Academic Interests
- Social stratification and labor market studies.
- Gender, ethnicity and socioeconomic inequalities.
- Analytical sociology.
Research group: Social Inequalities and Population Dynamics https://www.sv.uio.no/iss/english/research/networks/social-Inequalities-and-population-dynamics
Courses
- SOS4001- Sosiologisk teori
- SOS4100 - Social Inequality in the 21st Century: Egalitarian Norway in Comparative Perspective
Background
- Professor, Department of Sociology and Human Geography, University of Oslo, 1999-2024
- Secretary General, The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, 2021-2024
- Professor II, The Institute for Analytical Sociology, Linköping University, Sweden, 2015-2019
- Director for the Advanced Program in Labor Studies, the Faculty of Social Science, University of Oslo, 2006-2007
- Vice-Dean, Dean of Research and Research Education, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Oslo, 2002, 2003, 2004.
- Various positions at Department of Sociology, University of Bergen, 1983-97.
- I have also worked as a researcher at The Institute for Social Research, Oslo 1997-99, and at Fafo Institute for Applied Social Research,1996-97.
Fellowships and Mobility
- Visiting Academic, Department of Sociology, University of Oxford and Nuffield College, UK, 2005-2006
- Visiting Scholar, Department of Sociology, University of California at Berkeley, USA, 1993-1994
- Honorary Fellow, Department of Sociology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA,1987
- Shorter research periods at University of Essex, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, CREST/ENSAE, Paris, and GEMASS, associated with Sorbonne University and CNRS.
Commissions of trust
- Chair of the Executive Committee, The Inter-University Center, Dubrovnik, 2009-2027 www.iuc.hr
- Member of the board, CREATE, Centre of excellence, University of Oslo, Home - CREATE - Centre for Research on Equality in Education
- Member, Academia Europaea, https://www.ae-info.org/ae/
- Vice-President (2018-2020) of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters. https://dnva.no/
- Fellow, The European Academy of Sociology. https://www.european-academy-sociology.eu/
- Member and co-founder of the International Network of Analytical Sociologists. https://analyticalsociology.com/
- President of the Norwegian Sociological Association (1996-2000), chair (and founder) of The Honorary Prize committee, Norwegian Sociological Association, 1997-2016
- Member of the Raymond Boudon award committee, European Academy of Sociology, 2017-2022
- Member of the Robert K. Merton Award committee, International Network of Analytical Sociologists, 2018-2020
- Chair of the Humanities, Social Science & Education evaluation committee evaluating the Linnaeus Centres of Excellence, Sweden. 2014.
- Member of the Board, European Consortium for Sociological Research, 2010-2012. http://www.tilburguniversity.nl/faculties/fsw/ecsr/
- Associated expert of EQUALSOC (Economic Change, Quality of Life and Social Cohesion), a Network of Excellence under EU's Sixth Framework Program, Priority 7, 2005 - 2010. http://www.equalsoc.org/
- Member of the Board of the International Sociological Association's Research Committee 28 on Social Stratification and Mobility. 2002-2006; 2006-2010. http://www.soc.duke.edu/~rc28/
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PhD candidates
- Per-Arne Tufte. 2005. Gjeldsordning som fortjent? En studie av oppfatninger om rettferdige levekår under gjeldsordning. Dr. polit. dissertation. University of Oslo.
- Trude Lappegård. 2006. Studies on Fertility and Childcare in Contemporary Norway. Dr. polit. dissertation. University of Oslo.
- Silje Noack Fekjær. 2007. Nye forskjeller – nye forklaringer? Etniske ulikheter i utdanningsvalg. Ph.d. dissertation. University of Oslo.
- Anne-Lene Bakken Ulseth. 2008. Mellom tradisjon og nydannelse. Analyser av fysisk aktivitet blant voksne i Norge. Dr.polit. dissertation. University of Oslo.
- Kenneth Aarskaug Wiik. 2010. Whether, When and With Whom? Socioeconomic Inequalities in Marriage and Cohabitation in Norway. Ph.d. dissertation. University of Oslo.
- Christer Hyggen. 2010. Livsløp i velferdsstaten. Sosialhjelp og Risiko. Ph.d. dissertation. University of Oslo. (second adviser).
- Sigtona Halrynjo. 2010. Mødre og fedre i møte med karrierelogikkens spilleregler. Hva skjer med høyt utdannede kvinners og menns karriere- og familietilpasning når de får barn? Og hvordan kan tilpasningene forklares? Ph.d. dissertation. University of Oslo.
- Elisabeth Ugreninov. 2012. Kvinner mellom arbeid og omsorgsforpliktelser - fokus på lønnsutvikling og sykefravær. Ph.D. dissertation. Universitetet i Oslo.
- Katharina Herlofson. 2013. Generasjonsbånd. Kvinners og menns familierelasjoner i aldrende samfunn. Ph.D. dissertation. University of Oslo. (second adviser).
- Kristian Heggebø. 2016. Hiring, Firing, and Health – A Cross-National Comparative Perspective. PhD dissertation. Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences.
- Ferdinand Andreas Mohn. 2016. Marital Fault Lines. Spouse Selection and Socioeconomic Assimilation Among the Immigrant Population in Norway. PhD dissertation. University of Oslo.
- Nan Zou Bakkeli. 2016. The Price of Inequality. Privatisation, Health and Wellbeing in China. PhD dissertation. University of Oslo.
- Line Schou. 2016. Group differences in alcohol-related sickness absence and attitudes. PhD dissertation. University of Oslo. (second adviser)
- Synøve Nygaard Andersen. 2017. Revolving Doors? An Empirical Study of Recidivism in Norway. PhD dissertation. University of Oslo.
- Mats Lillehagen. 2019. Entering the mainstream? Cultural and socioeconomic dimensions of immigrant assimilation. PhD dissertation. University of Oslo.
- Edvard Nergård Larsen. 2019. Equally Unequal? Measuring and Contextualising Ethnic Discrimination in European Labour Markets. PhD dissertation. University of Oslo.
- Vegar Bjørnshagen. 2022. Unequal Access. Detecting Disability Discrimination. PhD dissertation. University of Oslo. (second adviser).
- Solveig Topstad Borgen. 2022. Segregated School Contexts, Peer Effects, and Inequalities in Education. PhD dissertation. University of Oslo.
- Tove Mogstad Aspøy. 2023. Low education in a high skills society. Job quality among workers at risk. PhD dissertation. University of Oslo.
- Adrian Farner Rogne. 2024. Assessing theories and mechanisms in sociology. Insights from empirical studies on segregation, education, fertility and class. PhD dissertation. University of Oslo.
CV (2019 to be updated)
Tags:
Sociology,
gender inequality,
ethnic inequality,
social mobility
Publications
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Aksoy, Ozan; Manzo, Gianluca; Birkelund, Gunn Elisabeth & Raub, Werner
(2026).
Standards in sociology: A position statement at the 25th anniversary of the European Academy of Sociology.
Rationality and Society.
ISSN 1043-4631.
doi:
10.1177/10434631261444988.
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Birkelund, Gunn Elisabeth
(2025).
Inequality of Social Opportunity: L'inégalité des Chances Fifty Years Later.
In Manzo, Gianluca (Eds.),
Boudon Reexamined. Nuts and Bolts for Contemporary Sociological Science..
Sorbonne Université Presses.
ISSN 9791023145885.
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Boudon Reexamined presents a selection of short essays by leading scholars from several generations who critically engage and enter into dialogue with the work of Raymond Boudon. Each chapter focuses on a specific topic from his extensive writings. Readers will follow this intellectual trajectory through analyses of early correspondence with Lazarsfeld and Merton, his typology of sociological styles, and his contributions to contemporary analytical sociology, including the notion of middle-range theory. In addition to already well-discussed aspects of Boudon’s work, namely his understanding of methodological individualism and the theory of ordinary rationality, the book also explores less frequently discussed topics, including his early interest in formal modeling in sociology and his understanding of the link between interdependence structures and social change. Included in the following pages are new assessments of Boudon’s well-known analyses of the inequality of educational opportunity and intergenerational social mobility, as well as his lesser-known substantive contributions to the study of relative deprivation and his early dialogue with game theory. The book also outlines Boudon’s study of classical authors, especially Tocqueville, before two final chapters conclude by examining how Boudon’s works can be used to teach sociology at the undergraduate and master’s levels. Our hope is that Boudon Reexamined provides readers with a fresh assessment of his legacy –how his work can be applied to conduct theoretical and empirical research in contemporary sociology, as well as to promote high-quality scientific standards for new generations.
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Birkelund, Gunn Elisabeth & Larsen, Edvard Nergård
(2025).
Discrimination.
In Gangl, Markus; Platt, Lucinda; Polavieja, Javier G. & Werfhorst, Herman G. van de (Ed.),
The Oxford Handbook of Social Stratification.
Oxford University Press.
ISSN 9780197539484.
doi:
10.1093/oxfordhb/9780197539484.013.18.
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Discrimination is unfair and, in most societies, illegal. It is important to combat discrimination, and this chapter describes how social scientists think about discrimination, with a specific focus on labor market discrimination. The authors discuss different definitions of discrimination before presenting the three main theories, or models, of why employers might discriminate against job applicants. These models at the outset may be seen as different, yet the authors argue they are more similar than usually thought. Employers’ decision-making process is influenced by a range of contextual factors, and the chapter discusses meso and macro factors that might matter for where discrimination is likely to occur. The chapter also includes a section on how discrimination can be measured and a summary of some of the most important experimental evidence on discrimination related to race/ethnicity and gender.
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Borgen, Nicolai T.; Borgen, Solveig Topstad & Birkelund, Gunn Elisabeth
(2022).
The Counteracting Nature of Contextual Influences: Peer Effects and Offsetting Mechanisms in Schools.
Social Forces.
ISSN 0037-7732.
101(3),
p. 1288–1320.
doi:
10.1093/sf/soac023.
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There is currently a mismatch between the theoretical expectations of peer effects held by many scholars and the quantitative empirical literature. This paper contributes to the understanding of peer effects by highlighting the oft-overlooked conceptual distinction between social influences and a well-defined causal effect; peers may influence one another via several potentially contradicting mechanisms that result in small overall causal peer effects on educational outcomes. We exploit the idiosyncratic variation in gender composition across cohorts within schools to study offsetting mechanisms. Using population-wide Norwegian register and survey data, we find two distinct ways in which the share of girls in lower secondary schools (grades 8–10) affects academic outcomes. First, more girl peers improve the learning environment at school. Simultaneously, however, more girl peers reduce the students’ motivation for schoolwork. Such results suggest that peer effects stem from a complex process where various mechanisms are at odds with one another, and where the influence of peers on academic outcomes is a composite of different mechanisms. Overall, we find that more girl peers lower students’ school grades and reduce students’ likelihood of attending an academic track in upper secondary school (which qualifies for higher education). Supplementary analyses suggest that the achievement level of girls is the main reason for the gender peer effects found in our study.
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Brandén, Maria; Haandrikman, Karen & Birkelund, Gunn Elisabeth
(2022).
Escaping one's disadvantage? Neighbourhoods, socioeconomic origin and children's adult life outcomes.
European Sociological Review.
ISSN 0266-7215.
39(4),
p. 601–614.
doi:
10.1093/esr/jcac063.
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Abstract This study investigates if neighbourhoods can alter the strong relationship between parental background and children’s adult outcomes. In particular, we examine if neighbourhood effects are heterogeneous in such a way that they are particularly important for children from disadvantaged backgrounds, and if school quality has a mediating effect in this equation. Using register data and individualized neighbourhoods, we follow five full birth cohorts of individuals born from 1983 to 1987. We examine the interaction between social background and neighbourhoods in shaping (i) the risk of children relying on social welfare when they are aged 30, and (ii) the probability of belonging to the highest income decile at age 30–34. Growing up in a resource-rich neighbourhood is associated with better life outcomes. Contrary to what several neighbourhood theories predict, we find that neighbourhood effects operate similarly regardless of social background. Differences in peer composition of schools does not explain these local neighbourhood effects, whereas own school results attenuate neighbourhood effects substantially. Our findings are in contrast to results from the United States studies but are in line with historical Swedish studies; and contribute to further disentangling the various mechanisms through which the neighbourhood operates.
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Mastekaasa, Arne & Birkelund, Gunn Elisabeth
(2022).
The intergenerational transmission of social advantage and disadvantage: comprehensive evidence on the association of parents’ and children’s educational attainments, class, earnings, and status.
European Societies.
ISSN 1461-6696.
doi:
10.1080/14616696.2022.2059542.
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In recent years, multidimensional conceptualizations of social origin have become increasingsly common in social stratification research. We provide evidence on the associations between four origin measures, parents’ class, status, earnings and education on the one hand and the corresponding offspring measures on the other. We also extend previous research on differences in origin effects at different levels of the children’s educational attainment and compare the predictive power of the social origin measures with regard to children’s top and bottom attainments on all outcome variables. We use Norwegian administrative data for nearly 500,000 individuals born between 1961 and 1970. The analyses show that parents’ education is a much stronger predictor for all outcomes than are their social class and status positions – both taken separately and together. Parental education also outperforms parents’ earnings, except when the offspring variable is also earnings. Thus, parents’ premarket characteristics seem to be more important than their labour market achievements for their children’s outcomes. A second major finding is that the predictive power of social origins is often quite similar for advantaged and disadvantaged outcomes. However, bottom earnings are much less strongly associated with social origins than are top earnings.
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Petersen, Trond; Hermansen, Are Skeie & Birkelund, Gunn Elisabeth
(2022).
Likestilling: kjønn, arbeid og familiepolitikkens gjennombrudd.
In Frønes, Ivar & Kjølsrød, Lise (Ed.),
Det norske samfunn : bind 2.
Gyldendal Akademisk.
ISSN 9788205572300.
p. 85–106.
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Lillehagen, Mats Eirik & Birkelund, Gunn Elisabeth
(2022).
Ethnic inequalities in the transition from education to work: a longitudinal analysis of school, college and university graduates.
Journal of Education and Work.
ISSN 1363-9080.
35(4),
p. 357–373.
doi:
10.1080/13639080.2022.2073337.
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Each year, students graduate from schools, colleges and universities. Some find a job quickly – others do not. Delays in the transition from education to work have been associated with scarring effects and detrimental effects on later employment and career progression. Increasing numbers of graduates from universities and colleges are descendants of immigrants. The labour market performance of children of immigrants arguably constitutes an important test of the long-term structural integration of ethnic minorities. Using comprehensive Norwegian administrative data on complete birth cohorts, we apply discrete time hazard regression to examine ethnic inequalities in relative transition rates from education to work, comparing majority graduates to 10 groups of Norwegian-born second-generation immigrants from the 1973 to 1997 birth cohorts (N = 964,450 persons with 1,901,171 person-years). We find clear evidence of ethnic inequalities in transition rates, where children of immigrants or African origin fare the worst. Second, the overall patterns mostly remain unaffected when adjusted for factors like educational field, marriage status, children and parental background. Third, we find that the minority disadvantages are less marked at lower levels of education for some groups.
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Hermansen, Are Skeie; Hundebo, Pål Oskar & Birkelund, Gunn Elisabeth
(2022).
Spatial Assimilation at a Halt? Intergenerational Persistence in Neighborhood Contexts among Immigrant Minorities in Norway.
International Migration Review.
ISSN 0197-9183.
56(4),
p. 1069–1106.
doi:
10.1177/01979183211067771.
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Spatial assimilation theory claims that immigrants’ acculturation and socioeconomic progress will lead to converging neighborhood attainment relative to non-migrant natives. Recently, it has been argued that equalization of local services and life chances across neighborhoods in egalitarian welfare states may delay spatial assimilation by reducing immigrants’ incentives to move out of low-income areas with many (co-ethnic) immigrant neighbors. In this article, we extend this argument to study whether neighborhood equalization also contributes to intergenerational persistence in neighborhood contexts among descendants of immigrants in Norway. Using administrative data, we find that immigrant descendants as adults often remain in neighborhood contexts that resemble their childhood neighborhoods, characterized by relative economic disadvantage and comparatively few ethnic majority residents. Intergenerational persistence in neighborhood contexts is strongest among descendants of immigrants from Pakistan, the Middle East, and Africa. The remaining immigrant–native gaps in spatial economic inequality largely reflect differences in individuals’ education and earnings, family background, and childhood neighborhood context, but these factors matter less for ethnic neighborhood segregation. For both economic and ethnic dimensions of neighborhood attainment, childhood neighborhood context is the factor that matters most in accounting for immigrant–native gaps, whereas individual socioeconomic attainment is the least important. Overall, our findings point to a pattern of “uneven assimilation” among immigrant descendants, where spatial assimilation is slow despite rapid socioeconomic progress across immigrant generations in the egalitarian Norwegian welfare state.
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Birkelund, Gunn Elisabeth; Lanz, Avra & Larsen, Edvard Nergård
(2021).
Blir menn utsatt for ansettelsesdiskriminering i kvinnedominerte yrker?
Søkelys på arbeidslivet.
ISSN 1504-8004.
p. 197–209.
doi:
10.18261/issn.1504-7989-2021-03-04-03.
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Vi kartlegger alle randomiserte felteksperimenter om kjønnsdiskriminering i ansettelses-prosesser som er publisert siden 1996, og hvor det er tilgjengelig nasjonalt spesifikke data om kjønnsfordeling etter yrke. Vi undersøker sammenhengen mellom yrkessegregering etter kjønn og arbeidsgiveres respons (callback) for mannlige og kvinnelige jobbsøkere. Vi finner merkbart lavere callback for mannlige jobbsøkere innen integrerte og kvinnedominerte yrker, mens vi ikke finner tilsvarende diskriminering av kvinnelige jobbsøkere i mannsdominerte yrker.
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Birkelund, Gunn Elisabeth; Lancee, Bram; Larsen, Edvard Nergård; Polavieja, Javier G; Randl, Jonas & Yemane, Ruta
(2021).
Gender Discrimination in Hiring: Evidence from a Cross-National Harmonized Field Experiment.
European Sociological Review.
ISSN 0266-7215.
38(3),
p. 337–354.
doi:
10.1093/esr/jcab043.
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Abstract Gender discrimination is often regarded as an important driver of women’s disadvantage in the labour market, yet earlier studies show mixed results. However, because different studies employ different research designs, the estimates of discrimination cannot be compared across countries. By utilizing data from the first harmonized comparative field experiment on gender discrimination in hiring in six countries, we can directly compare employers’ callbacks to fictitious male and female applicants. The countries included vary in a number of key institutional, economic, and cultural dimensions, yet we found no sign of discrimination against women. This cross-national finding constitutes an important and robust piece of evidence. Second, we found discrimination against men in Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, and the UK, and no discrimination against men in Norway and the United States. However, in the pooled data the gender gradient hardly differs across countries. Our findings suggest that although employers operate in quite different institutional contexts, they regard female applicants as more suitable for jobs in female-dominated occupations, ceteris paribus, while we find no evidence that they regard male applicants as more suitable anywhere.
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Birkelund, Gunn Elisabeth; Johannessen, Lars E. F.; Rasmussen, Erik Børve & Rogstad, Jon
(2020).
Experience, stereotypes and discrimination. Employers’ reflections on their hiring behavior.
European Societies.
ISSN 1461-6696.
22(4).
doi:
10.1080/14616696.2020.1775273.
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This article explores the relationship between labor market discrimination, stereotypes and employers’ experiences with immigrant workers. Based on interviews with 58 employers, recruited as part of three randomized field experiments on ethnic discrimination in the Norwegian labor market, we find that experience matters in three distinct ways: first, employers with negative experiences with immigrant workers were unwilling to give job applicants from the same group an opportunity; second, employers with positive experiences with immigrant workers were more willing to hire workers from the same group, and third, employers without experiences with immigrant workers seemed to be risk averse and resort to general stereotypes of immigrants. Our findings contrast with a US study, where some employers, despite their positive experiences with black workers, still were unwilling to give job applicants from the same group an opportunity. Theoretically, we suggest that the role of employers’ experiences for labor market discrimination depends on how deeply embedded stereotypes of minorities are in the employers’ society.
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Joye, Dominique; Birkelund, Gunn Elisabeth & Lemel, Yannick
(2019).
Traveling with Albert Gifi: Nominal, Ordinal and Interval Approaches in Comparative Studies of Social and Cultural Spaces.
In Blasius, Jörg; Lebaron, Frédéric; Roux, Brigitte Le & Schmitz, Andreas (Ed.),
Empirical Investigations of Social Space.
Springer.
ISSN 9783030153861.
p. 393–410.
doi:
10.1007/978-3-030-15387-8_23.
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Birkelund, Gunn Elisabeth; Chan, Tak Wing; Ugreninov, Elisabeth; Midtbøen, Arnfinn Haagensen & Rogstad, Jon
(2019).
Do terrorist Attacks Affect Ethnic Discrimination in the Labour Market? Evidence from Two Randomised Field Experiments.
British Journal of Sociology.
ISSN 0007-1315.
70(1),
p. 241–260.
doi:
10.1111/1468-4446.12344.
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Terrorist attacks are known to influence public opinion. But do they also change behaviour? We address this question by comparing the results of two identical randomized field experiments on ethnic discrimination in hiring that we conducted in Oslo. The first experiment was conducted before the 2011 terrorist attacks in Norway; the second experiment was conducted after the attacks. In both experiments, applicants with a typical Pakistani name were significantly less likely to get a job interview compared to those with a typical Norwegian name. But the ethnic gap in call‐back rates were very similar in the two experiments. Thus, Pakistanis in Norway still experienced the same level of discrimination, despite claims that Norwegians have become more positive about migrants after the far‐right, anti‐migrant terrorist attacks of 2011.
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Larsen, Edvard Nergård; Rogne, Adrian Farner & Birkelund, Gunn Elisabeth
(2018).
Perfect for the Job? Overqualification of Immigrants and their Descendants in the Norwegian Labor Market.
Social Inclusion.
6(3),
p. 78–103.
doi:
10.17645/si.v6i3.1451.
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Compared to the majority population, studies have shown that non-western immigrants are more likely to work in jobs for which they are overqualified. These findings are based on coarse measures of jobs, and an important question is how sensitive these findings are to the definition of jobs. By using detailed information from Norwegian register data 2014, we provide a methodological innovation in comparing individuals working in the same occupation, industry, sector, firm, and municipality. In this way, we measure the degree of overqualification among workers within more than 653,000 jobs. We differentiate between immigrants and their descendants originating from Western Europe, the New EU countries, other Western countries, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Africa and Asia (except MENA countries), and South and Central America, and compare their outcomes with the majority population holding the same jobs. We find that immigrants from all country of origin groups are more likely to be overqualified compared to the majority population and to descendants of immigrants. However, the prevalence of overqualification decreases with time since immigration.
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Birkelund, Gunn Elisabeth
(2018).
Hvor åpent er det norske samfunn?
Årbok / Det norske videnskaps-akademi.
ISSN 0332-6209.
p. 379–384.
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Brandén, Maria; Birkelund, Gunn Elisabeth & Szulkin, Ryszard
(2018).
Ethnic Composition of Schools and Students’ Educational Outcomes: Evidence from Sweden.
International Migration Review.
ISSN 0197-9183.
p. 1–32.
doi:
10.1177/0197918318769314.
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We examine the impact of ethnic school composition on students’ educational outcomes using Swedish population register data. We add to the literature on the consequences of ethnic school segregation for native and immigrant students by distinguishing social interaction effects from selection and environmental effects through one- and two-way fixed effects models. Our findings demonstrate that native and immigrant students’ grades are relatively unaffected by social interaction effects stemming from the proportion of immigrant schoolmates. However, we find nontrivial effects on their eligibility for upper secondary school. Immigrants’ educational outcomes are weakly positively affected by the proportion of co-ethnics in school.
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Birkelund, Gunn Elisabeth; Heggebø, Kristian & Rogstad, Jon
(2017).
Additive or Multiplicative Disadvantage? The Scarring Effects of Unemployment for Ethnic Minorities.
European Sociological Review.
ISSN 0266-7215.
33(1),
p. 17–29.
doi:
10.1093/esr/jcw030.
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Previous research has documented that unemployed job applicants have problems re-entering the labor market, commonly referred to as scarring effects of unemployment. Studies have also documented ethnic discrimination in the labor market. Yet we do not know how these categories jointly shape employers hiring decisions. Thus, we do not know if unemployed minorities face an additive or a multiplicative disadvantage in hiring processes. Building on experimental data from two waves of a randomized field-experiment, we test whether we find an ethnic scarring effect, which would imply that contemporary long-term unemployment is particularly harmful to native born ethnic minorities. As expected, our experiment documents scarring effects of contemporary long-term unemployment. We also found, as expected, systematically lower call-backs for applicants with Pakistani/Muslim names. Third, our results show that unemployed minorities face an additive disadvantage in the labor market. Thus, we find no evidence of an ethnic scarring effect of unemployment, which would imply different consequences of unemployment for minority and majority applicants.
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Birkelund, Gunn Elisabeth & Petersen, Trond
(2016).
Likestilling. Utdanning, politikk og arbeid.
In Frønes, Ivar & Kjølsrød, Lise (Ed.),
Det norske samfunn, bind 2.
Gyldendal Akademisk.
ISSN 9788205490215.
p. 190–210.
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Birkelund, Gunn Elisabeth
(2016).
Rational Laziness - When Time Is Limited, Supply Abundant, and Decisions Have to Be Made.
Analyse & Kritik. Zeitschrift für Sozialtheorie.
ISSN 0171-5860.
38,
p. 203–226.
doi:
10.1515/auk-2016-0110.
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This paper expands the model of rational action by introducing a new concept. rational laziness, to better understand actors’ decision making. In addition to rational information processing, human beings often rely on automatic and lion-cognitive mental capacities, and I use the term mental laziness to account for information processing based on these capacities. When time is limited, supply abundant, and decisions have to be made, mental laziness might be a rational decision device. Actors’ choice of rational-calculating or automatic-spontaneous mental decision devices is contingent on their locations within an opportunity structure. The empirical case studied is employers’ hiring processes, and employers’ activation of these action generating mechanisms are expected to cause discrimination of job applicants categorized as out-groups members.
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Schou, Line Anita & Birkelund, Gunn Elisabeth
(2015).
Alcohol-related sickness absence of young employees in Norway: The impact of social roles and socioeconomic status.
Nordic Studies on Alcohol and Drugs (NAD).
ISSN 1455-0725.
32(4),
p. 411–426.
doi:
10.1515/nsad-2015-0040.
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First, to establish whether there are differences in alcohol-related sickness absence according to socioeconomic status and family situation among young employees in Norway. Second, if differences are found, to assess whether they can be attributed mainly to differences in drinking patterns.
A sample of young, employed adults was obtained from the fourth wave of the Young in Norway study (2005) and the data were merged with registry data from Statistics Norway (N =1611). The data were analysed using cross tables and logistic regression analysis.
Being male, single, not having children and having a low income were associated with alcohol-related sickness absence, but the association was not significant on education and social status. Introducing frequencies of drinking and drinking to intoxication in the regression model attenuated some associations with alcohol-related sickness absence.
Alcohol-related sickness absence is more common among people who are single and without children, and more common among men than women. With the exception of income, socioeconomic factors do not seem to be important. The differences between groups appear to be only partly a result of different drinking patterns.
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Hermansen, Are Skeie & Birkelund, Gunn Elisabeth
(2015).
The impact of immigrant classmates on educational outcomes.
Social Forces.
ISSN 0037-7732.
94(2),
p. 615–646.
doi:
10.1093/sf/sov073.
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Despite a growing empirical literature on the relationship between immigrant concentration in schools and student achievement, few studies address longer-run outcomes. Using Norwegian registry data, this study addresses the causal impact of immigrant classmates on educational attainment in young adulthood, as well as academic track enrollment and educational achievement in school, within six entire student cohorts in their final tenth grade of compulsory education (310,742 students, 751 schools). Controlling for school fixed effects, native peer characteristics, and observed characteristics of students and their families, we find that students in cohorts with more immigrant peers within the same school have slightly higher propensities to complete upper-secondary education by their early twenties. The effects are about three times stronger among students from immigrant families compared to students with native-born parents, and are also robust to adjustment for average grade achievement. Moreover, these peer effects seem to mainly reflect the presence of immigrant classmates from high-achieving origin regions, while we do not find corresponding negative effects of exposure to immigrant classmates from low-achieving origin regions. In conclusion, these results indicate a modest positive influence of exposure to immigrant classmates on, primarily, immigrant students’ educational attainment several years later.
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Birkelund, Gunn Elisabeth
(2015).
Norsk Sosiologforenings hederspris 2015 tildeles Gunhild Hagestad.
Sosiologisk Tidsskrift.
ISSN 0804-0486.
23,
p. 86–95.
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Birkelund, Gunn Elisabeth & Rindsack, Olha T.
(2014).
Дискриминация по имени: опыт исследования на норвежском рынке труда [Discrimination by name: A study in Norwegian labor market].
Sociologiceskie issledovaniâ.
ISSN 0132-1625.
p. 37–40.
Full text in Research Archive
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Birkelund, Gunn Elisabeth; Rogstad, Jon; Heggebø, Kristian; Aspøy, Tove Mogstad & Bjelland, Heidi Fischer
(2014).
Diskriminering i arbeidslivet : resultater fra randomiserte felteksperiment i Oslo, Stavanger, Bergen og Trondheim.
Sosiologisk Tidsskrift.
ISSN 0804-0486.
22(4),
p. 352–382.
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Birkelund, Gunn Elisabeth; Lillehagen, Mats; Ekre, Vibeke Puja & Ugreninov, Elisabeth
(2014).
Fra utdanning til sysselsetting. En forløpsanalyse av indiske og pakistanske etterkommere i Norge.
Tidsskrift for samfunnsforskning (TfS).
ISSN 0040-716X.
55,
p. 385–414.
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Birkelund, Gunn Elisabeth
(2013).
Norsk sosiologforenings hederspris 2013 tildeles Knud Knudsen.
Sosiologisk Tidsskrift.
ISSN 0804-0486.
21,
p. 190–200.
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Birkelund, Gunn Elisabeth & Rasch, Bjørn Erik
(2013).
Til minne om Hanne Marthe Narud.
Norsk statsvitenskapelig tidsskrift.
ISSN 0801-1745.
29,
p. 3–9.
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Ugreninov, Elisabeth & Birkelund, Gunn Elisabeth
(2013).
Naturlige eksperiment.
Sosiologi i dag.
ISSN 0332-6330.
43,
p. 65–89.
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Birkelund, Gunn Elisabeth & Petersen, Trond UC Berkeley
(2011).
A norvég egyenjogúsági paradoxon. Társadalmi nemek és munka a jóléti tásadalomban.
In Hagemann, Gro (Eds.),
A norvég modell. A társadalmi nemek esélyegyenlösége és egyenjogúsága.
Balassi Kiadó.
ISSN 9789635068524.
p. 117–150.
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Birkelund, Gunn Elisabeth; Reisel, Liza & Larsen, Edvard Nergård
(2024).
Forskere: Kvinner diskrimineres ikke lenger i ansettelsesprosesser.
[Journal].
Morgenbladet.
Full text in Research Archive
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Borgen, Solveig Topstad & Birkelund, Gunn Elisabeth
(2022).
Inntaksmodellen har trolig liten betydning for frafallet i skolen.
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Birkelund, Gunn Elisabeth
(2022).
John H. Goldthorpe, Pioneers of Sociological Science: Statistical Foundations and the Theory of Action, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2021, pp. 280.
Acta Sociologica.
ISSN 0001-6993.
65(4),
p. 459–463.
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Rogne, Adrian Farner; Hermansen, Are Skeie; Hundebo, Pål Oskar; Wessel, Terje; Lyngstad, Torkild Hovde & Birkelund, Gunn Elisabeth
(2022).
Finnes det “svenske tilstander” i Norge?
Full text in Research Archive
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Birkelund, Gunn Elisabeth; Johannessen, Lars E. F.; Rasmussen, Erik Børve & Rogstad, Jon Christian
(2020).
Arbeidsgivere lærer av erfaring med ansatte med minoritetsbakgrunn.
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Birkelund, Gunn Elisabeth
(2019).
Nye sjanser - bedre læring. Kjønnsforskjeller i skoleprestasjoner og utdanningsløp.
Kontekstonline.
ISSN 2535-4825.
4.
doi:
https:/www.nubu.no/no/artikler/nye-sjanser-bedre-laering.
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Show summary
Utredningen om kjønnsforskjeller i skoleprestasjoner og utdanningsløp (NOU 2019:3) går ikke langt nok med hensyn til forslag til reformer i skolen, skriver Gunn Elisabeth Birkelund, professor i sosiologi ved Universitet i Oslo. Bør elevene få mer frihet i valg av fag? Så får vi heller akseptere at det er kjønnsforskjeller i elevenes interesser?
Artikkelen sto på trykk i den fjerde utgaven av NUBUs digitale tidsskrift KONTEKSTonline som ble utgitt i oktober 2019.
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Birkelund, Gunn Elisabeth
(2019).
Nye sjanser - bedre læring
Kjønnsforskjeller i skoleprestasjoner og utdanningsløp.
Kontekstonline.
ISSN 2535-4825.
Full text in Research Archive
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Borgen, Nicolai T.; Borgen, Solveig Topstad & Birkelund, Gunn Elisabeth
(2019).
The disadvantage of having high achieving peers: Gender gaps and the complex nature of gender peer effects.
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Borgen, Nicolai T.; Borgen, Solveig Topstad & Birkelund, Gunn Elisabeth
(2019).
Why having better peers is not always a good thing: The complex nature of gender peer effects.
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Graver, Hans Petter; Birkelund, Gunn Elisabeth; Lohndal, Terje & Sandvik, Hilde
(2019).
Antisemittisme i Norge – før og nå.
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Heggebø, Kristian; Rogstad, Jon Christian & Birkelund, Gunn Elisabeth
(2019).
The (in-)significance of firm size for ethnic hiring discrimination: A mixed methods approach using randomized field experiments and qualitative employer interviews.
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Borgen, Nicolai T.; Borgen, Solveig Topstad & Birkelund, Gunn Elisabeth
(2019).
The disadvantage of high-achieving peers: Gender gaps and the complex nature of gender peer effects.
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Birkelund, Gunn Elisabeth
(2019).
The dynamics of residential mobility, school segregation and ethnic inequalities.
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Colbjørnsen, Tom; Birkelund, Gunn Elisabeth; Hernes, Gudmund & Knudsen, Knud
(2018).
Klassesamfunnet – fortsatt på hell?
sosiologen.no.
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Birkelund, Gunn Elisabeth
(2018).
Diskriminering i arbeidslivet - en sammenfatning av forskningsresultater fra felt-eksperimenter.
Full text in Research Archive
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Birkelund, Gunn Elisabeth
(2018).
Do Employers Discriminate by Gender? Evidence from five cross-national field experiments.
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Birkelund, Gunn Elisabeth
(2018).
Gender discrimination in the labor market - a summary of randomized field experiments of hiring processes.
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Larsen, Edvard Nergård; Rogne, Adrian Farner & Birkelund, Gunn Elisabeth
(2018).
Perfect for the Job? Overqualification of Immigrants and their Descendants in the Norwegian Labor Market.
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Lyngstad, Torkild Hovde; Rogne, Adrian Farner; Birkelund, Gunn Elisabeth; Hermansen, Are Skeie & Skardhamar, Torbjørn
(2018).
Ethnic Neighborhood Segregation and Residential Mobility Dynamics: Evidence from Norwegian administrative registers 1993-2013.
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Birkelund, Gunn Elisabeth; Frøland, Stig Sophus & Saugstad, Jens
(2017).
Malplassert toleranse (svar til rektoratet ved UiO om nasjonalt forbud mot ansiktsdekkende plagg).
Aftenposten (morgenutg. : trykt utg.).
ISSN 0804-3116.
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Birkelund, Gunn Elisabeth & Eriksen, John
(2017).
Race, Ethnicity and Welfare States: An American Dilemma?
Acta Sociologica.
ISSN 0001-6993.
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Serck-Hanssen, Camilla; Lohndal, Terje & Birkelund, Gunn Elisabeth
(2017).
Humaniora: Krav, frihet og egenart.
p. 14–15.
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Birkelund, Gunn Elisabeth
(2017).
Arbeidslivsdiskriminering i Norge.
http://sosiologen.no/2017/01/arbeidslivsdiskriminering-i-norge/.
sosiologen.no.
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Birkelund, Gunn Elisabeth & Hermansen, Are Skeie
(2016).
Høy innvandrerandel på skolen gir ikke dårligere karakterer.
[Radio].
NRK.
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Birkelund, Gunn Elisabeth; Brandén, Maria & Szulkin, Ryszard
(2015).
Does School Segregation Lead to Poor Educational Outcomes? Evidence from 15 Cohorts of Swedish Ninth Graders.
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Jansson, Fredrik; Birkelund, Gunn Elisabeth & Lillehagen, Mats
(2015).
Segregation within School Classes: Deriving Social Ties from Register Data.
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Birkelund, Gunn Elisabeth & Hermansen, Are Skeie
(2015).
– Norske elever gjør det like bra på skoler med mange innvandrere.
[Journal].
Nettavisen.
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Heggebø, Kristian; Birkelund, Gunn Elisabeth & Rogstad, Jon
(2014).
Ethnic scarring effects of unemployment? Evidence from two randomized field-experiments in Norway.
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Spaiser, Viktoria; Mann, Richard; Lillehagen, Mats & Birkelund, Gunn Elisabeth
(2014).
Emergent Segregation through Collective Decision-Making in School Choice.
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Birkelund, Gunn Elisabeth
(2013).
Recensioner: Avhandlinger i sosiologi: Moa Bursell (2012) Ethnic Discrimination, Name Change and Labor Market Inequality. Mixed Approaches to ethnic exclusion in Sweden. Stockholm University.
Sociologisk forskning.
ISSN 0038-0342.
50,
p. 75–77.
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Birkelund, Gunn Elisabeth & Mastekaasa, Arne
(2012).
Så klarar sig invandrarnas barn i Norge.
Framtider.
ISSN 0281-0492.
p. 11–14.
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Birkelund, Gunn Elisabeth & Lemel, Yannick
(2012).
Life Styles and Social Stratification. France and Norway Compared.
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Urgreninov, Elisabeth & Birkelund, Gunn Elisabeth
(2011).
Does fathers' involvement in housework affect mothers' sick leave absence?
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Urgreninov, Elisabeth & Birkelund, Gunn Elisabeth
(2011).
Does fathers' involvement in housework affect mothers' sick leave absence?
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Hermansen, Are Skeie & Birkelund, Gunn Elisabeth
(2011).
Ethnic School Segregation and Educational Achievement: Evidence from Comprehensive Lower Secondary Schools in Norway.
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Birkelund, Gunn Elisabeth & Lemel, Yannick
(2011).
Life Styles and Social Stratification. France and Norway Compared.
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Hermansen, Are Skeie; Hundebo, Pål Oskar & Birkelund, Gunn Elisabeth
(2020).
Towards Spatial Assimilation? Contextual Mobility and Neighborhood Attainment Among Norwegian Immigrant Descendants.
SocArXiv.
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Published
Oct. 4, 2010 4:14 PM
- Last modified
Sep. 1, 2026 2:11 PM