Perceptions About Climate in the Academic Community: A Comperative Study Between Norway and Brazil (OsloMet)

franro on 1. desember 2025

In this project you can write your thesis both in English and Norwegian.

Background for the project

The higher education system plays an important role in the impact of climate change on people’s physical, social and psychological lives as it trains those who will be needed to do the groundwork of mitigation and adaptation in the coming 30-50 years.

Through questionnaires and qualitative interviews, this study aims therefore to understand the perceptions and experience of climate change in the academic community (students, academic and admin staff) at OsloMet and University of Oslo through a comparative analysis with academic communities in Brazil. The specific goals are to: 1) analyze the perceptions and experience of climate change for communities in different Brazilian biomes (the Amazon, the Atlantic Forest and the Caatinga) experiencing acute climate change (wildfires, extreme droughts, abrupt drops in river levels); 2) analyze social representations of climate change in the academic community (students, faculty, and technical-administrative staff); 3) to explore macro (between Brazil and Norway) and micro (between Brazilian biomes) intercultural differences as the basis for constructing social representations of climate change.

The study to be conducted in Norway has therefore the specific aim of understanding the perceptions and experience of climate change in the academic community (students, academic and administrative staff) at OsloMet (Department of Social Work, Child Welfare and Social Policy) and University of Oslo (Department of Psychology) through a comparative analysis with the academic communities investigated in Brazil. The results of this project can contribute to increase awareness among students and faculty members about why and how climate change should be addressed in the curriculum of social sciences courses, and to enhance student and faculty competence in integrating knowledge about climate psychology and mental health from an interdisciplinary and global perspective.

Possible themes for students

Systematic review on perceptions about climate change among the academic community in social sciences; differences between the perceptions about climate change among the academic communities in Social Work, Barnevern and Psychology programs;  potential differences in similarities between perceptions of climate change between groups that experience gradual and acute changes in the global South (Brazil) and North (Norway).

The project has been approved by SIKT and we will be initiating data collection in Spring/2026. Students can therefore engage in data collection for either the quantitative part (online questionnaires) or the qualitative one (individual interviews). Data collection has been initiated in Brazil.

Relevance

The project suits well students from sosialt arbeid and Nordic Social Policy and Global Sustainable Development. There is also possibility for Barnevern students to conduct a specific study on how studying climate change is relevant for barnevernpedagoger, children and families.

The project can take up to 3 students who can also have the opportunity to meet Master and Phd students from Brazil involved in the project.

Project owners

Project coordinator in Norway: Associate Professor Karine Porpino Viana (Department of Social Work, Child Welfare and Social Policy)

Main collaborator at the Department of Psychology (UiO): Professor Thomas Schubert

Project coordinator in Brazil: Renata dos Santos Aléssio (Federal University of Pernambuco, Brazil).

Contact person

Karine Porpino Viana – kavia1530@oslomet.no

SCILLED – Strategies for Competence Integration and Lifelong Learning in European Destinations. The Case of Female Migrant Healthcare Workers in Scandinavia (NOVA)

franro on 26. november 2025

Project background and relevance

Our contemporary society experiences a demographic shift, characterised by starkly decreasing fertility and birth rates, an aging population and a constantly increasing need for healthcare workers. By 2070, about 21% more people over 50 will be in need of professionally provided long-term care compared to 2020. In contrast to this stands the continuously shrinking labour force, around 40% of the current medical staff is already close to retirement and needs to be replaced.

Accordingly, we need strategies and measures on regional and national level to attract and retain healthcare workers to the labour market. Especially the retention of workers becomes increasingly significant, as recent data confirms that the dropout rate among healthcare workers is particularly high due to long working hours, demanding tasks and incompatibility of the working field with familial obligations.

In fact, the latter comes as no surprise if we consider that women make up 78% of workers in health and social care, but only 1 out of 3 female healthcare workers occupy leadership positions in the sector. A further central issue that must be considered in this context is the central role of foreign-born workers for the healthcare segment, which represents one of the major employment sectors for qualified migrants.

Norway employs currently 44% foreign-trained healthcare workers. They provide not only for a significant base of formal qualifications but also the rather informal “insider knowledge” on migrant communities (language, traditions, religious beliefs), which becomes increasingly responsive in our highly diversified society.

Project objectives

The SCILLED project ties in to these premises with an interdisciplinary approach combining gender, migration and educational studies and aims to investigate how female migrant healthcare workers are valorised in three Scandinavian countries, that are considered at the vanguard when it comes to (professional) adult education and upskilling: Denmark, Norway and Sweden.

In particular the project is interested to investigate:
• how formal and informal qualfication of female migrant healthcare workers in institutions are recognised and valorised;
• what is done to train und upskill female migrant healthcare workers adequately to keep the work sector attractive for them and to facilitate a progressing in their career.

The SCILLED project has started in august 2025 and will have a duration of 2 years.

Methods

To elaborate these two main research concerns the project builds on a mixed-methods research approach.

•Quantitative data collection and analysis: we will send out a survey to approximately 1000 healthcare institutions (clinics, hospitals, specialized clinics) to inquire information on how (migrant) healthcare workers are hired, trained and upskilled.

•Qualitative data collection and analysis: approximately 50 female migrant healthcare workers will be asked about their personal experience and professional integration in the local labour market of the host country, with regard to the application and recruitment process (recognition and valorisation of qualifications) and the working and education context (training opportunities and engagement).

•Project findings will be published in scientific publications, at international conferences and in the SCILLED podcast series, that will be co-produced by research participants.

Potential thesis themes

•Healthcare systems in Denmark, Norway and Sweden
•Literacy, Numeracy and Problem-solving competences of adults in Scandinavia
•Professional training and upskilling in healthcare institutions:
-Assessment of training needs
-Development and design of training courses
-Implementation and promotion of professional trainings
-Employee engagement
•Labour market integration of female migrants in Scandinavia
-Recognition of skills and formal qualifications
-Career progress in the host country
-Acceptance, relationships and network in the local labour market of the host country
-Willingness and personally perceived opportunities to re-/upskill
•Strategies for attracting and retaining staff in the healthcare sector

Envisaged collaboration and possible tasks for students

•Desk research and comparative analysis of Scandinavian healthcare systems
•Assistance in the design and implementation of quantitative research instruments with more than 1000 healthcare institutions in Denmark, Norway and Sweden
•Assistance in analysis of survey results from healthcare institutions in Denmark, Norway and Sweden
•Assistance with qualitative data collection and analysis in semi-structured interviews and focus groups with female healthcare workers with migratory background

What we offer

•Master thesis supervision by experienced researcher in a pleasant and stimulating environment
•Skill development on the work cycle of applied research, in particular on:
-design, development and implementation of research instruments (assessment of research needs, pilot trial, field preparation and access)
-quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis (analytical framework development and testing)
•Joint publications, if feasible and in accordance with student competences and interests
•Active involvement in podcast production phase and possibility to co-host one episode of the podcast series (cfr. Methodological approach)
•Insights into European research project management

Contact

Tanja Schroot (tanja.schroot@oslomet.no) | NOVA – Norwegian Social Research, OsloMet

FURTHER PROJECT INFORMATION
https://www.oslomet.no/en/research/research-projects/migrant-lifelong-learning
https://www.linkedin.com/company/scilled-strategies-for-competence-integration-and-lifelong-learning-in-european-destinations/?viewAsMember=true