Mia Vabø

Mia Vabø is a Professor at Oslo Metropolitan University (OsloMet), affiliated with the Faculty of Teacher Education and International Studies under the Department of Vocational Teacher Education. She is also a key member of the Center for Welfare and Working Life Research (NOVA), contributing to Health and Welfare Research.

• Role: Professor, Study Leader Area 1
• Contact: Knowledge Road 55, 2007 Basement Office KC348 | Mobile: +47 470 25 489 | Office: +47 672 36 749 | Email: mia.vabo@oslomet.no

Her research focuses on sociological and institutional transformations in healthcare and welfare systems, particularly examining governance trends, co-creation, and care ideologies in Nordic eldercare. She has led major Norwegian Research Council (NFR) projects and participated in international networks like NORDCARE I and II.

• Key Research Areas: Working and learning conditions in care services, political and cultural impacts on workplace frameworks, interprofessional collaboration, and everyday rehabilitation.
• Methodology: Utilizes ethnographic studies, cross-sectional surveys, and comparative analysis across national contexts.

Publication Trends (2019-2025): Recent works emphasize the Norwegian staffing crisis in eldercare, trust-based reforms, enablement protocols, minority language challenges in vocational training, and institutional contradictions between policy rhetoric and practice.

Collaborations: Works closely with researchers like Lea Graff, Petter Gulbrandsen, and Siw Helen Martinsen Watz on projects related to Nordic eldercare systems and vocational education.