Erla S. Kristjánsdóttir, Ph.D., is a Professor, Chair of the Doctoral Studies Committee, and Vice Head at the Faculty of Business Administration, University of Iceland.
Her main research focuses on the status, barriers, and employment opportunities of skilled immigrants and refugees in the Icelandic labor market; diversity and inclusion; gender equality; and age and ageism.
Erla has taught and conducted academic research at universities in the United States, including in Florida, Arizona, New York, and New Zealand, and has published her research in recognized domestic (Icelandic) and international journals and books.
Recent Peer-Reviewed Publications:
Gunnarsdóttir, S., Ragnarsson, S., Kristjánsdóttir, E.S., & van Direndonk, D. (2026). The role of heart-centric vision, inclusion and accountability. In J. Marques (Ed.), Encyclopedia of diversity, equity, inclusion and spirituality (pp. 1212-1222). Cham, Switzerland: Springer Nature.
Christiansen, T.H., Kristjánsdóttir, E.S. and Skaptadóttir, U.D. (2025). “I often experience a lack of trust”: Filipino migrant nurses’ experiences of coping with multiple conflicting workplace demands. Nordic Journal of Migration Research, 15(3): 3, 1–17.
Gunnarsdóttir, S., Christiansen, Þ. H., Óladóttir, Á. D., & Kristjánsdóttir, E. S. (2025). Exploring women’s leadership in CEO appointments: A qualitative study of board member perspectives in Iceland’s listed companies. Sage Open, 15(2).
Kristjánsdóttir, E.S., & Markovic, M. (2025). Age is an invisible hindrance: Older educated immigrant women´s lived experience in the Icelandic labor market. Research in Applied Business and Economics, 22(2). 19-32.
Kristjánsdóttir, E.S., & Christiansen, Th. H. (2024). “I have to fight inequality with love, with a smile, with hard work”: Migrant women’s entrepreneurship in Iceland. In D. Hyams-Ssekasi & E. Daskalaki (Eds.), Migration and entrepreneurship in the global context (pp. 233-254). Palgrave.
Ragnarsson, S., Kristjánsdóttir, E.S., Gunnarsdóttir, S., & van Dierendonck, D. (2023). “Shared accountability”: Experiences of employees in a servant leadership organization guided by growth. Research in Applied Business and Economics, 20(2), 155-172.
Christiansen, T.H. and Kristjánsdóttir, E.S. (2022), “Whether you like my skin or not, I am here”: Skilled racial minority migrant women’s experiences of navigating career challenges in the White Icelandic labor market. Journal of Global Mobility, 10(4), 496-514.
Pio, E., Kristjánsdóttir E. S., Christiansen, TH. (2022). Glass hearts?! Successful visible ethnic minority women migrants at work in Iceland and New Zealand. Journal of Management & Organization, 29(6), 1–19.
Christiansen, Th., & Kristjánsdóttir, E. S. (2020). “When you are a professional”: Highly skilled immigrants’ experiences of the tension between avowed and ascribed identity. In K. Loftsdóttir, U. Skaptadóttir & S. J. Hafsteinsson (Eds.), Mobility and transnational Iceland: Current transformations and entanglements (pp. 53-69). Reykjavik, Iceland: Háskólaútgáfan.
Kristjánsdóttir, E. S., & Skaptadóttir, U. D. (2019). “I’ll always be a refugee”: The lived experience of Palestinian refugee women of moving to a small society in Iceland. Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies, 17(3), 389-404.
Minelgaite, I., Christiansen, Th. H., & Kristjánsdóttir, E. S. (2019). Lithuanian temporary workers in Iceland in another economic boom: expectations and experiences. South East European Journal of Economics and Business, 14(1), 101-114.
Kristjánsdóttir, E.S. (2017). Communication modes, Icelandic. In Y. Y. Kim (Ed.). International encyclopedia of intercultural communication. New York: Wiley & Sons.
Kristjánsdóttir, E.S., & Skaptadóttir, U.D. (2017). Our home is our kingdom: A refuge of Palestinian women to a small society in Iceland. Manuscript submitted for publication.
Kristjánsdóttir, E.S., & Christiansen, T. (2017). “…You have to face the fact that you´re a foreigner”: Immigrants’ lived experience of communication and negotiation position toward their employer in Iceland. Journal of Intercultural Communication, 17(2), 1-14.
Christiansen, T., & Kristjánsdóttir, E.S. (2016). The wall is always there: The lived experience of immigrants with college degree on their communication and negotiation position toward their employers. (Veggurinn er alltaf til staðar”: Upplifun háskólamenntaðra innflytjenda af samskiptum og samningsstöðu gagnvart vinnuveitendum.) The Icelandic society. (Íslenska þjóðfélagið), 7(1).
Work for CID:
Erla Kristjánsdóttir was one of the participants at the National Communication Association‘s Summer Conference on Intercultural Dialogue in Istanbul, Turkey, which led to the creation of CID. She also serves on the Center’s Advisory Board.
Center for Intercultural Dialogue 