Dr Kristina Lindemann

Lecturer in Education and Social Statistics

Biography

Background

Dr Kristina Lindemann is a Lecturer in Education and Social Statistics. Her research focuses on social and ethnic inequalities in education, school-to-work transitions, family dynamics, and the comparative analysis of educational contexts. She investigates these topics using quantitative methods, including longitudinal and comparative quantitative analysis.

Kristina earned her PhD in sociology from Tallinn University in 2013. Her doctoral research focused on ethnic inequalities in educational attainment and labour market entry across different post-Soviet contexts. During her doctoral studies, she was a visiting fellow at the Mannheim Centre for European Social Research (MZES) and the Bremen International Graduate School of Social Sciences (BIGSSS).

After completing her PhD, Kristina worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Sociology at Goethe University Frankfurt. There, she contributed to an ERC-funded project by examining the impact of parental unemployment on children’s educational outcomes and the significance of social policies in mitigating these effects. She also held the role of deputy editor at the European Sociological Review.

In 2019, Kristina secured a grant from the German Research Foundation (DFG) to investigate the consequences of family transitions on children's educational attainment across diverse contexts. In 2023, she successfully obtained a follow-up DFG grant, enabling her to explore the intergenerational repercussions of adverse parental life-course events.

Kristina has also been a consistent contributor to the analysis of socioeconomic background effects in the Estonian PISA reports since 2006.

Qualifications

BA (2006), MA (2008), PhD (2013), Tallinn University

Postgraduate teaching

  • Education Policy and the Politics of Education
  • Quantitative Data Analysis with SPSS
  • Research Methods 1 & 2

Open to PhD supervision enquiries?

Yes

Research summary

Kristina’s research focuses on educational inequalities and intergenerational mobility, family dynamics, and policy contexts. Central to her work is the exploration of how societal contexts influence individuals' behaviours and decisions throughout their life course.  She possesses expertise in quantitative research methods, particularly in longitudinal analysis, causal analysis, and international comparative research.

Key areas of focus within her research include:

  • Social and ethnic inequalities in education
  • School-to-work transitions
  • Parental separation and stepfamilies
  • Comparative analysis of educational contexts
  • Application of quantitative methods

Project activity

2024-2026: Instability After Adverse Parental Life-Course Events and Educational Inequality: An Empirical Study of Intergenerational Effects (Principal Investigator, German Research Foundation)

2020-2024: Family Instability and Educational Inequality: An Empirical Study of Families’ Differential Responses across Social Backgrounds and Institutional Contexts (Principal Investigator, German Research Foundation)

2014-2019: CORRODE: Corroding the Social? An Empirical Evaluation of the Relationship between Unemployment and Social Stratification in OECD Countries (Research Fellow, European Research Council)

2010-2014: The Learner in the Education System and Labour Market: Inequality as Shaping and Being Shaped by the External and Internal Boundaries (Research Fellow, Estonian Science Foundation)

2008-2010: Education Systems and Labour Markets in Central and Eastern European Transformation Countries (Research Fellow, Volkswagen Foundation)

Articles in peer-reviewed journals

  • Lindemann, K. (2024) Family structure and policy contexts: implications for tertiary education attainment in 25 European countries. European Sociological Review, https://doi.org/10.1093/esr/jcae030.
  • Lindemann, K., Gangl M. (2024) How Does a Poor Labour Market Affect Inequalities in Access to Postsecondary Education? Empirical Evidence from 31 Affluent Countries. Socio-Economic Review, https://doi.org/10.1093/ser/mwae032.
  • Lindemann, K. (2024). Family structure transitions and educational outcomes: Explaining heterogeneity by parental education in Germany. Advances in Life Course Research, 60, 100610, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.alcr.2024.100610.
  • Jensen, S., Lindemann, K. and Weiss, F. (2024) Parental job loss and the role of unemployment duration and income changes for children's education. European Sociological Review, 40(6), 933-949, doi.org/10.1093/esr/jcad068
  • Lindemann, K. and Gangl, M. (2020) Parental Unemployment and the Transition into Tertiary Education: Can Institutions Moderate the Adverse Effects? Social Forces, 99(2), 616–647, doi.org/10.1093/sf/soz155.
  • Lindemann, K. (2020) How Labor-Market Integration Affects Perceptions of Discrimination: School-to-Apprenticeship Transitions of Youth with Migration Background in Germany. International Migration Review, 54(4) 1045–1071, doi.org/10.1177/0197918319885892.
  • Lindemann, K. and Gangl, M. (2019) The Intergenerational Effects of Unemployment: How Parental Unemployment Affects Educational Transitions in Germany. Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, doi.org/10.1016/j.rssm.2019.100410.
  • Lindemann, K. and Gangl, M. (2019) Parental Unemployment and the Transition to Vocational Training in Germany: Interaction of Household and Regional Sources of Disadvantage. European Sociological Review, 35(5), 684–700, doi.org/10.1093/esr/jcz027.
  • Lindemann, K. and Unt, M. (2016) Trapped in 'Involuntary' Work in the Late Career? Retirement Expectations versus the 'Desire to Retire' in Estonia. Studies of Transition States and Societies, 8(3), 60–77, http://publications.tlu.ee/index.php/stss/article/view/237.
  • Lindemann, K. (2014) The Effects of Ethnicity, Language Skills, and Spatial Segregation on Labour Market Entry Success in Estonia. European Sociological Review, 30 (1), 35–48, doi.org/10.1093/esr/jct020.
  • Lindemann, K. and Saar, E. (2014) Contextual Effects on Subjective Social Position: Evidence from European Countries. International Journal of Comparative Sociology, 55(2), 3–23, doi.org/10.1177/0020715214527101.
  • Lindemann, K. and Kogan, I. (2013) The Role of Language Resources in Labour Market Entry: Comparing Estonia and Ukraine. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 39 (1), 105–123, doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2012.711050.
  • Lindemann, K. and Saar, E. (2012) Ethnic Inequalities in Education: Second Generation Russians in Estonia. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 35 (11), 1974–1998, doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2011.611890.
  • Lindemann, K. (2007) The Impact of Objective Characteristics on Subjective Social Position. Trames: Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences, 1, 54–68, http://www.eap.ee/public/trames/trames-2007-1-4.pdf.

Monograph

  • Lindemann, K. (2013) Structural Integration of Young Russian-speakers in Post-Soviet Contexts: Educational Attainment and Transition to the Labour Market. Tallinn: Tallinn University Dissertations in Social Sciences.

Book chapters (selected)

  • Lindemann, K., and Gangl, M. (2024). Parental joblessness and its intergenerational impact. In J. Blanden, J. Erola, E. Kilpi-Jakonen, & L. Macmillan (Eds.), Research Handbook on Intergenerational Inequality. Edward Elgar, pp. 135-147, https://doi.org/10.4337/9781800888265.00017.
  • Saar, E., Helemäe, J. and Lindemann, K. (2017) Self-placement of the Unemployed in the Social Hierarchy. In: Edlund, J., Bechert, I., Quandt, M. (eds). Social Inequality in the Eyes of the Public: A Collection of Analysis Based on ISSP Data 1987-2009. Cologne: GESIS, pp. 119-136.
  • Lindemann, K. (2015) The Role of Social Status in Shaping Student Performance. In: Saar, E. (Ed.). Estonian Human Development Report 2014/2015. Tallinn: SA Eesti Koostöö Kogu, pp. 71–77.
  • Lindemann, K. (2013) The School Performance of Russian-speaking Minority in Linguistically Divided Educational Systems: A Comparison of Estonia and Latvia. In: Windzio, M. (Ed.). Integration and Inequality in Educational Institutions. Dordrecht: Springer, pp. 45–69.
  • Lindemann, K. and Unt, M. (2013) From Bust to Boom and Back Again: Social Positions of Graduates during Last Decade in Estonia. In: Mõttus, R. and Saar, E. (Eds.). Higher Education in the Crossroad: The Case of Estonia. Bern: Peter Lang Publishers House, pp. 307–341.
  • Lindemann, K. (2013) Education and Skills as Measures of Life Quality. In: Saar, E. (Ed). Social Trends 6. Tallinn: Statistics Estonia, pp. 60–79.
  • Lindemann, K. (2011) The Labour Market Success of Ethnic Groups: the Reality and Perceived Perspectives. In: Saar, E. (Ed.). Towards a normal stratification order. Actual and Perceived Social Stratification in Post-Socialist Estonia. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang Publishers House, pp. 283–307.
  • Lindemann, K. and Saar, E. (2011) Ethnic Inequalities in the Educational Career. In: Vetik, R. and Helemäe, J. (Eds.). The Russian Second Generation in Tallinn and Kohtla-Järve: The TIES Study in Estonia. Amsterdam: University of Amsterdam, pp. 59–92.
  • Lindemann, K. (2011) Explaining Different Returns from Human Capital in Labour Market. In: Vetik, R. and Helemäe, J. (Eds.). The Russian Second Generation in Tallinn and Kohtla-Järve: The TIES Study in Estonia. Amsterdam: University of Amsterdam, pp. 93 –118.
  • Saar, E. and Lindemann, K. (2008) Estonia. In: Kogan, I., Gebel, M. and Noelke, C. (Eds.). Europe enlarged: a handbook of education, labour and welfare regimes in Central and Eastern Europe. Bristol: Policy Press, pp. 151–181.
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