Satu Helske
PhD
satu.helske@utu.fi +358 29 450 4105 +358 50 473 8462 Assistentinkatu 7 Turku |
inequality; COVID-19 and inequality; life course; work and family; fathers' parental leave, social statistics; longitudinal research; sequence analysis, event history analysis, Markovian models
PI, PREDLIFE consortium
I am a Docent in sociology (equivalent to Associate Professor or Reader) and hold a PhD in statistics. I work as a Senior Research Fellow in the Inequalities, Interventions and New Welfare State (INVEST) Flagship and in the Family Formation in Flux – Causes, Consequences and Possible Futures (FLUX) project. I am the leader of the consortium project Towards well-informed decisions: Predicting long-term effects of policy reforms on life trajectories (PREDLIFE), funded by the Research Council of Finland (2020–2024).
I completed my PhD in statistics at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland, in 2016. Following my PhD I worked as a postdoctoral researcher first in the Department of Sociology at the University of Oxford and then in the Institute for Analytical Sociology at Linköping University.
I work at the crossroads of sociology and statistics, working on both methodological development as well as sociological problems. My main interests lie in multigenerational and life course research, changing employment and family dynamics over the life course, causes and consequences of (father's) parental leave, and longitudinal research methods, especially sequence analysis and related methods.
I am the primary investigator of a consortium project Towards well-informed decisions: Predicting long-term effects of policy reforms on life trajectories (PREDLIFE). The goal of our project is to understand how life paths unfold over time and how these trajectories are shaped by policy interventions and reforms. In the statistics subproject we are developing a methodological framework for modelling, predicting, and visualizing how policy interventions affect complex social processes. In the sociology subproject we use high-quality register data covering the full population of Finland to better understand the interplay of work and family over the life course and the impacts of parental leave policies on couples’ life trajectories.
I teach statistical methods in social sciences.
In 2023–2024 I am a lecturer in the course Longitudinal and multilevel modelling I.
- 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
- Toimiva perhevapaajärjestelmä tukee hyvinvointia sekä yhteiskunnan sosiaalista ja taloudellista kestävyyttä (2025)
- Flux - Tietoa päätösten tueksi
- 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
- 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
- Education, family complexity and heterogeneous causal effects of parental separation (2024) Helske Satu; Erola Jani; Helske Jouni
- From Sequences to Variables: Rethinking the Relationship between Sequences and Outcomes (2024)
- Sociological Methodology
- Heterogeneous workplace peer effects in fathers’ parental leave uptake in Finland (2024) Helske, Satu; Helske, Jouni; Chapman, Simon; Kotimäki, Sanni; Salin, Milla; Tikka, Santtu
- 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
- Parental leaves across Finland (2024) Helske, Satu
- 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
- Support or suppress: Father’s parental leave uptake in the workplace context in Finland (2024) Chapman, Simon; Kotimäki, Sanni; Helske, Satu; Hägglund, Anna Erika
- Citizens' candidates? Labour market experiences and radical right-wing candidates in the 2014 Swedish municipal elections (2023)
- Acta Politica
- 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
- The longitudinal association between engagement and achievement varies by time, students’ profiles, and achievement state: A full program study (2023)
- Computers and Education
- Typologies in Sequence Analysis: Practical Guidelines for Identifying Robust Cluster Solutions (2023) Andrade, Stefan B.; Fasang, Anette Eva; Helske, Satu; Karhula, Aleksi
- 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 - 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
- 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
- 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
- COVID-19-tutkimuskatsaus 4/2022 (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