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 
1 of 15
- 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) - Can the investment-intervention approach deliver? (2026) Beyond the Nordic Welfare State : Extending Social Investments with Interventions Erola, Jani; Moisio, Pasi; Peltoniemi, Johanna; Saikkonen, Paula
(A3 Refereed book chapter or chapter in a compilation book) - Social investments with interventions (2026) Beyond the Nordic Welfare State : Extending Social Investments with Interventions Erola, Jani; Moisio, Pasi; Peltoniemi, Johanna
(A3 Refereed book chapter or chapter in a compilation book) - The contingency of future vs. present orientation and status attainment (2026)
- Research in Social Stratification and Mobility
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - The investment-intervention approach for welfare states (2026) Beyond the Nordic Welfare State : Extending Social Investments with Interventions Erola, Jani; Moisio, Pasi; Peltoniemi, Johanna
(A3 Refereed book chapter or chapter in a compilation book) - Tutkitun tiedon merkitys ja hyödyntäminen päätöksenteossa: Valtion-, alue- ja paikallishallinnon näkökulmia (2026) Koivula, Aki; Herkama, Sanna; Lyytinen, Anu; Maisalmi, Olivia; Erola, Jani
(D4 Published development or research report or study ) - 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 )
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