Photo of Maria Brandén

Maria Brandén

Professor, Head of Division

My research primarily concerns how our social contexts shape our lives. I almost exclusively use Swedish register data in my research.

Register-based research on social inequality

My research primarily concerns how our social contexts shape our lives. I almost exclusively use Swedish register data in my research.

I am a professor of Analytical Sociology at Linköping University and received my PhD in Sociological Demography at Stockholm University in 2014. Since January 2021, I am the director of the Institute for Analytical Sociology, where I have worked since it was founded in 2014.

The majority of my research is based on analyses of register data. Sweden's extensive register data is unique, and enables research that is difficult to conduct in other countries. For me, register data is particularly valuable because it makes it possible to investigate how characteristics of our neighbors, classmates or coworkers affect different life outcomes such as income, education and health. My research concerns, for example, how the composition of the residential area when you grow up is related to income later in life, how the class composition in schools affects different educational outcomes, and how behaviors spread in different social networks.

Recent publications

2025

Maël Lecoursonnais, Maria Brandén, Erik Rosenqvist (2025) The Spatial Determinants of Academic Aspirations: Evidence From Sweden Population, Space and Place, Vol. 31, Article e70082 (Article in journal) Continue to DOI
Cheng Lin, Adel Daoud, Maria Brandén (2025) To what extent do disadvantaged neighbourhoods mediate social assistance dependency? Evidence from Sweden European Sociological Review (Article in journal) Continue to DOI

2024

Andreas Bergh, Maria Brandén, Alba Stjärnkvist (2024) Var bor Sveriges högutbildade och var kommer de ifrån? [Where do Sweden's highly educated live - and where do they come from?] Statsvetenskaplig Tidskrift, Vol. 126, p. 919-932 (Article in journal)
Erik Rosenqvist, Maria Brandén (2024) School composition and academic decisions European Sociological Review, Vol. 41, p. 232-247 (Article in journal) Continue to DOI
Zuzana Zilincikova, Isabel Palomares Linares, Alyona Artamonova, Maria Brandén, Christine Schnor (2024) Residential choice following separation and widowhood in middle and later life in Belgium and Sweden Population, Space and Place, Vol. 30, Article e2709 (Article in journal) Continue to DOI

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