Petra Thiemann is an Associate Professor of Economics at Lund University, Sweden, where she works on Labor Economics, Economics of Education, and Applied Microeconometrics. Petra's research centers on the factors that shape educational choices and how these choices impact the quality and quantity of education people receive. She is also interested in understanding why educational and labor market opportunities are unequally distributed. Her work spans different phases of life, from the early school years to adulthood. However, she is particularly fascinated by transitional moments in students' lives, like the transition from high school to college.


Petra earned her Ph.D. in Economics from the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland, in 2015 under the guidance of Michael Lechner. She also spent a year as a Visiting Student Researcher at UC Berkeley. From 2014 to 2017, she was a Postdoctoral Research Associate at USC Dornsife INET.


In February 2017, Petra joined IZA as a Research Affiliate and became an IZA Research Fellow in December 2023.