Efforts for doctoral students honoured with JML award

KTH’s 2024 President's Equality and Diversity Prize for staff and students has been awarded to doctoral students Boel Berg Wincent and Andressa Mazur for their efforts to raise doctoral students' awareness of norms and rights.
The JML awards were presented during the graduation ceremony on December 17 and 18. The JML Employee Award went to Boel Berg Wincent, PhD student at the Department of Transport Planning, for her work in promoting equal working conditions for PhD students at KTH.
As chair of ABE's doctoral student council, Boel Berg Wincent saw shortcomings in how KTH complied with the collective agreement for doctoral students and that doctoral students who were unfamiliar with the Swedish model lacked information and had more difficulty asserting their rights. Through various initiatives, she has worked to ensure that all doctoral students have the same conditions for a safe and secure working environment.
"It's about equal treatment"
She has updated information channels, answered questions and conducted a survey on the doctoral ladder together with the doctoral student section. In her role as a board member of SACO-S at KTH, she has also held lectures for doctoral students with the Swedish Engineers.
“At its core, this is about equal treatment in the workplace. We work in an international environment at KTH, and your background or language level should not lead to you being treated differently in terms of working conditions or pay. The availability of information in English is therefore a prerequisite for equal treatment. In the long run, this is also about integration, being part of Swedish working life,” says Boel Berg Wincent.
"Feeling of not belonging"
Andressa Mazur, a doctoral student at the Department of Chemical Engineering, is the recipient of the 2024 JML Student Award. She has been designing and running bi-monthly workshops as part of the “PhD Impact” series, which have addressed gender issues as well as equality, harassment and bias in research.
“Surveys had shown that doctoral students experienced problems with their supervisors and peers, as well as with overload and burnout. The feeling of not belonging was present in minorities. For example, being the only female PhD student in a department can make you feel isolated and can cause a lot of pressure,” says Andressa Mazur.
Leads network for female doctoral students
As a member of the JML committee for THS, she has worked closely with KTH's Equality Office and defended the interests of doctoral students in terms of gender equality in recruitment and promotion matters. Andressa also leads the network for female doctoral students at KTH, WOP, where she has organised additional events.
“It is a great honour to be able to award prizes to those who so clearly contribute to the development and improvement of KTH in terms of JML issues. When it comes to these issues, we must never be complacent - that is why the commitment and work of the two laureates is so important. The fact that they also give voice to KTH's doctoral students from different perspectives related to working conditions, rights and work environment will benefit both today's and tomorrow's doctoral students and KTH as a whole,” says Anders Söderholm, President of KTH.
Text: Sabina Fabrizi