Alumni interview: Tove Eliasson

Tove Eliasson earned her PhD from the Department of Economics in 2014 with her thesis "Empirical Essays on Wage Setting and Immigrant Labour Market Opportunities". Since then, she has worked as a senior investigator at the Public Employment Service and as an research officer at the Swedish Government Offices. Today, she works as an analyst at Region Sörmland.

Why did you choose to apply for the PhD programme at the Department of Economics?

I applied for the PhD programme because, to be honest, I didn’t feel that I knew very much at all after completing my undergraduate studies. I felt incredibly theoretical and couldn’t understand how it would be useful in practice out in the real world. So, I simply wanted to understand more before setting out to work with these issues.

How has your PhD training influenced your professional career?

It has influenced my career in that I have found it easy to secure the jobs I have applied for. I have also been regarded as competent in the roles I have held. I actually believe that I have been treated with more respect than some other "younger" women may have encountered in working life.

What skills and abilities did you develop during your time as a doctoral student that you have found useful since?

I learned an incredible amount during my time as a doctoral student. In the first few years after graduating, I primarily benefited from the ability to process and analyse large sets of microdata and to develop econometric models. Later on, I have mainly used the ability to analyse large amounts of research and information, to assess, draw conclusions, and distil the most important points.

What is your current job?

Today, I work for a Region, within an operational area called Sustainable Regional Development. My role is as an analyst, but I work very broadly with many different issues, as one often does in smaller organisations. I divide my time between analysing topics such as population development, child poverty, green transition, and travel habits, and pushing forward initiatives around monitoring, evaluation, and learning within the region.

Do you have any advice or tips for those considering applying for the PhD programme in Economics?

One thing I was always keen on was that what I did should create "benefit" out in the "real world". I think that, generally, research may focus a little too little on this, so if I were to offer any advice, it would be to establish more contact with practitioners outside of academia. Try to find out what they really need help with. That way, it will probably be much easier — and more enjoyable — to write a good thesis.