Linda Maria Laaksonen (PhD,  M.A. education, special education & BSSc sociology). Her research focuses on questions of social justice in education, educational choices, and the experiences of students from diverse backgrounds. She has previously worked in projects on educational transitions, guidance counselling and special education, upper secondary and higher education, educational policies, the education of students with migrant backgrounds, as well as the roles of gender and social class in education.

Currently, Laaksonen studies educational paths, gap years, and post-secondary transitions from a longitudinal life-historical perspective. Beyond institutional contexts, her research also examines young people’s everyday lives and leisure and youth work. Methodologically, she specializes in ethnographic research, including school ethnography and ethnography in non-institutional environments. Theoretically, her work engages with inequality and social class theories as well as new materialism, and she is interested in interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary approaches.

Teaching bachelor’s and master’s level courses and supervising theses at the Department of Education.