Ödén earned her doctoral degree in management accounting at Stockholm University in 2024, with a doctoral dissertation titled ”Time to Work – Responsibilization in the Swedish Welfare State”. The dissertation is a qualitative study of the establishment of refugees on the Swedish labour market after the so-called refugee crisis in 2015/2016. The results from interviews and observations from the Establishment Programme at Swedish Public Employment Service are analyzed as a performance management system emphasizing and problematizing the relation between the individual and the state. The analysis is made through the theoretical lens of contemporary Critical Theory and the classical Marxist concepts alienation and reification. The dissertation was nominated for the Wallanderstipendiet in 2024.

During her time as a doctoral student at Stockholm University, Ödén was an active member of the Research School in Accounting (FIRE) External link. and the network Management Accounting and Control in Central Government (AES) External link..