projects and ongoing Forte-financed project, in which we tested the effectiveness and functioning of the implementation strategy in six Swedish municipalities among over 70 schools. The strategy was shown to be effective in improving adherence to the guideline. Moreover, results show that guideline adherence is associated with improvements in health outcomes and psychosocial work environment. The focus is now on the scale-up of the implementation strategy for widespread use through a digital tool to increase its uptake and population health impact.
  • Swedish Research Council for Health Working Life and Welfare
    1 December 2023 - 30 November 2026
    Research problem and specific questionsThe profession of publicly financed personal assistant provides opportunities for persons with disabilities (‘assistance users’) to participate fully in society. The profession has specific working conditions that make it essential to study from a health perspective: personal assistants work in various environments, they often work alone in the user’s home, under varying terms of employment depending on whether the assistance organizer is private, public, cooperative or the users themselves. Moreover, the profession has high levels of sickness absence, is female-dominated, low-waged, and requires no formal education. Therefore, research on how health and the work environment interact in this profession is necessary to ensure a sustainable working life. Previous research has highlighted the importance of employers (with responsibility for safety and health at work) in the return to work process.The aim is to examine personal assistants’ and their employers’ perceptions of facilitators and barriers for return to work after sickness absence due to common mental disorders (CMDs).Data and MethodThe project has a qualitative approach. Data will be collected through two semi-structured interviews three months apart with 20–25 personal assistants and 20–25 employers/ managers.Societal relevance and utilisationCMDs are common causes of sickness absence, and women have a higher risk of becoming sick-listed than men. The profession of personal assistants suffers from high sickness absence and various insecure working conditions. Knowledge should be translated into practical measures through collaboration, remain sensitive to the legal rights of assistance users, and be useful in employers’ occupational safety and health management.Plan for project realisationThe main costs consist of salaries for the projects’ researchers. Additional costs include fees for ethical review, transcription services, language review, and collaboration.
  • Swedish Research Council for Health Working Life and Welfare
    1 January 2020 - 31 December 2022
  • Of course I want to be a boss! A study of young managers from an individual and organizational perspective
    AFA Insurance
    1 February 2019 - 1 August 2023
  • Work environment and performance in academia (part 2)
    Karolinska Institutet
    1 January 2019 - 1 January 2020
  • Managers in the Firing Line! A study of managers who have been subjected to bullying and/or managers who have been accused of bullying
    AFA Insurance
    1 January 2015 - 31 December 2017
  • Work environment and performance in academia (Part 1)
    Karolinska Institutet
    1 January 2015 - 31 December 2016
  • Organizational and Individual Aspects of Bullying: A Four-Year Follow-Up of the AHA Method in an Academic Work Environment Compared to an Industrial Work Environment
    AFA Insurance
    1 January 2012 - 31 December 2014
  • How is the manager doing at work? A study of managers in various types of operations and their experience of the psychosocial work environment and health.
    AFA Insurance
    1 January 2010 - 31 December 2011

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