Fredrik Engelstad is a trained sociologist. He was head of the Norwegian Institute for Social Research from 1986 to 2007, and has later been associated with the institute in a 20-percent position. At UiO he was a professor of sociology in an adjunct position from 1991 to 2007 and in a full position from 2008 to 2014. In his research, he has been concerned with the labor market, organization, power and democracy, cultural sociology and sociological theory.
Engelstad was series editor of the yearbook series Comparative Social Research from 1996 to 2026 and has held a number of professional and public positions – including as head of the National Committee for Research Ethics in the Social Sciences and the Humanities (1991-1999), and as a member of the research group in the Power and Democracy Inquiry (1998-2003). His research at ISF includes studies of elites, gender quotas and institutional change.