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- Grönberg, Per-Olof, et al.
(author)
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Desirable skills? : Non-Nordic citizens applying for work permits in Sweden, 1947–1950
- 2015
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In: Labor history. - : Taylor & Francis. - 0023-656X .- 1469-9702. ; 56:4, s. 481-498
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Sweden's rapid economic growth after the Second World War meant that the native labour supply was incapable of meeting the high demand, especially for industrial labourers. Three agreements on organised collective transfers were signed, but a large majority of the labour migrants came on their own initiative. Not all applicants were equally welcomed. In this article, logistic regressions are used to investigate a sample of 2830 (every fifth) applications to the National Labour Market Board (AMS) from the years 1947–1950; 1367 had an arrangement with a future Swedish employer, while 1463 applicants lacked such an arrangement. The likelihood of being granted a permit was 11 times higher for the first category. Our hypothesis that the chances were better for high-skilled workers proved true only in part; it was valid if they had an employer agreement. Contrary to our assumptions, women had a better chance than men, partly because domestic servants were always permitted and partly because women did not compete with male labour. However, our assumptions with regard to better chances for the young but experienced, and for those applying for the occupation wherein they had their experience held true. A number of official documents revealed the desirability of Sudeten German labourers. They were viewed as skilled, reliable and loyal by employers, labour unions and governmental authorities. This assumption only held true for applicants lacking an employer. This can be viewed as a prolongation of the practice of helping Sudeten German Social Democrats, established in 1938. The intention to help refugees was, however, also evident in the treatment of Baltic and Polish applicants.
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- Grönberg, Per-Olof
(author)
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För ett «framgångsrikt tillgodogörande af Norrlands rika naturliga tillgångar»? : Tekniska elementarskolan i Härnösand 1900-1920
- 2018
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Conference paper (other academic/artistic)abstract
- År 1851 formulerade rektor Lars Johan Wallmark vid Teknologiska Institutet (senare Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan) en plan för hur Sveriges tekniska utbildning skulle organiseras för att möta behovet av en utbildad arbetskraft vid lokala och regionala hantverk och industrier. Tanken var bland annat att på mellannivå etablera tyskinspirerade så kallade tekniska elementarskolor i olika delar av landet, men trots att Wallmark föreslog två norrländska städer som lokaliseringsorter kom den nordligaste av de fyra 1850-talsskolorna att förläggas till Örebro. Även om tankar på en femte teknisk elementarskola i landets norra delar framfördes i bland annat riksdagsdebatter på 1850- och 1860-talen, dröjde det till 1901 innan en skola öppnades i Härnösand.Detta konferensbidrag behandlar diskussionerna, framförallt i riksdagen, kring behovet av en norrländsk teknisk elementarskola samt ”kampen” mellan, främst, Härnösand och Sundsvall om vilken stad som skulle bli etableringsort. Under 1850-talet var det tydligt att industri-och hantverksstäder prioriterades framför lärda städer och biskopsstäder. Således valdes det mer industrialiserade Malmö framför lärdomens Lund och några motioner om en skola i universitetsstaden Uppsala fick också kalla handen. Dessa ”principer” frångicks emellertid när den norrländska tekniska elementarskolan förlades i skolstaden Härnösand istället för i industristaden Sundsvall, vilket diskuteras i konferenspapperet.Med utgångspunkt från studenterna som tog examen mellan 1904 och 1920 undersöks skolans studentrekrytering geografiskt. Varifrån kom studenterna? Var den tekniska elementarskolan i Härnösand en skola för tekniskt intresserade ungdomar från hela Norrland eller framförallt för ungdomar från närområdet? Hur många studenter rekryterades från Svealand och Götaland? Utifrån samma geografiska utgångspunkter undersöks vart studenterna tog vägen efter att de tagit examen. Hur stor andel av studenterna stannade i närområdet kring Härnösand, Ådalen och Sundsvallsdistriktet, hur stor andel verkade i övriga Norrland och hur många ”försvann” till Syd- och Mellansverige samt utomlands? Dessa frågeställningar leder fram till en diskussion om den tekniska elementarskolan i Härnösand blev en utbildningsanstalt för ett ”framgångsrikt tillgodogörande af Norrlands rika naturliga tillgångar” och industriell utveckling i norra Sverige. Konferensbidraget kan förväntas bidra med historiska perspektiv på dagsaktuella diskussioner om lokalisering av utbildning till nationella periferier.
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| 5. |
- Grönberg, Per-Olof, 1966-
(author)
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Learning and Returning : Return Migration of Swedish Engineers from the United States, 1880-1940
- 2003
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- This thesis examines different aspects of international migration and return migration among Swedish engineers – particularly to and from the United States between 1880 and 1940. The social, geographical, and educational backgrounds of these engineers and their role in diffusing technological knowledge in Sweden in addition to being a possible source of technical development during the country’s second industrial breakthrough is of particular interest. Swedish engineers were a geographically mobile group. The labour market and contemporary mass emigration from Sweden to North America contributed. However, the ideal emigrating Swedish engineer was, in a Weberian sense, a ”target migrant” who planned to return after a well-defined interval. More than two-thirds of the emigrating engineers later returned to Sweden. International industrial competition was important in the Swedish development nationalism and so was American examples and returning Swedish-Americans. American experience, but also German, was a valuable symbolic capital in what can be identified as an engineering field in line with Bourdieu. The engineers were informed about technical development in the leading industrial countries and this spurred an interest to work with technology that was largely unknown in Sweden at the time. The engineers emigrated to learn the technology and the contemporary spirit in Sweden increased the power and influence of engineers with this experience. Return rates among engineers differed according to their social, geographical and educational background. Generally speaking, engineers from a high social origin, a high level of education, and born in the larger cities were most prone to return. The social and symbolic capital of these engineers made them attach greater importance to the opportunities on the engineering field. Foreign experience raised engineers with low social origins and levels of education. However those with a higher background and more education classes, who also had foreign experience were the ones who were most likely to reach the level of management. Four representative companies are studied to examine the role of returning engineers. These are: ASEA (electrical), Sandvikens Järnverks AB (steel and iron), Bolidens Gruv AB (mining) and Bolinders Mekaniska Verkstads AB (engineering industry). The share of returning engineers who filled responsible positions was highest at ASEA. It was somewhat lower at Sandviken. At the other two companies, there were returning engineers in the top management but the source material does not allow for the same kind of systematic study as at the two former. Even if there also was purely technical influence brought about by the returning engineers, the knowledge gained from American companies consisted mainly of how to rationally organise workshops and rolling mills etc. in a more or less Taylorist spirit. Often, these practices were combined with a sense of welfarism that largely also came from the United States. However, it would be an exaggeration to call all these practices American as engineers with experience in Germany also contributed ideas regarding organisation. The technical influence on Sweden was thus a mix in which the United States was most important. In the electrical industry, engineers who had worked in Germany challenged those who returned from the United States while those with experience in Britain contributed to Swedish engineering companies. Engineers who had worked in Norway played a considerable role in the mining industry. It was in the field of steel and iron production Swedish-American engineers were most evident. The returning engineers filled a large number of key positions in the leading companies in the four industrial branches studied here. The fact that there were several engineers with similar experience acting after a specific pattern ensured they held considerable influence. Returning engineers were most evident in the electrical and engineering industries and least conspicuous in mining although even there a fourth of all managing directors and chief engineers had foreign experience. This pattern clearly points to the returning engineers as being a source of technical development in Sweden during the second industrial breakthrough. As such, they could possibly be considered an historical example of what today is often referred to as ‘brain-gain’.
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- Grönberg, Per-Olof, 1966-
(author)
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Sweden, migration 19th century to present
- 2013
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In: The Encyclopedia of Global Human Migration. - Hoboken, NJ : Wiley-Blackwell. - 9781444351071
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Book chapter (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The view of preindustrial Sweden as a geographically static society is distorted; migration was a part of everyday life and the most common demographic feature. Early 19th-century Swedes changed residence 10 times on average during their lifetime, which is only twice less than the present day. Distances moved were shorter, however. People moved between their closest rural parishes and sometimes to nearby towns. On the parish level, in- and outmigration equaled each other and did not cause major population redistributions. Numerous small and isolated local “labour markets” constituted migration's framework. People moved to earn their living within these borders (Tedebrand 1999; Dribe & Stanfors 2005).
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| 8. |
- Grönberg, Per-Olof
(author)
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The Peregrine Profession. : Transnational Mobility of Nordic Engineers and Architects, 1880-1930.
- 2019
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Book (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In The Peregrine Profession Per-Olof Grönberg offers an account of thepre-1930 transnational mobility of engineers and architects educated inthe Nordic countries 1880-1919. Outlining a system where learningmobility was more important than labour market mobility, the authorshows that more than every second graduate went abroad.Transnational mobility was stronger from Finland and Norway thanfrom Denmark and Sweden, partly because of slower industrialisationand deficiencies in the domestic technical education. This mobilityincluded all parts of the world but concentrated on the leadingindustrial countries in German speaking Europe and North America.Significant majorities returned and became agents of technologytransfer and technical change. Thereby, these mobile graduates alsobecame important for Nordic industrialisation.
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| 10. |
- Grönberg, Per-Olof, 1966-
(author)
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The welcoming city? : Immigrants in urban Sweden 1850-1925
- 2010
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Conference paper (other academic/artistic)abstract
- This paper seeks to examine the lives of late nineteenth and early twentieth century immigrants in the Swedish capital of Stockholm and the cities of Linköping and Sundsvall. These urban areas were of different sizes, geographical locations and socio-economic structures. One important question revolves around how these characteristics interacted with immigrant integration in the local societies. The relevance of the hypothesis suggesting that immigration differs with the size of the receiving community is discussed: it is generally assumed that larger cities offer immigrants better development possibilities and more opportunities to participate in societal life than smaller towns do. Another purpose is to study whether, and in what way, integration differed with the immigrants’ origin, gender, age as well as social and marital status when arriving. The cultural proximity in general and the linguistic in particular, ought to have facilitated the integration process for Finland-Swedes, Norwegians, and Danes in comparison with other immigrant groups. The study is based on computerised source material from the Demographic Database at Umeå University and the Stockholm Historical Database, the latter provided by the Stockholm City Archives. The databases are complemented with Swedish parish records. Taking the point of departure in persons moving directly from abroad to the four urban areas between 1860 and 1915, the immigrants are followed as long as they remain in the areas. Integration is measured through different variables: permanent settlement, naturalisation, marriages and occupational changes. The “degree” of integration is interpreted as increasing if an immigrant settled “for good”, accepted Swedish citizenship and experienced upward social mobility. If an unmarried immigrant married a native, it is also viewed as positively correlated with integration.
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