Description of research and teaching

My resarch interests are on socially, ecologically and economically sustainable working life, equality and gender, age, "race"/ethnicity, class. I am interested in how discriminations could be prevented and tackled locally and globally. At the moment, my particular interests lie in care, caring and care work circumstances, which I have studied with collegues for a while (see fortcoming Bowlby, S., Jyrkinen, M., Malinga, M. & Sanderson K. (Eds)  Vulnerabilities in Paid Care Work - Transnational Experiences, Insights and Voices, Policy Press.)  

I am Professor of Working Life Equality and Gender Studies at the University of Helsinki (UH), and the Head of the Discipline of  Gender Studies at the Department of Cultures. In 2015, we built up (by  Professor Tuija Pulkkinen and with Professor Johanna Kantola) the Doctoral Programme Gender, Culture and Society SKY  - Sukupuoli, kulttuuri ja yhteiskunta) at the UH (http://helsinki.fi/sky) I lead the SKY programme now with the Vice-Director Dr. Outi Lehtipuu (Faculty of Theology), with good collaboration of the SKY Board and Dr Lauri Turpeinen as the Co-ordinator of this Doctoral Programme. 

My personal and collaborative research has been funded by the Academy of Finland, and through funding by European, Nordic and Finnish foundations. The latest international funding is through the Trans-Atlantic Platform (TAP) with colleagues from Canada, South Africa and the UK. This current project (2021-24), with Docents Jukka Lehtonen and Tytti Suominen, En Route to Recovery: Diversity and vulnerability in care work during and after the COVID-19 pandemic (ER2R)  (https://blogs.helsinki.fi/en-route-to-recovery/) addresses care workers and their experiences during the pandemic. Our project is international and multidiciplinary, and we have applied new methods to study the experiences of care work and caring in different societal and cultural contexts. International PIs are Professors Kathy Sanderson (Lakehead University, Canada), Floretta Boonzaeir (University of Cape Town, South Africa), and Linda McKie (Kings Collegue, the UK).  

I am also a funding member of UGEN gender network, funded by the UNA Europa. https://www.mvbz.fu-berlin.de/vernetzung/aktuelle-kooperationen/una-europa-gender-and-equality-network-ugen/index.html

Throughout my research on working life and wider, I have emphasised the importance of equality and human and social right and sustainability. I position myself in the field(s) of critical management and organisation studies and feminist working life studies. My research is multidisciplinary and aims to have a high societal impact. 

I am also keen on teaching and supervision at the Masters and Doctoral levels. (Unfortunately I am not able to take any new PhD students to supervision at the moment.) Our Masters' programme on Gender Studies (in Finnish) takes 22+ new students each year  https://www.helsinki.fi/fi/koulutusohjelmat/sukupuolentutkimuksen-maisteriohjelma At the moment, the programme is in Finnish. 

Still please do not hesitate to contact the University of Helsinki services on the possibilities for English language programmes. https://www.helsinki.fi/en/admissions-and-education/apply-bachelors-and-masters-programmes/apply-international-masters-programmes

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The previous Project was the consortium WeAll - Social and Economic Sustainability of Future Working Life: Policies, Equalities and Intersectionalities in Finland. WeAll (2015-21) explored the factors that support and, on the other hand, restrict the opportunities of different groups and people in working life because of gender, age, sexuality, class, and location. We were interested in how the intersections of these enable the capabilities of people to participate in the working life and enjoy also full life outside of work.

WeAll brought together a multidisciplinary research team based at the UH (Gender Studies and Ruralia Institute), Hanken School of Economics, and Jyväskylä University Business School. WeAll was led by myself and Professor Anna-Maija Lämsä (University of Jyväskylä Business School); other PIs were Docent and Senior Researcher Jukka Lehtonen (UH) and Docent , Associate Professor Charlotta Niemistö (Hanken [currently Åbo Academy University]). At the Ruralia Institute (UH) the research was led by Professor Sami Kurki. Interest in stakeholders' opinions and co-production of knowledge were inbuilt in our project WeAll, led by Docent Mira Karjalainen.

The book that summarises the Project, namely Yhteiskunnallisesti ja taloudellisesti kestävä työelämä - tasa-arvoa tutkimassa ja toteuttamassa  2020 (eds. Heikkinen S., Jyrkinen, M., Lämsä A-M. & Niemistö C.  2020)  is avilable at: https://helda.helsinki.fi/items/0ef573ec-c051-4aa6-8e3d-3d1694805abe

Key words of my current research interests are: sustainability;  intersectionality, diversity; organisational cultures and ethics; gender in management and organisations; gendered ageism; but I am also interested in justice, violations and gendered violence