International research collaboration on motivation and professional identity
What makes people want to stay in their profession? How do our visions of the future affect our motivation? These are questions explored by Lilly-Mari Sten, Senior Lecturer in Quality Technology and Management at Mid Sweden University, together with researchers in Japan and the Netherlands.
The research collaboration is between Mid Sweden University, Yokohama National University in Japan and the University of Twente in the Netherlands. The study is conducted in Sweden, Japan and Italy and focuses on professionals in elderly care and other caring professions.
The researchers want to investigate how people create their professional identity and how experiences, feelings and visions of the future affect their view of work. Around 20 interviews are planned in each country. Among other things, the participants will talk about important events in their lives and describe how they see their future in the profession.
"I hope that the research will contribute to a greater understanding of how we view ourselves in our profession and how images of the future can create motivation. How do professionals in caring professions create meaning, not only about who they are today, but also about who they aspire to become? What makes a certain future professional identity meaningful and worth striving for," says Lilly-Mari Sten.
An international network takes shape
The collaboration with Kodo Yokozawa, a professor at Yokohama National University, began at a conference where the researchers discovered that they were working on similar issues around emotional engagement, motivation, and continuous improvement. Through him, Lara Carminati, senior lecturer, at the University of Twente also came into the collaboration.
In April, Lilly-Mari Sten travelled to Japan to develop the collaboration. In September, the researchers met again at the BAM 2026 Conference in London, where they presented a first paper on the study and had the opportunity to discuss the research approach with other researchers.
"The collaboration is about more than just this research study. We want to establish contacts and create an exchange that can continue over time and also include other areas. I hope that it can also provide inspiration for our education in quality technology and that we can learn from each other in research.
Similar challenges
The countries have different cultural contexts, but face similar challenges with an aging population and a growing need for staff in health and social care. By studying the three countries together, the researchers want to investigate what they can learn from each other.
In the spring of 2027, Lilly-Mari Sten will spend a period at Yokohama National University as part of her sabbatical. The plan is to investigate, among other things, how healthcare teams in Japan create a common narrative identity and vision the future based on their mission.
Quality Technology and Management has strong historical roots in Japan, which makes the collaboration particularly interesting for Mid Sweden University's research in the field. The hope is that the contacts will develop further and lead to new collaborations in other areas as well.