Martina Paatela-Nieminen gained her Doctorate of Arts from the University of Art and Design Helsinki (Nowadays Aalto University) in 2001. She worked there as a senior research associate in the School of Art Education from 1985 until 2006. For the last two years she has been a postdoctoral researcher at the Academy of Finland. She worked as a lecturer in visual arts education in the Department of Applied Sciences of Education, Faculty of Behavioural Sciences, at the University of Helsinki from 2006–2008. She worked as a Senior Research officer in the School of Art Education at UIAH from 2008–2009. She also worked as a Professor in the Savonlinna Department of Philosophy, at the school of Applied Educational Science and Teacher Education, at the University of Eastern Finland. She works currently as a university lecturer at the faculty of Behavioral Sciences in the Department of Teacher Education, at the University of Helsinki.

Martina Paatela-Nieminen is also an Adjunct Professor in the field of art education at the University of Helsinki and she is also an Adjunct Professor in the field of visual culture education at the Aalto-University. She is currently a member of InSEA World Council.

Her research interests are the postmodern art education of class teachers and art teachers, intertextual methodology, new media and intersubjective and intercultural projects and competence.