Satu Helske
PhD
satu.helske@utu.fi +358 29 450 4105 +358 50 473 8462 Assistentinkatu 7 Turku Office: 484 ORCID identifier: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0532-0153 |
inequality; work and family; (fathers') parental leave; life course; longitudinal research; sequence analysis; Markovian models
PI of the SHARELEAVE project, Co-PI of the REGPARENT project
I am a Docent in sociology (equivalent to Habilitation) and hold a PhD in statistics. I work as Collegium Researcher for the Turku Institute of Advanced Studies (TIAS) at the INVEST Research Flagship Centre, Faculty of Social Sciences. I lead a research team focusing on causes and consequences of fathers' parental leave.
I completed my PhD in statistics at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland, in 2016. Following my PhD I worked as a postdoctoral researcher, first at the Department of Sociology at the University of Oxford, UK, and then at the Institute for Analytical Sociology at Linköping University, Sweden.
My main interests lie in intergenerational and life course research, especially employment and family dynamics and causes and consequences of (father's) parental leave. I am also interested in longitudinal research methods, especially sequence analysis and related methods.
I lead the project “Parental Leave in Context: Social Drivers of Sharing Care” (SHARELEAVE), funded by the Research Council of Finland (2025–2029). The aim of the project is to investigate socioeconomic differences in the use of parental leave: how parents share parental leave and how their social environments influence their leave use. The project examines typical and atypical use of parental leave among different population groups and how parental leave use has changed over the years and in various social environments: in workplaces, residential areas, and extended family networks.
In addition, together with Anna Erika Hägglund, I co-lead the project “Variation in parents’ division of parental leave across regions and language groups in Finland" (REGPARENT), funded by the Swedish Cultural Foundation in Finland. The project examines parental leave use in Finnish- and Swedish-speaking families in different regions of Finland.
In 2020–2024, I was the leader of the research consortium “Towards well-informed decisions: Predicting long-term effects of policy reforms on life trajectories" (PREDLIFE). The consortium involved sociologists from the INVEST flagship and statisticians from the University of Jyväskylä. In the project, we developed new methods and software for simulating the effects of legal changes (or other interventions), as well as for modelling extensive panel data, such as life course data, and for causal inference. In our sociological studies, we showed, for instance, that fathers’ use of parental leave was influenced not only by legal reforms but also by slower effects, such as “model learning” occurring in workplaces and residential environments.
I teach statistical methods for social sciences.
Teaching in 2025–2026:
- Sequence Analysis and Markovian Models
- Introduction to Longitudinal and Multilevel Modelling.
- A well-functioning parental leave system supports well-being as well as the social and economic sustainability of the society (2025) Helske, Satu; Jalovaara, Marika; Lammi-Taskula, Johanna; Miettinen, Anneli; Nisén, Jessica; Österbacka, Eva
(D4 Published development or research report or study ) - Toimiva perhevapaajärjestelmä tukee hyvinvointia sekä yhteiskunnan sosiaalista ja taloudellista kestävyyttä (2025)
- Flux - Tietoa päätösten tueksi
(D4 Published development or research report or study ) - Adaptation to paternal leave policies in Finnish municipalities: changing gender norms and cross-border policy legacies (2024) Pasanen, Tiia-Maria; Helske, Satu; Giuliani, Giovanni Amerigo; Chapman, Simon; Helske, Jouni
(D4 Published development or research report or study ) - A Modern Approach to Transition Analysis and Process Mining with Markov Models in Education (2024) Learning Analytics Methods and Tutorials Helske, Jouni; Helske, Satu; Saqr, Mohammed; López-Pernas, Sonsoles; Murphy, Keefe
(A3 Refereed book chapter or chapter in a compilation book) - 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 ) - From Sequences to Variables: Rethinking the Relationship between Sequences and Outcomes (2024)
- Sociological Methodology
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Heterogeneous workplace peer effects in fathers’ parental leave uptake in Finland (2024) Helske, Satu; Helske, Jouni; Chapman, Simon; Kotimäki, Sanni; Salin, Milla; Tikka, Santtu
(D4 Published development or research report or study ) - Isät vapaalla – Miten työympäristö näkyy isien perhevapaiden käytössä ja myöhemmässä palkkakehityksessä? (2024)
- INVEST blog
(E1 Popularised blog post) - Multi-Channel Sequence Analysis in Educational Research: An Introduction and Tutorial with R (2024) Learning Analytics Methods and Tutorials López-Pernas, Sonsoles; Saqr, Mohammed; Helske, Satu; Murphy, Keefe
(A3 Refereed book chapter or chapter in a compilation book) - Parental leaves across Finland (2024) Helske, Satu
(I2 ICT program or software application ) - Sequence Analysis in Education: Principles, Technique, and Tutorial with R (2024) Learning Analytics Methods and Tutorials A Practical Guide Using R Saqr, Mohammed; López-Pernas, Sonsoles; Helske, Satu; Durand, Marion; Murphy, Keefe; Studer, Matthias; Ritschard, Gilbert
(A3 Refereed book chapter or chapter in a compilation book) - Support or suppress: Father’s parental leave uptake in the workplace context in Finland (2024) Chapman, Simon; Kotimäki, Sanni; Helske, Satu; Hägglund, Anna Erika
(D4 Published development or research report or study ) - Citizens' candidates? Labour market experiences and radical right-wing candidates in the 2014 Swedish municipal elections (2023)
- Acta Politica
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Insurance against risk? Economic cost and compensation of job loss in different welfare states (2023) Bedük Selçuk, Fasang Anette Eva, Harkness Susan, Bastholm Andrade Stefan, Büyükkeçeci Zafer, Karhula Aleksi, Helske Satu
(D4 Published development or research report or study ) - The longitudinal association between engagement and achievement varies by time, students’ profiles, and achievement state: A full program study (2023)
- Computers and Education
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Typologies in Sequence Analysis: Practical Guidelines for Identifying Robust Cluster Solutions (2023) Andrade, Stefan B.; Fasang, Anette Eva; Helske, Satu; Karhula, Aleksi
(D4 Published development or research report or study ) - COVID-19 -kriisin yhteiskunnalliset vaikutukset Suomessa: Keskipitkän aikavälin arvioita
(2022) Varanka Jouni, Packalen Petra, Voipio-Pulkki Liisa-Maria, Määttä Seppo, Pohjola Pasi, Salminen Mika, Railavo Jukka, Berghäll Jonna, Rikama Samuli, Nederström Heli, Hiitola Joni
(D4 Published development or research report or study ) - COVID-19-tutkimuskatsaus 1/2022 (2022) Sironen Tarja, Pimenoff Ville, Auranen Kari, Leino Tuija, Karvonen Sakari, Toivanen Otto, Ylöstalo Hanna, Vainikainen Mari-Pauliina, Mäkinen Saku, Arponen Anni, Heinikoski Saila, Laaksonen Salla-Maaria, Salo Ahti
(D4 Published development or research report or study ) - COVID-19-tutkimuskatsaus 2/2022 (2022) Sironen Tarja, Pimenoff Ville, Auranen Kari, Leino Tuija, Karvonen Sakari, Toivanen Otto, Ylöstalo Hanna, Vainikainen Mari-Pauliina, Mäkinen Saku, Arponen Anni, Heinikoski Saila, Laaksonen Salla-Maaria, Salo Ahti
(D4 Published development or research report or study ) - COVID-19-tutkimuskatsaus 3/2022 (2022) Sironen Tarja, Pimenoff Ville, Auranen Kari, Leino Tuija, Karvonen Sakari, Toivanen Otto, Ylöstalo Hanna, Vainikainen Mari-Pauliina, Mäkinen Saku, Arponen Anni, Heinikoski Saila, Laaksonen Salla-Maaria, Salo Ahti
(D4 Published development or research report or study )