Laura Heiskala
VTT / D.Soc.Sc.
lamhei@utu.fi Office: 497 ORCID identifier: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2463-1697 |
Areas of expertise
equality; quantitative methods; register data; sustainability transformation; sufficiency
equality; quantitative methods; register data; sustainability transformation; sufficiency
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 socially just sustainability transformation. I am part of the SISU consortium, which examines the role of sufficiency-based solutions in advancing a just sustainability transition. More information about the project is available at https://sisu-stn.fi/en/. In my postdoctoral research, funded by the Alfred Kordelin foundation, I explore how social mobility and equality of opportunity can be secured within planetary boundaries in a post-growth society. My research aims to identify societal pathways that integrate an open society and a welfare state with ecological sustainability. I am a research member of the Puistokatu 4 community.
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
- 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 ) - INVEST Pitkittäistutkimus hyvinvoinnista 2024 -kyselyn tutkimusseloste (2025) Davies, Essi; Hägglund, Anna Erika; Koivula, Aki; Laaninen, Markus; Heiskala, Laura; Karhula, Aleksi
(D4 Published development or research report or study ) - Research Report on the first round of INVEST Longitudinal Study on Well-being (2025) Davies, Essi; Hägglund, Anna Erika; Koivula, Aki; Laaninen, Markus; Heiskala, Laura; Karhula, Aleksi
(D4 Published development or research report or study ) - Suomella on vielä matkaa mahdollisuuksien tasa-arvoon: korkeakoulutus eriytyy perhetaustan mukaan (2025)
- Ilmiö - sosiologinen media kaikille
(D1 Professional blog post) - 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