Jenny Chesters

Associate Professor Jenny Chesters holds a PhD in Sociology from the University of Queensland, completed in 2009. She is an Associate Professor in the Melbourne Graduate School of Education and a Research Fellow in the Youth Research Collective at the Faculty of Education, University of Melbourne, where she also serves as leader of the Youth Research Collective. Chesters joined the University of Melbourne as a Research Associate in 2011 and became part of the Life Patterns Project team as a Research Fellow in 2016. She is a Chief Investigator on the Australian Research Council-funded Life Patterns project spanning 2021 to 2026, which examines lifelong learning and transitions. Additionally, she has received a 2025 MERI Research Development Funding Scheme award for her work on understanding change through Australian longitudinal mixed-method multicohort youth research.

Her research interests encompass transitions between education and employment throughout the life course, inequality in educational attainment, social stratification, youth transitions, social inequalities, well-being, precarious employment, administrative burdens in universities, and the impacts of COVID-19. Chesters employs quantitative and qualitative methods, including secondary analysis of datasets such as the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA), Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY), German National Education Panel Study (NEPS), university administrative data, and NAPLAN. She teaches research methodologies and coordinates capstone projects for Master of Education students. Chesters has published numerous peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters, with her Google Scholar profile recording over 2,120 citations and an h-index of 27. Notable publications include 'Administrative burden in Australian universities: Insights into dimensions and drivers from a nation-wide survey' (2025), 'Fewer restructures, more consultation, better recognition: Key recommendations on tackling administrative burdens from Australian universities' professional staff' (2025), 'The Impact of COVID-19 on Young People’s Levels of Subjective Well-being: Evidence from HILDA 2001–2020' (2025), 'Unemployment or Precarious Employment: Tough Choices for Young Workers in the Twenty-First Century' (2024), and 'School-to-work transition and subjective well-being in Australia' (2021). She is a member of The Australian Sociological Association and the International Sociological Association, and has presented at national and international conferences.

Professional Email: Jenny.Chesters@unimelb.edu.au