Laura Heiskala
VTT / D.Soc.Sc.
lamhei@utu.fi Office: 497 ORCID identifier: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2463-1697 |
Areas of expertise
social inequality; educational inequality; intergenerational inequality; quantitative methods; register data; sustainability transformation
social inequality; educational inequality; intergenerational inequality; quantitative methods; register data; sustainability transformation
Biography
I work as a senior researcher at the INVEST Research Flagship Centre. I successfully defended my PhD thesis in December 2024, focusing on intergenerational inequality in higher education in Finland.
My current research focuses particularly on social mobility within the limits of planetary boundaries. I am a researcher in the SISU project (Sufficiency solutions for a resilient, green, and just Finland). More information about the project is available at https://sisu-stn.fi/en/
In the academic year 2025–2026, I am involved in teaching the Panel Regression methods course in the Master’s Degree Programme in Inequalities, Interventions, and the New Welfare State.
Research
Teaching
Publications
- The Compensatory Role of Diverse Workplaces: Parental Workplace Educational Composition and Children's Higher Education Enrolment (2025)
- British Journal of Sociology
(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 ) - 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 ) - Opportunity, choice, and barriers: A Register-based study on social stratification in higher education in Finland (2024) Heiskala, Laura
(G5 Article dissertation ) - Educational tracking and social inequalities in long-term labor market outcomes: Six countries in comparison (2023)
- International Journal of Comparative Sociology
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Persistent university intentions: Social origin differences in stopping applying to university after educational rejection(s) (2023)
- Research in Social Stratification and Mobility
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Cyclic Educational Transitions and Social Inequality: Re-applications After Educational Rejections
(2022) Heiskala Laura, Kilpi-Jakonen Elina, Sirniö Outi, Erola jani
(D4 Published development or research report or study ) - Utbildningsnivån i arv från föräldrarna till barnen bland finsk och svenskspråkiga finländare (2022)
- SFV-kalendern
(D1 Article in a professional journal) - Compensatory and Multiplicative Advantages: Social Origin, School Performance, and Stratified Higher Education Enrolment in Finland (2021)
- European Sociological Review
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Formal differentiation at upper secondary education in Finland: subject-level choices and stratified pathways to socio-economic status and unemployment (2021)
- Longitudinal and Life Course Studies
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Lifetrack Policy Brief / Finland (2021) Heiskala Laura, Erola Jani
(D4 Published development or research report or study ) - Kahden korkeakoulun malli eriyttää oppilaita perhetaustan perusteella (2020)
- INVEST blog
(E1 Popularised article) - Koronakriisin vaikutukset lasten ja nuorten oppimiseen, koulutukseen ja hyvinvointiin pitkällä aikavälillä (2020)
- INVEST Policy brief (Politiikkasuositukset)
(E1 Popularised article) - Tracking and sorting in the Finnish educational system (2019) Laura Heiskala, Jani Erola
(D4 Published development or research report or study )
UTU Research Portal