What are you researching in your Ph.D. project?
In my Ph.D. project, I am investigating how long-term unemployed citizens with complex social and health challenges experience their processes at the job center, and the conditions under which frontline staff work to facilitate these processes. It is a qualitative study where I have spent considerable time conducting ethnographic fieldwork in an employment initiative and interviewing both frontline staff and citizens in the process. To my great pleasure, the project is designed as a longitudinal study, which means I have had the opportunity to revisit the employment initiative and re-interview both citizens and staff multiple times.
I hope to contribute a public health science perspective on this group and the processes they are involved in, which are often their primary contact with the welfare state. We recently had an article accepted that deals with the different time structures that apply to both citizens and frontline staff – hereby an invitation to read it! I hope that my project can contribute knowledge that can help qualify processes in the welfare state – highly relevant in relation to the new reform of the employment effort.
How has your stay in Australia contributed to your research?
I was on an exchange with Michael McGann at the Australian Welfare and Work Lab at the University of Melbourne. It has contributed enormously to my project. It was exciting to experience a new and different research environment and participate in the seminars and conferences held during my stay. Their research area is closely related to my own, so I had ample opportunity to get feedback on my project, especially the article I am currently working on. It has particularly equipped me with an increased focus on the governance logics that characterize active labor market policy in both Denmark and Australia.
Can you share an experience from Australia that had a significant impact on you or your project?
There is a big difference between being a Ph.D. student in Denmark and Australia. My stay made it clear to me how much I appreciate being a Ph.D. student at SIF, where my impression is that Ph.D. students are very much an established part of the institute.
A memorable experience could be that I had to wrestle a terrifyingly large spider out of my bathroom on a trip to northern Australia.
It has not affected my project more than necessary. Perhaps an increased independence.
What advice would you give to others considering a stay abroad in connection with their project?
It required a lot of planning, but I think it was worth it. If you can make it fit with your everyday life at home, it is a unique opportunity to go out and experience something new. I would recommend exploring the possibility of getting support from grants or funds. It is expensive to find a place to live abroad.
