Andrea Voyer Professor of Sociology
Contact
Name and title: Andrea VoyerProfessor of Sociology
Workplace: Department of Sociology Länk till annan webbplats.
Visiting address Room B946Universitetsvägen 10 B, plan 9
Postal address Sociologiska institutionen106 91 Stockholm
About me
Andrea Voyer is a Professor of Sociology at Stockholm University.
Andrea Voyer is a Professor in the Department of Sociology at Stockholm University. In her research, she focuses on social norms and boundaries as they shape social inequality. She works primarily on the topics of immigrant incorporation, class distinction-making, and ethnic and racial inequality. Voyer employs qualitative and computational methodologies, including working with large-scale text analyses and applying cultural sociological theory to empirical investigations. Her research has been supported by Riksbanken Jubileumsfond, the Swedish Research Council, the National Science Foundation (US), and the Russell Sage Foundation, and the American Political Science Association and the Mathematical Sociology section of the American Sociological Association have recognized the quality of her research output.
Voyer teaches and supervises student research at all levels. Her primary teaching areas are qualitative and computational methods, theory, and the sociology of ethnicity, migration, and integration. Her teaching and mentorship have been recognized with awards, including the University of Connecticut Mentorship Excellence Award.
Voyer serves in service and administrative roles within the department and the larger sociological and academic communities. At Stockholm University, she is faculty coordinator for the master's programs in Sociology and Applied Social Research. She co-leads the department’s research groups in qualitative methods, computational sociology, and cultural sociology. She serves on editorial boards for Sociological Theory and the American Journal of Cultural Sociology, and is a member of the research council of the Royal Library of Sweden. Voyer contributes her expertise to media discussions and public forums on the topics of immigrant integration, segregation, social inequality and social norms.
Prior to joining the faculty of Stockholm University, Voyer was a Russell Sage Foundation Visiting Scholar and an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Connecticut. She has held appointments as Postdoctoral Fellow in the Center for Cultural Sociology at Yale University, Research Fellow at Linnaeus University in Växjö, Sweden, and Assistant Professor of Sociology at Pace University in New York City. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Andrea Voyer’s research explores cultural processes of inequality, focusing on social inclusion, exclusion, and the construction of solidaristic communities. Her work addresses core sociological issues such as intergenerational economic inequality, immigrant integration, and the roles of race, ethnicity, and class in society. By connecting micro-level behaviors and judgments with persistent structures of inequality, Voyer employs a range of methods, including interviews, ethnographic research, and computational text analysis.
Etiquette as Data
One of Voyer's research initiatives investigates etiquette and manners as indicators of social organization and change. This work began with a U.S. National Science Foundation-funded project, “Social Norms, Social Boundaries, and Inequality,” and continues through ongoing and planned studies using “Normative Text Data” from Sweden. Using computational text analysis, Voyer examines changes in social norms over a century of Emily Post’s Etiquette editions. Recent publications, such as “Symbols of Class” (Poetics, 2022) and “From Strange to Normal” (Sociological Methods and Research, 2022), analyze how markers of class and immigrant integration have shifted over time. Future research will extend these findings to investigate topics like changing gender norms and race representation in etiquette, including cross-national comparisons.
Cultural Sociology of Immigrant Integration
In the area of migration, Voyer’s book Strangers and Neighbors (Cambridge, 2013) explores immigrant integration through cultural frameworks in a U.S. town with a significant Somali community. Building on her earlier research on multiculturalism, Voyer has expanded her work to Sweden. Recent studies, including “Recognition Gaps and COVID Inequality” (Cultural Sociology, 2023), use recognition theory to address cultural stigmatization and racialization in immigrant communities. Through this research, she demonstrates that cultural processes of inequality, such as recognition gaps, are crucial factors affecting integration outcomes.
Educational Transitions of Immigrant Youth
As part of a research environment examining the educational transitions of immigrant youth in three Swedish municipalities. In her work for this environment, Voyer explores the aspirations-attainment paradox, where immigrant and minority youth exhibit high educational aspirations but lower attainment levels. Voyer identifies two processes that shape this paradox: “branching out,” where students broaden their career aspirations based on new information and opportunities, and “cooling out,” where students adjust aspirations downward due to perceived barriers. By conducting interviews with students and school personnel, this project sheds light on how immigrant youth navigate educational choices and adapt their aspirations in response to barriers they encounter in the Swedish educational system.
Integration Challenges of High-Skilled Migrants
Voyer is participating in an interdisciplinary investigation of the integration challenges faced by high-skilled migrants (HSMs) in Sweden. The study, which will begin in 2025, challenges the assumption of "meritocratic integration," which suggests that professional credentials ensure seamless integration for HSMs. By examining public attitudes, organizational practices, and HSMs’ perspectives, this project aims to contribute to a nuanced understanding of the role of merits in integration, offering insights for more inclusive migration policies.
Cultural Theory
Voyer contributes to theoretical debates and theoretical development in cultural sociology. In a co-edited volume on civil sphere theory in the Nordic context (Polity, 2019), she examines the unique societal structures of Nordic countries. Her theoretical work extends to epistemic normativity, where she argues that the social role of shared meanings underpins both public and personal culture. Her ongoing research in this area seeks to bridge cognitive and macro-cultural theories, advancing our understanding of how collective meanings shape social reality.