Special Call for PhD Student to Project on Women’s Entrepreneurship

Jönköping International Business School (JIBS) is hiring a PhD student in Business Administration to join a research project on women’s entrepreneurship.

Jönköping International Business School (JIBS) is one of four schools within Jönköping University. We offer an international and team-oriented workplace with competitive education programmes, across Bachelor, Master and Doctoral levels, as well as a thriving research environment. Our mission is to advance the theory and practice of business with specific focus on entrepreneurship, ownership and renewal. Our guiding principles are: international at heart, entrepreneurial in mind and responsible in action. JIBS is double-accredited, by EQUIS and AACSB. JIBS ranks among the top 100 schools in the Financial Times European Business School ranking.

The position is connected to the Media, Management and Transformation Centre (MMTC) at JIBS. Focusing on digitalization, sustainability and globalization as driving forces of business and industry transformation, MMTC aims to be a meeting place and service provider to academia, practitioners and the wider society.  

Working tasks

As a PhD student you join a vibrant research environment. For more information about our PhD programme, please visit our information page.

We offer a fully financed position. Your time will be devoted to your doctoral studies (80%) including coursework and writing a doctoral thesis. Remaining time (20%) is allocated for teaching and administrative tasks. The position provides ample opportunities for enhancing your teaching skills and for personal development.

This position is made possible due to a special grant and is part of a larger research project. This means that the applicant must be interested in working on the topic of women’s entrepreneurship in Sweden. The larger project, of which the doctoral research will be part of and contribute to, is described below:

The Path to Taking Charge – Supporting Women in Daring to Take Entrepreneurial Action

Sweden consistently ranks highly in international comparisons regarding economic innovativeness. Despite Sweden’s strong commitment to gender equality and its early efforts to mitigate common entrepreneurial obstacles identified internationally, entrepreneurship in Sweden remains gendered. Currently, fewer than 30% of entrepreneurs in Sweden are women, and significantly fewer women than men initiate new entrepreneurial activities.

Therefore, cultivating an entrepreneurial mindset that empowers women to pursue and enact identified entrepreneurial opportunities could be a crucial 'missing piece' in enabling women's entrepreneurial engagement. The project aims to develop and test a toolbox designed to help women build an entrepreneurial mindset, enhancing their preparedness to engage entrepreneurially in new or existing organizations.

The research team comprises Leona Achtenhagen, Lucia Naldi, and Sumaya Hashim from JIBS. These scholars have extensive experience in women’s entrepreneurship research, entrepreneurship education, external collaboration, and doctoral supervision.

Qualifications

To be eligible for the position, you have:

• A Master’s degree or have achieved at least 240 credits/ECTS, with a minimum of 60 credits/ECTS achieved at the second cycle level, or otherwise acquired equivalent knowledge in Sweden or abroad
• A minimum of 90 ECTS credits in Business Administration

Furthermore, you should have:

• Fluency in written and spoken English and ideally speak Swedish and another language common among immigrant communities, such as Arabic
• Fit with the research project financing this PhD
• Good collaboration and communication skills, the ability to finish dedicated assignments/tasks on time
• Ambition to pursue an international research career

It is meritorious if you have:

• Prior research experience
• Prior knowledge on women entrepreneurship or immigrant entrepreneurship
• Ability to connect, network and partner with external organizations

Other characteristics valued at JIBS are an international outlook; teaching and/or professional experience; and an ability to communicate effectively with different stakeholders in and around the university environment. A successful candidate should enjoy and be stimulated by working independently as well as working in teams.

Information

We offer a fully financed full-time position which is limited in accordance with the applicable collective agreement for doctoral students. The start date of the employment is 2025-09-01 or according to an agreement.

Employment as a doctoral student normally covers five years, of which four years (80%) consist of full-time studies. The employment is extended annually based on the individual study plan. The salary is regulated according to a special doctoral student ladder.

Application

Welcome with your application, no later than 2025-06-01.

Your application is preferred in PDF form through our recruitment system and must include:

• A letter of intent, answering the following three questions: Why do you want to be a PhD student? Why do you want to be a PhD student at JIBS? Why should we select you for such a position?
• A preliminary research proposal (max. 3000 words), describing your present research interest, its fit to the funding project on women’s entrepreneurship, and to the MMTC research centre
• A copy of your Master thesis (if not finished at the time of application, please send a current draft or an executive summary of it) and, where applicable, other publications
• Course transcripts and grades from both Bachelor and Master degrees. If you have not yet completed your Master degree, provide a transcript of courses and grades received so far
• CV
• A reference letter of a person who can evaluate your academic potential
• Contact information (name, phone numbers and email) of two additional references

Assessment

Candidates will be assessed based on the following criteria:

• formal qualification requirements for admission into the PhD programme
• quality of application documents
• academic merits and research potential
• personal profile and motivation
• fit with JIBS’ working culture and research areas
• fit with MMTC
• fit with the research project

The selection process takes place on a continuous basis. This implies that we can offer a candidate the position before June 01. All decisions will be made and communicated by July 2025, or earlier.