Research Team

Meet the team behind the project — a group of researchers combining expertise in political science, sociology, and computational methods to understand how gender equality and social attitudes shape political participation across Europe.
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Dr. Olga Lavrinenko

Principal Investigator | University of Warsaw

Dr. Olga Lavrinenko is an assistant professor at the University of Warsaw and Principal Investigator of the project. Her research explores gender gaps in political participation, gender equality policies, and social movements across national and global contexts. She focuses on methodological innovation in quantitative social science and comparative political analysis. She has led multiple NCN-funded projects on women’s political power and inequality.
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Academic Positions
2021 – present: Assistant Professor, Faculty of Political Science and International Studies, University of Warsaw
2020–2021: Postdoctoral Scholar, Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, Polish Academy of Sciences
2013–2020: Ph.D. Candidate, Research Assistant, Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the Polish Academy of Sciences
Poland’s National Science Center (NCN) Research Projects
2024–2027: “Gender Gaps in Political Participation: Examining the Relationships Between Gender Equality and Gender-Role Attitudes in Europe, 1999 – 2021” (PI, “Sonata” grant)
2021–2024: “Fragmentation of Women’s Organizations and the Expression of Women’s Political Power Worldwide, 1999–2020” (PI, “Sonatina” grant)
2020–2021: “Political Voice and Economic Inequality across Nations and Time” (Postdoctoral Scholar, “Opus” grant)

Dr. Kateryna Gryniuk

Dr. Kateryna Gryniuk is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Warsaw working on gender gaps in political participation in Europe. She holds a PhD in Sociology from the Polish Academy of Sciences and has led research on labour markets, inequality, education, and migration. Her work combines academic research with international NGO projects and policy analysis in areas such as peacebuilding and post-war reconstruction. She also teaches inclusivity in peacebuilding.
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Work Experience
Since 2025: Assistant Professor / Postdoctoral Researcher, Faculty of Political Science and International Studies, University of Warsaw (UW), Warsaw, Poland.
2018–2024: Project and Regional Coordinator, Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC), The Hague, the Netherlands.
2014–2017: Researcher, Polish Academy of Sciences; Analyst, Institute of Public Affairs; Google Ads Specialist, Arteria S.A.; Project Manager, World Peace Initiative. Warsaw, Poland.
2011–2013: Marketing Coordinator, The Coca-Cola Company, Kyiv, Ukraine.
2009–2011: Senior Analyst, Business Development, Vega (SCM Group), Kyiv, Ukraine.
2005–2009: Analyst, Jones Lang LaSalle; Translator and Interpreter, among others: Kyiv National Economic University named after Vadym Hetman, National Concert Agency. Kyiv, Ukraine.
Research Projects
Principal Investigator for research grants:
“The Mechanism of Bridging the Skills Gap in Post-Communist Countries. Case study of Ukraine, Poland, and Estonia” (IFiS PAN, 2 grants: 2016 and 2018), “Human Capital Development in Post-Soviet Countries: Cooperation and Conflict between Government, Civil Society and Business in Ukraine and Estonia” (IFiS PAN, 2014-2015).
Researcher in the NCN-funded projects:
“Gender Gaps in Political Participation: Examining the Relationships Between Gender Equality and Gender-Role Attitudes in Europe, 1999 – 2021” (UW, NCN SONATA, 2025-2027).
“Political Voice and Economic Inequality across Nations and Time” (PAN, NCN OPUS, 2017-2022);
“Practices of handling money in close relationships in young family households” (PAN, NCN OPUS, 2014-2017);
“Who Wins and Who Loses in the Parliamentary Elections? From Formal Theory to Empirical Analysis" (PAN, NCN SONATA BIS, 2013-2016).