Supervisor of the year believes in the magic of diversity

The award, which is presented by the Doctoral Student’s guild, came as a complete surprise to Johan Stahre, who has supervised many doctoral students since his own dissertation in 1995.

"The doctoral students are the most important colleagues we have. They are the ones who will carry the knowledge from Chalmers to both industry and academia. To be nominated by these intelligent people whom you've had the opportunity to supervise, and to realise they think you're doing a good job, is one of the finest prizes you can receive," he says.

Johan Stahre is a Professor of Production Systems and heads the Division for Production Systems at the Department of Industrial and Materials Science. According to the award justification, an essential factor in his tutoring is that he strives to understand the person behind the student.

"I am interested in what people think and feel - it affects how they act. PhD students have their personal and professional ups and downs like everyone else. So, it's essential not to approach them in the wrong way. I try my best to listen to where the person is in his or her life before I begin to supervise and coach."

Johan Stahre believes that there is no "one method fits all" or template form for doctoral students.

"All supervisors have shared laughter, tears and struggles with their doctoral students, very few never experience any setbacks. Therefore, it is necessary to combine both mentoring and coaching, to be flexible and to meet people where they are. I believe in reinforcing their good traits and helping them learn how to use them even better; that's how you can create successful behaviour."

"It might seem a little contradictory when we're simultaneously dealing with science that involves giving constructive criticism and punching holes in hypotheses. But people are not scientific theories," he says.

Despite having supervised for almost 30 years, he thinks that the doctoral students as a group have not changed much over the years. However, he sees a significant difference in the collaborative climate between the universities.

"In the past, there was a lot of competition between, for example, KTH, Lund, and Chalmers. But for almost 15 years, we have built up a national collaboration within the Swedish Production Academy, with 13 universities and around 35 professors. The collaboration has resulted in the universities specializing their courses. The doctoral students can then attend good courses around the country, socialize, and become friends for life. Regardless of whether the doctors end up in academia or industry, they know each other well. It is easy to pick up the phone and get help from each other, and that cooperation is good for Sweden."

The fact that a strong community has been formed within the production area in Sweden also helps the supervisors.

"If the doctoral students need help with tutoring from another area of expertise, I can always call a colleague for help."

Diversity gives unique dynamics

In addition to personal knowledge, diversity is also an important area in Johan Stahre's supervision. The goal is to have half men and women and half Swedish and foreign-born among both doctoral students and other employees, something that is often achieved in the Division of Production Systems. For Johan Stahre, it is more than just a numerical goal to tick off. Instead, he talks about the unique dynamics that diversity creates.

"If you have a workshop with people from Mexico, Germany, Brazil, India, China, and Sweden, where half are men and half are women... then magic happens. All these perspectives make it possible to break stereotypes. The participants dare to say that 'this might not work here, but where I come from it will.' Diverse groups create completely different dynamic in both the conversation and the research.

Johan Stahre believes that diversity is largely a recruitment issue.
"You must be persistent in diversity work. It's more convenient to employ similar people, but you don't achieve the same long-term impact. Of course, conflicts can arise from different perspectives, but such downsides are easily outweighed by the advantages," he says, acknowledging that it may sound vague.

"But if you've experienced the magic, you know that it is true."

Johan Stahre will be awarded the prize for Supervisor of the Year at the doctoral graduation ceremony on 13th May.

The award justification

Johan is a joyful and caring supervisor. He strives to understand others, and he is eager to learn about leadership and inclusion. Johan earns the trust of his students by listening and supporting them, but also by showing them that he trusts them. He cares and pays attention to his students needs in different stages of their PhD and adapts his leadership style. He is uplifting and encouraging when they doubt themselves. He helps them put their research into context when they cannot see the importance of their own work. He is very open to feedback and very good at giving constructive criticism.

Johan is a team player and understands the power of diversity. Therefore, he keeps it mind when recruiting new people for his team. In his experience, diverse teams are highly creative and productive. As a leader, he tries to understand the different challenges that people with various backgrounds may face and he supports them differently. He believes that an important part of supervision is to understand the person behind the student.

Also, he takes his role as Head of Division very seriously. He follows up the development of not only his own students but all PhD students in the division. He works to keep a good communication flow among everyone, he keeps everyone informed and makes them feel that they belong.

For all the above reasons, the Doctoral Student Board at Chalmers University of Technology has decided to grant the Supervisor of the Year, 2022-23 Award to Johan, for his deep engagement with his student’s education.