Biörn IvemarkResearcher

About me

I am a sociologist within the field of migration, education, and social mobility. Since completing my PhD at the University of British Columbia—where I examined the structural integration and intergroup dynamics of two minority groups in Paris accross two generations—my work has spanned structural and micro-sociological perspectives on integration and social mobility.

One strand of my research explores how institutional arrangements and place-based contexts shape migrants’ opportunities for integration and access to resources. A second broader strand extends beyond migration and focuses on the subjective, intergenerational, and symbolic dimensions of social mobility, seeking to determine how aspirations, dispositions, and social boundaries are shaped and re-shaped across time. Drawing on Pierre Bourdieu’s sociology of practice infused with psychosocial and affective perspectives, I am particularly interested in the mechanisms through which educational outlooks and motivation are transmitted, transformed and navigated.

I joined the department of education at Stockholm University in 2024, where I'm currently involved in two major research projects. Since 2024, I'm collaborating in a project funded by Formas that explores how varying local reception contexts shape the educational trajectories of newcomer youth in Sweden. Since 2025, I'm also leading the project After Optimism funded by the Swedish Research Council, which examines how ambitious educational choices among youth from educationally disadvantaged migrant backgrounds come about and evolve, as well as how they are fulfilled and experienced over time.

Recent publications

Ivemark, B. (2024) “Feeling the Squeeze: Parental Expectations and Educational Experiences of Low-SES College Students from Immigrant Backgrounds” in Migrant Youth, Schooling and Identity: Experiences and Perspectives from Northern Europe, edited by N. Hammarén, B. Ivemark, & L. Stretmo. Cham: Springer

Hammarén, N., Ivemark, B. & Stretmo, L. (eds.). (2024). Migrant Youth, Schooling and Identity: Perspectives from Northern Europe. Cham: Springer

Ivemark B. & Ambrose, A. (2023) “From Doxic Breach to Cleft Habitus: Affect, Reflexivity and Dispositional Disjunctures” British Journal of Sociology of Education, 44(5): 944-961. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/ 01425692.2023.2209286

Ivemark, B. & Ambrose, A. (2021) “Habitus Adaptation and Adjustment to Higher Education among Swedish First-Generation Students: A Life Course Perspective” Sociology of Education, 94(3), 191-207. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F00380407211017060 

Ambrose, A. & Ivemark, B. (2020) “Linjen mellan högstadiet och högre utbildning: En fallstudie om breddad rekrytering och breddat deltagande.” Forskningsrapport, Örebro universitet.

Roth, W.D. & Ivemark, B. (2018) “Genetic Options: The Impact of Genetic Ancestry Testing on Consumers’ Racial and Ethnic Identities” American Journal of Sociology, 124(1): 150-184. https://doi.org/10.1086/697487

Zuberi, D, Ivemark, B. & Ptashnick, M. (2018) “Lagging Behind in Suburbia: Suburban versus Urban Newcomers’ Employment Settlement Service Outcomes in Metro Vancouver, Canada” The Social Science Journal, 55(4): 443-454. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soscij.2018.03.001

Ivemark, B. (2017) “Bleu Blanc Noir: Assimilation Trajectories, Identity Dynamics, and Boundary Work of French Antilleans, West Africans, and their Children in Paris” Doctoral Dissertation, University of British Columbia, Canada.