Jessica
Nisén
Areas of expertise
Biography
My background is in social demography and quantitative sociology. Since 2020, I have been affiliated with the INVEST Research Flagship Center at the University of Turku. Previously, I worked at the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research in Germany (2017–2020) and the University of Helsinki in Finland (2009–2017) .
Since 2017, I have been actively involved in the EAPS (European Association for Population Studies) working group Register-Based fertility research and led comparative research projects.
Since 2026, I have been co-editor of the Finnish Journal of Social Research. Currently, I am a core member of the University of Turku's multidisciplinary theme Children, Young People, and Learning, which aims to facilitate multidisciplinary research, teaching, and societal interaction in this area.
Teaching
I currently teach the course Comparative Welfate State as part of the MPInvest and DPInvest degree programmes in Inequalities, Interventions and New Welfare State. Earlier I have taught the courses Social Inequalities and Fields of research in Social Sciences at the University of Turku, as well as Demographic Methods at the University of Helsinki.
Research
My research interests focus on the trends, determinants, and implications of late and low fertility for individuals and societies, more recently in the context of increasing diversity. Cross-cutting topics in my research include gender, the life course, and social inequalities, often examined from a cross-country or regional comparative perspective using register data.
In the consortium funded by the Strategic Research Council (Reserch Council of Finland) Family Formation in Flux – Causes, Consequences and Possible Futures (FLUX) I investigate the demographic, social and economic determinants of changing fertility and family dynamics as a work package leader.
In a Nordic collaboration project funded by the Danish ROCKWOOL Foundation Determinants of later and forgone parenthood in the Nordic countries'. Examining the role of housing and labour market careers (NORDPARENT) I am the lead researcher in Finland.
From 2020 to 2024 I led the project Low fertility in Europe in the beginning of the 21st century: patterns, causes and consequences, funded by the Research Council of Finland.