Magister Socjologii Wroclaw, Ph.D. ANU

I studied and taught sociology in Poland, the USA and Australia. My main interest is in educational inequalities at the intersections of class, gender, and ethnicity, focusing on family cultural capital’s influence on academic and occupational outcomes across diverse societies. I am particularly interested in the formation of adolescent career expectations and the factors determining whether and how young people realise their aspirations. My work examines the role of ethnic capital, scholarly culture and Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) specialization in shaping long-term outcomes, applying and extending theories of cultural capital, social stratification, and gender socialization, drawing on frameworks like Bourdieu’s theory of cultural reproduction. Methodologically, I specialize in quantitative analysis of large, cross-national surveys, administrative education data, and longitudinal datasets. I have completed consultancies for the OECD Directorate of Education, the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre, and the National Centre for Vocational Education Research in Adelaide. My interests also include diversity and inclusion in educational outcomes. I supervise research across quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods approaches that aim to inform policy and advance debates on social mobility and educational equity.

Educational inequalities; Social stratification and mobility; Sociology of the family, Social inequality in comparative perspective; Women in Science; Adolescents and their occupational expectations;