Alma Persson

Senior Associate Professor, 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. The two research projects I am currently participating in focus on the gender-neutral conscription that is currently taking shape in Sweden, but also on gender and security work in a broader Nordic context.

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 (Article in journal)

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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)

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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

• 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

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

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.