Margo Trappenburg

Margo Trappenburg serves as Associate Professor at Utrecht University's Faculty of Law, Economics and Governance, specifically within the Department of Public Administration and Organizational Science where she focuses on Public Governance and Management and Managing Professionalism. She maintains an endowed chair in Social Work at the University of Humanistic Studies in Utrecht since 2014, demonstrating her dual institutional commitment to governance and social work scholarship.

Her research expertise spans Ethics, Health Policy, Political Theory, Professionalism, and Welfare State dynamics. Trappenburg investigates critical tensions between managerialism and professional autonomy, particularly examining how welfare state transformations impact social work practice and healthcare governance. Her scholarship reveals how professionals navigate increasingly complex ethical landscapes amid policy shifts toward participatory societies and individual responsibility.

Notable trends in her 242+ publications include consistent examination of deprofessionalization processes, patient empowerment frameworks, and the ethical dimensions of welfare state restructuring. Her work bridges theoretical political philosophy with practical governance challenges, particularly evident in her longitudinal analysis of Dutch welfare state evolution and healthcare policy.

Trappenburg maintains active engagement with public discourse through media contributions addressing contemporary welfare state challenges. Her academic leadership extends to directing research on professional ethics and governance models, with particular attention to how frontline professionals experience policy implementation.