Jenni Tikkanen holds a PhD in education and is working as a Senior Researcher in the INVEST flagship project at the University of Turku, Finland. Based on cutting-edge research on the conditions and mechanisms involved at different periods of development, INVEST aims at providing a new model for the welfare states that is more equal, better targeted to problem groups, more anticipatory as well as economically and socially sustainable. Tikkanen’s main research interests are related to sociology of education, youth studies, life course research, and international comparative education. In her most recent research, including her doctoral dissertation, she has focused on youth trajectories, educational and societal segregation, and the relations of social change and social reproduction. Tikkanen participates also actively in the International Study of City Youth research project (ISCY), which is a comparative, longitudinal study focusing on understanding how education systems prepare young people to life beyond school and how young people’s school experiences and achievements influence their careers and life more broadly.
Research on Youth Opportunities and Transitions