معرفی
Maria Stanfors is a Professor in the Department of Economic History at Lund University and a member of the Centre for Economic Demography. Her work contributes to UN Sustainable Development Goals through research intersecting economic history, demography, and gender studies.
Her research focuses on economic histories of education, female labor force participation, housework, and family formation. Key projects examine gender differentials in labor market outcomes (wages, careers, union membership), gender and time allocation, family dynamics across educational groups, and assortative mating's impact on inequality. She utilizes large-scale surveys (SHARE, SILC, NSFG), Swedish register data, SEDD, and her HILMA-database covering 1890-1940 white-collar workers. Her teaching includes advanced courses on Human Capital in Historical Perspective, Marriage and Fertility, and Work and Family in Scandinavia.
Analysis of her recent publications reveals consistent themes in historical demography and gender economics, with strong methodological emphasis on longitudinal data analysis and comparative policy relevance. Her work bridges 19th-20th century industrial contexts with contemporary Scandinavian welfare systems.
Scientific Awards:
- Färs & Frosta Sparbanks Forskningspris 2004 (100,000 SEK)
- Kungliga Vitterhetsakademiens post-doc-stipendium (100,000 SEK)
- Oscar II:s Stipendium for best dissertation at Lund University
- Wallanderstipendium from Handelsbankens Forskningsstiftelser
Stanfors leads multiple active research projects including 'Was there power in a union?' (Swedish Research Council, 2024-2027), 'Caregiving responsibilities across the life course' (Crafoord Foundation), and 'Educational assortative mating and inequality' (Forte). She serves as Associate Editor for the Journal of Marriage and Family and chairs IFAU's Scientific Council. Her supervision includes PhD students through projects like the '8 mars-gruppen' network.
Her collaborative work spans international partnerships evident in projects like the comparative study on gender and care responsibilities, leveraging data from Sweden, EU, and US contexts to address aging population challenges.
