New Professor of Management and Leadership Monika von Bonsdorff at JSBE examines leadership from the perspectives of ageing and changing working life
Monika von Bonsdorff, D.Sc. (Econ.), focuses her research particularly on ageing and working life. Her research background is not only in management but also in health sciences, for example, in work ability research.
“Since joining the School of Business and Economics, my research has focused on the platform economy, education exports, artificial intelligence, and ageing. Artificial intelligence and digitalisation, for example, and their joint impact on ageing have opened up new research topics that strongly shape our society.”
Multidisciplinary, empirical research
Von Bonsdorff focuses on quantitative longitudinal studies, particularly those examining subjects’ own experiences, and has also conducted critical qualitative research. Her research has always been multidisciplinary and open to different disciplines. Important research questions often emerge at the intersections of disciplines.
“I want to bring perspectives from other disciplines into management research, such as the life course, career transitions, vulnerability, health challenges and retirement issues,” says von Bonsdorff. “A multidisciplinary approach is inherent to the field of management, as is the questioning of authority. I have also boldly tackled the more challenging research topics and societal phenomena.”
Throughout her career, Monika von Bonsdorff has been actively engaged in international research networks and presented at international conferences:
“My main collaboration partners are in the United States, the Netherlands, and Canada. The international gerontology research community has been a great support and my strongest network, as it has provided opportunities for competitive funding and high-quality publications.”
Influential teaching and research
Von Bonsdorff is actively involved in the development of teaching. She has, among other things, led extensive curriculum development work in the Management and Leadership discipline between 2022 and 2024, and served as Director of the Management and Leadership specialisation in JSBE’s Master’s Degree Programme in Business Studies.
“Transitioning from a research career to teaching has been an interesting phase in my career,” says von Bonsdorff. “I feel that education is an important societal task. In my teaching, I collaborate with companies, and this has been rewarding not only to me but also to the students. And, in the Management and Leadership discipline, you must stay up to date, as change and dynamism are constant. Artificial intelligence also has a significant impact on the kinds of roles available to graduates and on changes in working life.”
Von Bonsdorff wants to also make a social impact through her research:
“As a university we are too far removed from the decision-makers. This issue should be developed so that we can find ways for our research to reach them. As researchers, teachers, and supervisors, we have a great responsibility to disseminate research knowledge, especially in these times when people are being so unrelentingly influenced.”
“As a researcher, I want to continue challenging the status quo, where we talk about business models but not about the actual human element. Business models come and go, but people remain. And they are the ones we need to understand most. The most difficult task is anticipating how people will behave, and therefore, the human dimension should not be forgotten in management research.”
Monika von Bonsdorff earned her PhD in Management and Leadership in 2009. She served as an Associate Professor of Management and Leadership at the School of Business and Economics between 2021 and 2025, as the professor responsible for the Management and Leadership discipline, and in various positions of trust at both the JSBE and university level. Since 2014, von Bonsdorff has served on the editorial board of Work, Aging and Retirement, a journal published by Oxford University Press, and also held several editorial positions in other publications in her field. She worked as a researcher at the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health between 2006 and 2011, as an Academy Research Fellow at the Gerontology Research Center between 2016 and 2021, and as a fixed-term Professor of Business Development at the Kokkola University Consortium Chydenius between 2018 and 2020.
Monika von Bonsdorff began her role as Professor of Management and Leadership at the Jyväskylä University School of Business and Economics on 1 January 2026.
