Nordic Life Science 1
t is harder to get her to speak about herself, bu
t Barbro elaborates on her thoughts about her own career and adds that her choices have also been born from expectations from home and from herself to achieve an academic degree and also a strong sense and determination to make it on her own and earn her own money. Barbro Ehnbom grew up in Stockholm as the youngest of five siblings. Her father was the head of the Swedish National Audit Office and was very involved in his legal career. The person who influenced her the most, however, was her mother, Astrid. “My mother looked like a fragile butterfly but she was strong as a lion,” says Barbro with warmth in her voice. “She had an amazing spirit. She was working full time and took care of all of us kids, but she also staged musicals and was a director. When she became ill with rheumatism she studied and received a PhD about Russian icons. So I have definitely been inspired by my mother and I have grown up with a strong interest for the academic world. Education and culture have always been important.” As a child Barbro dreamt about becoming a poet or a veterinarian. Her interest in nature and animals probably came from the summers she spent at a homestead in Södermanland, a province in the south-east of Sweden. There she had the opportunity to take care of the animals, weed the turnip patch and wander around in the beautiful enchanted forests. “But I was advised not to become a veterinarian, partly because it would mean very high costs for a young woman at that time,” she says. “I was also interested in becoming a diplomat but my sister Karin beat me to it. So my choice became the Stockholm School of Economics, and I am very happy about that.” In her program on the Swedish radio show “Sommar i P1” two years ago Barbro described how she, dressed in black and white from head to toe (even her nails where black and white), with a 1960’s cap on her head and high boots, entered the prestigious Stockholm School of Economics. Almost immediately she was told that “the secretary course is in the evenings, sweetie.” At that time only ten percent at the school were women, but Barbro was not discouraged and she lived by the motto “good girl during the days and party princess during the nights.” She was a top student and at the same time very committed to the school’s students’ union where she arranged notorious parties. During our interview Barbro emphasized several times how much the Stockholm School of Economics has meant to her through the years and how the friends she met there are still important to her. One year later she was working as a law teacher at the same school and had, together with some friends, started a company that arranged board dinners “perhaps Sweden’s first party planning company” and the perfect way for a young student to meet valuable contacts. “Early on I took care of myself. I founded my own companies and made my own money. For every goal I achieved my self-confidence grew,” she says. NORDICLIFESCIENCE.ORG 41