Researcher in the field of (mental) health, education and employment, in the research group Working Life. Most of my work has been focused on randomized controlled trials of interventions for various marginalized groups. My primary focus has been on young adults who are not in employment or education, and I lead the NORCE initiative on Youth Exclusion.
Our most recent project, Engagement, Growth And General Education in Norwegian folk high schools (ENGAGE), investigates the impact and meeting of Norwegian Folk High Schools on youth engagement and participation in society. It is the largest study on this subject to date, exploring a largely overlooked aspect in education research.
My PhD project was a randomized controlled trial of Individual Placement and Support (IPS) for young adults at risk of early disability due to various social and/or health-related problems. This is an important and vulnerable group at risk of early exclusion from working life, and the study showed that IPS was effective in helping this group enter the labor market. In the following years I worked on similar projects involving refugees in Bergen, and people with chronic pain conditions in the Oslo-area.
I have experience in coordinating and leading Norwegian and European research projects funded by the Research Council of Norway and EU JPND (including the multinational cluster-randomised trial MIDDEL: https://middel-project.eu), and lead two work packages in a project funded by Horizon Europe.
