About me
I am Assistant Professor at the Department of Sociology at Utrecht University (the Netherlands).
I obtained my PhD in social sciences (‘summa cum laude’) in 2017 from the University of Bamberg, Germany. Afterwards, I held positions as project coordinator (Humboldt-University of Berlin), project leader (Leipzig University), and research group leader (University of Potsdam).
My research examines how societal transformations like migration, increasing diversity, demographic change, and digitalization affect social relationships and what consequences this has for integration, social cohesion, and social inequality. Current work focuses on interethnic friendships and social integration, the effects of social networks on educational inequality, stereotypes and subtle discrimination, and the digital transformation of social relationships.
A current project, funded by the Dutch Research Council, investigates social cohesion in ethnically diverse schools as part of SOCION.
My research combines analytical-sociological perspectives and pursues an interdisciplinary approach that integrates sociology with (social-)psychology, and educational, and organizational science. Methodologically, I develop theoretical and quantitative and computational approaches to studying complex social structures, including the concept of multidimensional heterogeneity. These methods include large-scale surveys, longitudinal social network analysis, computational methods, and mixed-methods designs.
My teaching covers introductory and advanced courses on sociology and social network analysis, including lectures on social networks and educational inequality at Utrecht University, seminars on social network analysis at Leipzig University, and tutorials on discrimination, immigration, and educational inequality at the University of Bamberg.