Briitta is an assistant professor at the Department of Economics.

More information about Briitta van Staalduinen

Briitta van Staalduinen is a comparative political economist interested in understanding how occupational change and immigration shape ethnic and gender inequalities in Europe and the consequences of these changes for social policies and welfare state politics. Her dissertation, Ethnic Inequality in the Welfare State, examined the paradox of persistent ethnic inequalities in expansive welfare state regimes and showed that, in response to job polarization and the growth of the knowledge economy, governments have reoriented social investment policies to promote immigrant and minority employment rather than expand equal access to job opportunities. Her broader research agenda explores other dimensions of the relationship between occupational change, social policy, and social hierarchies, including the link between downward mobility and support for radical parties as well as the effects of upward mobility on political attitudes and policy preferences among men and women. In her research, Briitta draws on administrative data, public opinion surveys, interviews, and archival documents to analyze how occupational changes and social policy interventions shape a wide range of outcomes in the knowledge economy.

Before joining Leiden in December 2022, Briitta received her PhD in Government from Harvard University. During her PhD, she was also a Visiting Researcher at VATT Institute in Helsinki, Finland and at Berlin Social Science Center. She received her Masters in Sociology from the University of Amsterdam in 2016.

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