Alma Persson

Senior Associate Pro, Head of Division

Gender in organizations and working life

As a gender researcher with a great interest in organizations, I work with questions about gender relations, norms and working conditions. In my research, I have been particularly interested in how gender and equality are done in male-dominated organizations.

In my dissertation, I studied gender relations in the Swedish Armed Forces, and what happened to ideas about women, men and soldiers in the transition from a national defense force to an international operational defense. Since then, I have continued to follow the Armed Forces, both with a focus on gender and LGBTQ issues. I am currently working on a monograph, in Swedish titled Kamouflage, outlining 75 years of LGBT history in the Swedish Armed Forces. I am also part of a research project about being a manager part time, where we focus on the conditions for people working both as managers and employees.

Publications

2025

Alma Persson, Fia Cottrell‐Sundevall (2025)

Making Room for Women: Gender and Space at Work in the Swedish Armed Forces Gender, Work and Organization, Vol. 32, p. 1875-1886 (Article in journal)

https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/gwao.13235

2022

Alma Persson, Fia Sundevall (2022)

Det militära arbetets genusgränser: Inger-Lena Hultberg, Sveriges första och sista extra flygingenjörsaspirant Personhistorisk Tidskrift, Vol. 118, p. 28-44 (Article in journal)

Sanna Strand, Alma Persson, Fia Sundevall (2022)

Solving 'the Uniform Issue': Gender and Professional Identity in the Swedish Military Nordic Journal of Working Life Studies, Vol. 12, p. 3-21 (Article in journal)

https://dx.doi.org/10.18291/njwls.131970

2021

Beate Sløk-Andersen, Alma Persson (2021)

Letting the right ones in: gendered boundary work in the military profession Transformations of the military profession and professionalism in Scandinavia, p. 49-70 (Chapter in book)

Alma Persson (2021)

"Nu lägger vi skammen på bordet": Terapeutiska strategier i mötet med våldsutsatta män Socialmedicinsk Tidskrift, Vol. 4, p. 684-690 (Article in journal)

CV

Academic degree

• 2020
Associate professor (Docent) in Gender Studies, Linköping University

• 2011
PhD in Technology and social change, Linköping University. Dissertation: “Changing boundaries, defending boundaries. Gender relations in the Swedish Armed Forces.

• 2002
MSc in Social and Cultural Analysis Program, Linköping University

Employment

• 2024
Senior associate professor

• 2018
Senior lecturer, Gender Studies, Linköping University

• 2013
Assistant senior lecturer, Gender Studies, Linköping University

• 2012
Acting senior lecturer at the Department of Economic History and International Relations, Stockholm University

• 2005
Doctoral student, Technology and Social Change, Linköping University

Management assignment

• 2019
Head of Department, Gender Studies, Linköping University

• 2017
Director of Studies, Gender Studies, Linköping University

Research

Kollegor som sitter vid ett bord framför en dator och diskuterar.

Being a manager part time – work in the borderland between being a manager and an employee

Being both a manager and an employee raises questions about responsibility, relationships and working conditions. This project highlights the challenges, opportunities and strategies that emerge in the space between leadership and everyday work.

A group of fingerprints that are glowing in the dark.

P6: Body, Knowledge, Subjectivity

A research collective that explores social, cultural, and philosophical aspects of technology in practices. We are active in the fields of knowledge production and movement, feminist theory, and medical humanities.

News

Research on exoskeletons and cleaners receives SEK 16.7 million

LiU receives SEK 16.7 million from AFA Försäkring for research in the field of work environment and health. The projects concern exoskeletons, cleaning staff, part-time managers and digital work environments in health and social care.

Abuse in healthcare – a hidden problem

Abuse in healthcare is a hidden problem we should be able to deal with. But the system is reluctant to discuss the problem openly. This is the view of Barbro Wijma, senior professor at LiU with over 20 years’ research experience of the subject.

Organisation

People in silhouette in different bright colours

Gender studies (TEMAG)

At Tema Genus, we conduct research, PhD training, undergraduate and master’s education, and social outreach, all with a foundation in interdisciplinary gender studies and often together with international collaborators.

Drone image of the Tema building at Campus Valla

Department of Thematic Studies (TEMA)

In an increasingly complicated world, there is a need for researchers that can handle both breadth and depth, and can collaborate across disciplinary borders. Major societal questions are studied from an interdisciplinary perspective at Tema.

Studenthuset on Campus Valla in Linköping

About LiU

Linköping University, LiU, offers innovative education and boundary-crossing research. The students are among the most desirable in the labour market and international rankings consistently place LiU as a leading global university.