Professor’s portrait: “Everyone should have the opportunity to grow”
For Pia Ulvenblad, newly appointed Professor at Halmstad University, all research begins with people. She wants to understand what drives us, which values shape our choices, and how knowledge can be turned into real change. Her path to a professorship has led through several industries and a few glass ceilings – but also through a constant conviction: that everyone should have the opportunity to grow, regardless of background.
“You have a bright future ahead of you, but we think you should focus on your three children first.”
That was the message during an internal recruitment process at a bank where Pia Ulvenblad worked early in her career.
“Yes, I do have a bright future ahead of me – but not in this organisation”, she replied, and resigned.
Those words became a turning point. Today, she is Professor of Business Administration at Halmstad University, with a long career shaped by persistence and a deep interest in people.
“I thought I would become a language teacher”
That business administration would become Pia Ulvenblad’s academic home was far from obvious. At upper-secondary school, she chose a humanities programme and studied languages – Latin, English, German, French and Spanish.
“I thought I would become a language teacher. Languages and philosophy have always been my great interests”, says Pia Ulvenblad.
After upper-secondary school, she began working in banking and auditing while studying business administration at Halmstad University in the evenings to strengthen her qualifications. Her research career started by pure coincidence, during a break in a finance course.
“Hans Landström (now Professor Emeritus, ed. note) asked me if I wanted to become a researcher. I barely knew what research was, but I interviewed people, took one year at a time and dared to give it a try”, Pia Ulvenblad recalls.
In 1995, she started working at Halmstad University as a lecturer and was admitted to doctoral studies at Lund University. The following years were spent balancing teaching, projects and her thesis. She earned her licentiate degree in 2001, defended her doctoral thesis in 2009, and then advanced to senior lecturer, excellent teacher, docent – and now professor.
Pia Ulvenblad, Professor of Business Administration.
From growth intentions to value intentions
Pia Ulvenblad’s early research centred on entrepreneurs’ growth intentions. It did not take long before she began questioning that seemingly obvious, almost magical word: “growth.”
“Growth has taken on an institutionalised character. When politicians say ‘we need growth’, one should ask: ‘What is it that should increase?’ But people seldom did”, she says.
In encounters with small-business owners, Pia Ulvenblad saw how differently growth could be perceived: sometimes as a goal, sometimes as a threat.
“Some said: ‘No, we don’t want to grow – we would lose control.’ That was far from the glamorous images of growth circulating in the public debate.”
Gradually, her research shifted. From growth intentions to value intentions, with a stronger focus on sustainability, circularity and human motivation.
It was particularly while studying business models in agriculture that she noticed something was missing.
“Business models talked about what you offer, how you create and deliver value, and how you then capture that value in monetary terms. But the intention was missing. Since I had worked so much with intentions, we added a fourth piece to the puzzle: value intention. Suddenly, the people, the will and the values were integrated into the theory.”
Green innovation, ProActS, safer forestry and circular economy
Together with colleagues, Pia Ulvenblad helped establish the multidisciplinary research environment Green Innovation at the University. This environment later evolved into the research programme ProActS – Promoting resource efficiency, co-creative Actions, and Innovation for Sustainable transition – which she now co-leads with Professor Marie Mattsson.
Today, much of Pia Ulvenblad’s research concerns social and environmental sustainability, often in close collaboration with the forestry sector, agriculture and advisory organisations. The transition from a linear to a circular economy in various industries also plays a central role in her work.
Together with LRF, Växa Sverige and The Rural Economy and Agricultural Societies (Hushållningssällskapet), she co-authored a book on leadership in agriculture – an area that has become increasingly important as farms have expanded and now employ more staff.
“It has made a real difference on farms. They were already highly skilled in technology and production – but once you have employees, you also need to be skilled at leading people. It feels good to have contributed to that development”, says Pia Ulvenblad.
She is equally proud of the forestry projects, where she has studied safety practices and leadership up close to develop new guidelines and training materials.
“When I visit a paper mill and see a newly built safety room for staff, and there’s a stack of the pink training booklet that we produced, it really feels as though we have made a difference.”
“I want everyone to have the opportunity to grow, regardless of what they bring with them from their past. If my research, my teaching or my projects can contribute to that, then I’m very pleased.”
Pia Ulvenblad, Professor of Business Administration
Helping others to grow
As a Professor, Pia Ulvenblad views her role as much a platform for others as a personal achievement. For many years, she was the only woman teaching at Master’s level in Business Administration at Halmstad University. Students – particularly younger women – often sought her out.
“Role models are incredibly important. If I can be a role model for someone, I'm only grateful.”
Today, she is Vice Chair of WiTEC, an organisation that supports women in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics).
“I truly hope that I am making a difference for women, both here and in other contexts. If you have run into a few glass ceilings over the years, you might as well try to make something positive out of it.”
One theme comes back again and again when listening to Pia Ulvenblad: the drive to help others develop.
“I want everyone to have the opportunity to grow, regardless of what they bring with them from their past. If my research, my teaching or my projects can contribute to that, then I’m very pleased.”
Text: Lovisa Essunger
Photo: iStock, Dan Bergmark
About Pia Ulvenblad
Pia Ulvenblad spent many years working in banking and auditing, including at Halmstads Sparbank/Sparbanken Kronan and Revisorshuset. Alongside this, she studied business administration at Lund University and Halmstad University, building her undergraduate education through standalone courses.
In 1995, she was recruited to Halmstad University as a lecturer. Since then, she has held several roles at the University, including serving as a member on the Research and Education Board and acting as facilitator for HEDS – Higher Education Didactics in Sustainability.
In 2009, Pia Ulvenblad defended her doctoral thesis at Lund University, called Growth intentions and communicative practices – Strategic Entrepreneurship in business development. She was appointed docent in Business Administration at Halmstad University in 2016 and, in the same year, excellent teacher.
Alongside her employment at Halmstad University, she is the founder and owner of Ledarpraktikan AB, a spin-off from her research on leadership in agriculture.
In 2025, Pia Ulvenblad was appointed professor of Business Administration at Halmstad University.
