Iselin Silja Kaspersen

• Working life and digital transformation

• Indigenous peoples and Arctic communities

• Industrial development and food systems

• Outsideness and inclusion

• Public safety and emergency preparedness

Researcher with expertise in institutional frameworks, outsideness and identity

Iselin Silja Kaspersen is a senior researcher at Nordland Research Institute and holds a PhD in sociology from Nord University. Her research focuses on exclusion, institutions, identity, gender, morality and the use of power and coercion. Kaspersen is particularly interested in how institutional structures shape individuals' self-understanding and their place in society. In her research, she combines qualitative and quantitative methods, and she is committed to connecting theoretical insights with applied societal relevance to understand complex societal challenges.

Competence

Iselin has broad research expertise in sociology, with particular emphasis on themes such as identity, gender, power and morality. She has deep insight into how moral dilemmas and gender perspectives play out in institutional contexts – from child welfare and psychiatry, to religious communities and military organizations. Through her doctoral work and subsequent research projects, she has specialized in investigating how social groups, societies and institutions shape individuals' identity and self-understanding. Kaspersen has solid experience with both exploratory and hypothesis-testing research designs, and her work is characterized by the ability to combine different theoretical perspectives to illuminate complex social phenomena. 

Education and work experience

Kaspersen holds a PhD in Sociology from Nord University (2023), a Master's in Peace and Conflict Transformation from the University of Tromsø (2016), and a Bachelor's in Public Health and Health Promotion from the University of Bergen (2012). She also has a military officer's training from the Norwegian Armed Forces (2006).

She has teaching experience from Nord University and the University of Tromsø, and has been a supervisor for both bachelor's and master's students at Nord University and the Norwegian Police Academy. Kaspersen has previously been employed as a consultant and teacher, and her military background includes several years as a team leader in the Army.

Projects and publications

Iselin has led and participated in a number of research projects, including on child welfare, religious break-up processes, young people's exclusion and youth services in schools and municipalities. She has been project manager for the mapping of the Follow-up Service in Oslo and is a senior researcher in the project "The complexity of coercion in child and adolescent psychiatry".

Lectures and dissemination

Kaspersen is an active research communicator and regularly participates in report publications, lectures and teaching. She has been a guest on the podcast "SJMS Talks", where she discussed the identity of female soldiers and whistleblowing in the Armed Forces. She has presented her research at conferences and seminars in both academic and public forums, and her work contributes to an increased understanding of how institutions affect individuals' living conditions - within child welfare, schools, psychiatry, religious communities and the Armed Forces.

• Living conditions among queers

• Reasons for the decline in the number of child welfare care placements 2013-2022

• Coercion in child and adolescent psychiatry

• Research project on young religious breakaways

• Follow-up service in Oslo

Here you can read my publications in NVA.