After obtaining his Master's degree in Demographics in his native Brazil, Vinicius moved to Sweden in 2021 to pursue his PhD in Economic History.
His thesis is about how social interactions and relationships with non-family members throughout childhood and early adulthood contribute to union formation and fertility behavior in adulthood.
"I use neighborhood contexts in adulthood to approximate social-interactive environments of children and young adults and then follow them in adulthood to see when they married, who they married, when they had children and how many, combining both historical and contemporary data sources," says Vinicius de Souza.
He continues explaining that it turns out that these social environments were quite important to later life union formation and fertility, which in turn indicates that non-family members are important elements of our socialization.
What has it been like to be a PhD student at LUSEM?
"Being a PhD here was a very positive experience. I had a very strong team of supervisors to back me up throughout the process, I had excellent colleagues who were both smart and fun, and the working environment was generally very supportive. However, as any PhD will tell you, it was also very stressful and difficult at many different points of the process, since it feels like changing the wheels of the car while it is motion, given what you are supposed to learn and do as a PhD student," he says.
What are your plans after the dissertation, and do you have any advice for those just starting their PhD journey
"After the dissertation, I am currently invested in continuing an academic career. I am applying for postdoc and teaching positions here and in Brazil. However, I am keeping my options open for non-academic employment, since my priority is to find a job in a place that is beneficial for both me and my partner.
A few years ago, I would not have doubted about making an effort to stay in Sweden, but being a non-EU citizen, it feels like the current government is not very interested in us staying here long-term, which has changed the calculus a lot. My advice for new PhD students is to give yourself time to adjust to your new role, and if you are a foreigner, to adjust to being in Sweden as well.
Many supervisors are eager for PhD students to get going with research right away, which can be a good thing. However, I believe you need to find your footing first: participate in the welcome activities, read some guides about the university, and try to figure out your life outside of work as well, by joining local clubs or associations, meeting groups and so on.
Also, I would say try to make a decision about whether you want to learn Swedish from the start or not, since it is much easier to learn Swedish in the first two years of the PhD than in the final two, and I believe it gets progressively more difficult to find extra time to study after the PhD," Vinicius reflects.