Prestigious award for JU researcher
Ingela Bergmo Prvulovic, Associate Professor of Education at the School of Education and Communication (HLK) at Jönköping University (JU), has been named Study and Career Counsellor of the Year.
The award is presented to someone who has shown particular commitment to career guidance in schools and working life, and Ingela Bergmo Prvulovic receives the award for her significant contributions as a researcher in the field.
Photo: David Spak, Swedish Association of Study and Career Guidance. Ingela Bergmo Prvulovic receives the award at the Swedish Guidance Association's annual conference, which this year coincided with the association's 50th anniversary.
“I was very surprised, very honoured, and I feel great humility about the award. There are so many people working with career guidance questions, and the award is particularly valuable because it shines a light on all the important issues that the guidance field deals with,” says Ingela Bergmo Prvulovic.
The award was presented at the Swedish Association of Study and Career Guidance’s annual conference, which was held recently. The association works to strengthen and develop study and career guidance, as well as encouraging research in the field.
Ingela received the award for her significant contributions as a researcher. Her research focuses on how changes in working life affect perceptions of careers. She is particularly interested in how these changes affect working adults and what this means for those who provide support and guidance on career issues.
Enriched understanding of the concept of career
The award citation states, among other things, that she has enriched the practice and profession of guidance with new knowledge and that she has enriched the understanding of the complex concept of career and demonstrated its usefulness.
“My work is grounded in issues relating to transitions, guidance and learning through education and working life, which means that HR is also extremely important, as it plays a key role in working life. The HR field should enable good, sustainable workplaces,” she says.
Ingela is a qualified career and guidance counsellor and has, throughout her professional life, worked with education and labour market-related issues. She has extensive experience teaching in career guidance programs, master's programs in career development and counselling, as well as in human resources and personnel management programs.
She was previously programme director for the HR programmes at HLK and is now programme director for, and teaches on, HLK's new international master's programme Lifelong Learning, Sustainability and Work. Ingela is also Research Environment Manager for Encell, a collaboration hub for research and knowledge development in lifelong learning.
Ingela is delighted that her work can contribute to strengthening professional practice and research on education, working life and guidance issues.
“Creating good conditions for young people and adults to navigate transitions in education and working life, which in turn contributes to a more sustainable working life, is key,” says Ingela Bergmo Prvulovic.
The award citation reads:
Ingela Bergmo Prvulovic is awarded the 2025 Study and Career Guidance Award for her significant contributions as a researcher, where her work has enriched the practice and profession of study and career guidance with new knowledge.
Through many years of research, she has enriched the understanding of the complex concept of career and demonstrated its usefulness.
Her work is characterised by collaboration and bridge-building between theory and practice, as well as between different professions and fields of knowledge.
With great commitment, both nationally and internationally, she has contributed to the development of guidance, education and working life issues, thereby strengthening research in the field of guidance.
The Study and Career Guidance Award is presented in collaboration with Tremedia.
