Paulien de Winter studied Sociology at the Faculty of Behavioral and Social Sciences at the University of Groningen. During her studies she was a teaching assistant for the course Social Network Analysis and did an internship at the Penitentiary Institution in Zwolle on which she wrote her thesis. In 2014 she started as a PhD student at the Faculty of Law at the University of Groningen. During her PhD  she was a member of the Faculty Council (2015-2017) and the PhD Council (2016-2018). Paulien received her PhD on 11 July 2019 from Prof. Dr. M.L.M. (Marc) Hertogh, Prof. Dr. H.B. (Heinrich) Winter and Dr. H.A.M. (Heleen) Weyers on the research 'Between the rules. A sociological law study into the behavior of executive employees in social security'. As of 2019, Paulien works as an assistant professor for the Department of Constitutional Law, Administrative Law and Public Administration. She gives lectures for the bachelor and master of Legal Public Administration. In her research she focuses on how executive employees apply rules. She was an editorial board member for Recht der Werkelijkheid (2022-2024, from 2018-2022 editorial secretary) and the author for the Ars Aequi Quarterly Signal of the Sociology of Law (since 2019). In addition to her work as a assistance professor, she was chair of the Tynaarlo Court of Audit Commission (2021-2024), secretary for the Association for Public Administration North (VBNoord 2018-2024), and involved in the core group Association for Audit and Audit Committees in the North (2022-2024).

Starting from 2024, she works as an associate professor at the Department of Constitutional Law, Administrative Law, and Legal Theory. She teaches in the Bachelor of Law program (Perspectieven op Recht, Grondslagen van Recht). In her research, she focuses on how front-line officials apply rules, with an emphasis on the human dimension and the tension between administrative and criminal sanctions. For her research, she has received the Research Grant from the Socio-Legal Studies Association (SLSA) and has been awarded the Institute Gak NIAS Fellowship (February 2025-July 2025). Additionally, she serves as an editorial board member for the new journal European Journal of Empirical Legal Studies (ESELS).