Stefan Bieńkowski
European Social Survey (2026–present) Currently, I am working on the implementation of the Polish edition of the European Social Survey (ESS) at the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IFiS PAN). The ESS is one of the largest international research projects in the social sciences and a key element of European research infrastructure. Its primary goal is the cyclical monitoring and comparison of social change, attitudes, and value systems among European residents. [read project description]

Methodologically, the project is distinguished by its rigorous standards, combining interviewer-administered surveys (face-to-face module – F2F) with self-administered questionnaires (self-completion module – S-C). My role in the project includes coordinating and directly supervising the self-completion module, as well as managing quality control and fieldwork execution for the face-to-face component. In my day-to-day responsibilities, I am actively involved across the entire research process.

More about the project: europeansocialsurvey.org

Relocating Care Research Project (2023–2025) In 2023–2025, I served as a research associate with the University of Amsterdam on the international project “Relocating Care”. My involvement consisted of employing artistic research methods within the project’s component based on visual anthropology. [read project description]

The main goal of the project was a multidimensional analysis of care relocation in the context of transnational mobility and aging societies. My original contribution to the study focused on utilizing analogue photography to research memory in the West Pomerania region. As part of the research, I conducted two stages of fieldwork in Pomerania in 2022 and 2023, during which we collected photographic material for subsequent analysis.

More about the project: relocatingcare.org

RAM-CLASS Research Project (2024–2025) In 2024–2025, I worked as a PhD scholarship holder at SWPS University on the project “RAM-CLASS: Reproduction and Class Mobility. Biographical Experiences in the Fields of Academia, Art, and Business”. The project was funded by an NCN SONATA grant. [read project description]

The main goal of the project was to study the biographical experiences and identities of individuals working in the same areas but differing in social origin. The analysis covered three specific professional fields with high symbolic capital: academia (researchers with at least a PhD, working at universities), artistic (creatives across various disciplines), and business (top managers and business owners). The key theme was reproduction and class upawrd mobility. The study was based on the biographical-narrative interview method. A component analyzing media discourse was also present in the study. My responsibilities included developing research tools, conducting interviews, coding, analyzing empirical material and preparing publications.

Publications:

• J. Kajta, S. Bieńkowski (2026). Class Ruptures and Openings: The Role of Social and Family History in Narratives on Class Mobility and Reproduction, The British Journal of Sociology, s. 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-4446.70135

• K. Bielecka, S. Bieńkowski, O. Czeranowska, J. Kajta (2026). Reflexive Sociology in Practice: The Significance of Class in Biographical Research, Kultura i Społeczeństwo, vol. 70, no. 1. https://doi.org/10.35757/KiS.2026.70.1.5

Selected conference presentations:

• 19th Polish Sociological Congress, Polish Sociological Association (2025) – co-authored paper (with Justyna Kajta): Pęknięcia i szczeliny w strukturze. Trajektorie międzypokoleniowej (nie)mobilności klasowej w Polsce [Ruptures and Chinks in the Structure: Trajectories of Intergenerational Class (Im)mobility in Poland].

• 5th ISA Forum of Sociology, International Sociological Association, Rabat (2025) – co-authored paper (with Justyna Kajta), accepted for presentation: “My Grandparents’ Backgrounds Were Very Different…”. Ruptures and Non-Linear Trajectories in Intergenerational Class (Im)Mobility in Poland.

More about the project: ramclass.swps.pl

Research Project: Precarious Careers and Life Turning Points (2022–2023) Together with Dr. Danuta Życzyńska-Ciołek, I conducted a study on the biographical trajectories of individuals receiving pensions below the minimum. The study was carried out at the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the Polish Academy of Sciences. [read project description]

The study served as a pilot for the project “Multidimensional Biographies and Social Structure: Poland 1988-2018” (NCN). My responsibilities included conducting biographical interviews, performing qualitative analysis of the collected data adn writing the publication.

Publications:

• Bieńkowski, S., & Życzyńska-Ciołek, D. (2023). Caught in a Matrix of Factors: A Pilot Study of Female Retirees Receiving Below-Minimum Pension Payments. Qualitative Sociology Review, 19(3), 52–72. https://doi.org/10.18778/1733-8077.19.3.03

CNB-Young Research Project (2020–2022) From 2020 to 2022, I participated as a PhD scholarship holder in the international project “Cross-National Biographies of Young Adults”. The project was carried out by a consortium of the Faculty of Sociology at the University of Warsaw and IFiS PAN, funded by an NCN OPUS grant (“Dynamics of youth employment precarity: determinants, trajectories, and consequences in a comparative perspective”). [read project description]

The aim of the project was a comparative analysis of employment precarity in Poland, Germany, the UK, and the USA based on panel data (POLPAN, UKHLS, SOEP, NLSY). The research involved a theoretical component, a harmonization process merging data from various panels, and an analytical stage that led to the creation of the Cross-National Precarity Index (CNPI). My responsibilities included literature reviews, theoretical work, preparing conference presentations and papers, as well as day-to-day organizational coordination.

Publications:

• Bieńkowski, S., & Kiersztyn, A. (2025). Employment Insecurity in the Polish Labour Market: Tendencies and Interpretations. In: J. Kubisa, K. Rakowska, & J. Wawrzyniak (Eds.), Socjologia Pracy – Nowe Odsłony [Sociology of Work – New Dimensions]. University of Warsaw Press. https://doi.org/10.31338/uw.9788323571346

• Kopycka, K., Kiersztyn, A., Sawiński, Z., Bieńkowski, S., & Sovpenchuk, V. (2023). Use of Panel Surveys to Measure Employment Precarity in a Cross-National Framework: An Integrated Approach to Harmonize Research Concepts and Longitudinal Data. Survey Research Methods, 17(3), 353–393. https://doi.org/10.18148/srm/2023.v17i3.7989

Selected conference presentations and workshops:

• University of Bamberg (Dec 1–2, 2022) – workshop participation and paper presentation: Between non-standard employment, ideology of work and employment precarity.

• Conference “Harmonized longitudinal data on social structure: Polish research in a cross-national perspective” (Dec 1–2, 2021) – co-authored paper: POLPAN in International Context: Moving Towards Harmonization in the CNB-Young Project.

• Conference “Methodological Inspirations 2021: Quantitative Research in Social Sciences ̵ Challenges and Problems” (Sep 23–24, 2021) – co-authored paper: How to measure precarious employment in a cross-national comparative perspective?

• International Conference “Social Boundaries of Work” (Oct 28–29, 2020) – paper presentation: Discourse and diversity in outsourced work: a cross-country comparison.

More about the project: facebook.com/CrossNationalBiographiesYoung