Alicia García-Sierra

I am a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Swiss Centre of Expertise in Life Course Research (LIVES) at the University of Lausanne. I work on the EQUALOPP project, which examines the relationship between the normative ideal of equality of opportunity and the empirical measures of inequality.

I hold a PhD in Sociology from the University of Oxford and Nuffield College, where I was a Clarendon Scholar. My dissertation, Uneven Pathways, examined three novel mechanisms of intergenerational transmission of (dis)advantages. It was awarded the 2024 ECSR Dissertation of the Year Prize. Prior to joining Oxford, I completed a Masters in Research in Social Sciences at the Carlos III-Juan March Institute (IC3JM), where I held the Juan March Servera Scholarship.

My research interests lie in the fields of social stratification and child development. My main aim is to understand how advantages and disadvantages are transmitted across generations, as well as how social structures such as the family or the education system intertwine with these processes. In my research, I use quantitative methods, household panel datasets, and genetic data, with a special emphasis on causally-oriented designs.

My work has been published or is forthcoming in American Journal of Sociology, European Sociological Review, Social Science Research, Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, Demographic Research, and Social Justice Research.