People

PAPIS has good people on board. You can get to know them better below.

Ber­g­lind Rós Mag­nús­dót­tir

Project Leader, Professor

Berglind Rós Magnúsdóttir (Ph.D. 2014, Univ. of Cambridge), is a Professor in Educational Studies at the School of education, University of Iceland. She received her teacher certificate in 1998 and worked as a teacher for five years in the Rural North of Iceland before specializing in Gender and Education (MA) and Critical Sociology of Education (PhD) utilizing Bourdieu’s theoretical framework. Her PhD-thesis examines issues on cultural politics of parental choice in the US, exploring neoliberal choice policies and their effects on parents’ and teachers’ choices and practices to ensure school quality.

Her research interests lie in the fields of sociology of education; education policy; teacher professionalism; amd the intersection of gender, race, disability and social class in relation to social justice in education. Her previous work experiences include being special adviser to the Minister of Education (2009-2011), equal opportunity officer at the University of Iceland (2003-2005) and teaching at the compulsory school level (1992-1995 and 1999-2001). She has worked in academia since 2003 and has been politically involved in education since 2009. Her current research is on globalization, marketization, and differentiation in the Icelandic education system and its impact on social justice, parental choices and practices, teachers’ professionalism, educational quality and in-/exclusion in education. She is currently the department chair of the graduate programme Education and Diversity at the University of Iceland.

Auður Magndís Auðardóttir

Postdoctoral researcher

Auður Magndís Auðardóttir was born in Reykjavik in 1982. She completed a BA degree in Sociology and Gender Studies from the University of Iceland in 2005 and a MSc degree in Sociology from the London School of Economics in 2007. She has worked as a project manager for the Social Science Research Institute and for the City of Reykjavík, as well as exective director of Samtökin ’78. Since 2017, Auður has been a researcher and adjunct teacher at the School of Education with a focus on sociology of education, gender studies and queer studies. She has been hired as a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Education and Diversity at the School of Education, starting this summer. Auður is married to Íris Ellenberger and has two children, Bjartur Einar and Ástrós Inga.

Eva Harðardóttir

Adjunct Professor

Eva Harðardóttir is an adjunct and a PhD candidate in education at the University of Iceland, Reykjavík. She holds a joint Master’s degree in Education Policy and Management from the Danish University of Education (DPU) and the University of Deusto in the Basque Country of Spain. Her research focuses on incrased cultural diversity within national education systems, inclusive education policy and practice and developing conceptions of citizenship. Eva is an experienced teacher at both upper-secondary and higher education levels specializing in global citizenship education, education for sustainable development, democracy, human rights and global education policy. She is also works a module coordinator for the Gender Equality Studies and Training Programme at GRÓ and has substantial international policy development and implementation experience while working as an education specialist for UNICEF in Malawi.  

Elizabeth Bik Yee Lay

Doctoral Graduate Student

Elizabeth Bik Yee Lay is a PhD student and researcher at the School of Education, University of Iceland. She completed her MA in International Studies in Education in 2016 at the same school. Her research interests focues on immigrant parent participation in the Icelandic education system using cultural and social capital and intersectionality. Before her doctoral studies, Elizabeth worked as a preschool teacher and English teacher at the preschool to primary level for eight years. Elizabeth is part of the MAPS project research team funded by NordForsk and has received an individual grant from the Research Fund / Eimskip University Fund of the University of Iceland. Her PhD research looks at inclusive education policy and practices with a focus on the processes of race and class among immigrant background families in Icelandic schools.

Others involved with PAPIS

Graduate Students
  • Pétur Hjörvar Þorkelsson, graduate  student at the School of Education
    • Emphasis: Single fathers
  • Kristín Kolbrún Kolbeinsdóttir Waage, graduate  student at the School of Education
    • Emphasis: Single mothers, young mothers.
  • Björk Alfreðsdóttir
  • Joanna Dominiczak
  • Zarela Castro
Others
  • Zithna Ngulube
Partners within the university community
  • Ársæll Arnarsson, professor at the School of Education at the University of Iceland
    • Expertise for the project: Theoretical knowledge of the status of fathers and an expert in the database Health and living conditions of school children.
  • Hrund Ingu- og Þórarinsdóttir, lecturer at the School of Education
    • Expertise for the project: Parent education and pedagogy counseling
  • Hanna Björg Sigurjónsdóttir professor in Disability Studies
    • Expertise for the project: Peripheral mothers and fathers, methodology: conducting research with peripherals groups

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