Jani Erola
jani.erola@utu.fi +358 29 450 2157 +358 40 512 5286 Assistentinkatu 7 Turku Office: 497 ORCID identifier: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8008-7032 |
Areas of expertise
socioeconomic inheritance, social moblity, social class, education, income, inequality, life course
socioeconomic inheritance, social moblity, social class, education, income, inequality, life course
Research community or research topic
INVEST Research Flagship
INVEST Research Flagship
Biography
Jani Erola is Professor of Sociology at the University of Turku and the director of INVEST Research Flagship Center (invest.utu.fi). His research interests include intergenerational social mobility and socioeconomic inheritance, social class and stratification, family formation, sociological research methods, welfare state attitudes and social scientific publication patterns. His publications on these topics have appeared in major social scientific journals such as Social Science Research, Social Forces, European Sociological Review, Sociology, Acta Sociologica, Journal European Social Policy and Demography. He is a former PI of ERC Consolidator Grant Project "Intergenerational Cumulative Disadvantage and Resource Compensation (INDIRECT)", the editor of Acta Sociologica and the president of the Westermarck Society, the Finnish sociological association. According to Prof. Erola, he originally started looking at intergenerational social mobility as an interesting side project within his PhD, but “questions of inheritance took over and became what really motivated me as a researcher".
Jani Erola is Professor of Sociology at the University of Turku and the director of INVEST Research Flagship Center (invest.utu.fi). His research interests include intergenerational social mobility and socioeconomic inheritance, social class and stratification, family formation, sociological research methods, welfare state attitudes and social scientific publication patterns. His publications on these topics have appeared in major social scientific journals such as Social Science Research, Social Forces, European Sociological Review, Sociology, Acta Sociologica, Journal European Social Policy and Demography. He is a former PI of ERC Consolidator Grant Project "Intergenerational Cumulative Disadvantage and Resource Compensation (INDIRECT)", the editor of Acta Sociologica and the president of the Westermarck Society, the Finnish sociological association. According to Prof. Erola, he originally started looking at intergenerational social mobility as an interesting side project within his PhD, but “questions of inheritance took over and became what really motivated me as a researcher".
Teaching
- Introductory course lectures on sociology
- Master thesis seminar
- Current topics in social inequality
- Introductory course lectures on sociology
- Master thesis seminar
- Current topics in social inequality
Publications
- Beyond the Nordic Welfare State: Extending Social Investments with Interventions (2026) Erola, Jani; Moisio, Pasi; Peltoniemi, Johanna
(C2 Editorial work for a scientific compilation book) - Childhood Geographical Mobility, Local Opportunity Structures, and the Pursuit of Higher Education (2025) Karonen, Esa; McMullin, Patricia; Kilpi-Jakonen, Elina; Erola, Jani
(D4 Published development or research report or study ) - Childhood Geographical Mobility's Role in Shaping Educational and Occupational Attainment by Age 30 in Finland (2025) McMullin, Patricia; Karhula, Aleksi; Erola, Jani
(D4 Published development or research report or study ) - Economic Circumstances of Children Living in Higher and Lower-Educated Families and the Contribution of Household Structure: A Cross-Country Comparison with a Child’s Perspective (2025)
- Studies of Transition States and Societies
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Inequalities in early childhood and families (2025) Erola, Jani; Heiskala, Laura; Karonen, Esa; Kilpi-Jakonen, Elina
(D4 Published development or research report or study ) - Intergenerational social mobility of cohorts born from 1951 to 1980 in Finland (2025)
- Acta Sociologica
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Parental involvement in elementary schools and children's academic achievement: A longitudinal analysis across educational groups in Finland (2025)
- Research in Social Stratification and Mobility
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Synthesis on the inequalities across the life course and policy-making levels, and perceptions of inequality (2025) Erola , Jani
(C1 Refereed scientific report) - Tutkimus muuttaa yhteiskuntaa, mutta vaikutukset näkyvät usein hitaasti (2025) Ikonen, Milla; Erola, Jani
(D4 Published development or research report or study ) - White Paper on Social Inequalities in Europe: From Early Childhood to Retirement (2025) Erola, Jani; Vono de Vilhena, Daniela; Kilpi-Jakonen, Elina
(D4 Published development or research report or study ) - Age of entry into early childhood education and care, literacy and reduction of educational inequality in Nordic countries (2024)
- European Societies
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Change in human capital of the immediate family (2024) Heiskala, Laura; Kailaheimo-Lönnqvist, Sanna; Karonen, Esa; Erola, Jani
(D4 Published development or research report or study ) - Childbearing under different family policy schemes (2024)
- Journal of family research
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Economic circumstances of children living in higher and lower educated families and the contribution of household structure: Comparison of 11 European countries (2024) Heiskala, Laura; Tuominen, Minna; Erola, Jani; Kilpi Jakonen, Elina
(D4 Published development or research report or study ) - Education, family complexity and heterogeneous causal effects of parental separation (2024) Helske Satu; Erola Jani; Helske Jouni
(D4 Published development or research report or study ) - Huipputuloisuuden alueellinen periytyminen (2024) Eriarvoisuuden tila Suomessa 2024 Karonen, Esa; Erola, Jani
(B2 Non-refereed book chapter or chapter in a compilation book) - Introduction: The economic and sociological approaches to studying the intergenerational transmission of inequality : Similarities, differences and convergence (2024) Research Handbook on Intergenerational Inequality Blanden Jo, Erola Jani, Kilpi-Jakonen Elina, Macmillan Lindsey
(A3 Refereed book chapter or chapter in a compilation book) - Research Handbook on Intergenerational Inequality (2024) Kilpi-Jakonen Elina, Blanden Jo, Erola Jani, Macmillan Linsey
(C2 Editorial work for a scientific compilation book) - State-of-the-art review of spillovers over the life course (2024) Figueroa González, Mijail; Erola, Jani
(D4 Published development or research report or study ) - Educational attainment and family composition across generations, origin and place (2023) Lehti, Hannu; Tuominen, Minna; Kilpi-Jakonen, Elina; Erola, Jani
(D4 Published development or research report or study )



