About
Satu Pyöriä serves as Associate Professor in Social Studies at Tampere University's Faculty of Social Sciences, while holding a Docentship in Social Policy at the University of Jyväskylä. With over 15 years of experience, she teaches social policy and quantitative research methods at the master's level, preparing students for expert roles in government ministries, benefit systems, research institutes, and social policy organizations across Finland.
Her research examines working conditions, labour markets, careers, and social policy through innovative mixed-methods approaches. She specializes in analyzing national register data alongside qualitative evidence to uncover mechanisms linking labour market policies to individual well-being, particularly during economic turbulence. Her work demonstrates how long-term unemployment creates social risks through economic hardship, providing crucial insights for policy design.
Recent publications reveal consistent investigation into career stability across economic cycles, precarious employment effects, and activation policy impacts. Her longitudinal Finnish studies combined with Nordic comparative analyses produce actionable insights for social security systems and labour market interventions, with particular relevance to vulnerable worker populations.
Professor Pyöriä currently leads multiple major projects including Academy of Finland research on activation policies, Kone Foundation studies of unemployment security systems, and Finnish Occupational Safety and Health Fund investigations into competitive service procurement. She actively supervises graduate students and maintains extensive collaborations across Nordic research institutions and Finnish policy agencies.
As a core member of Tampere University's Work Research Centre, she contributes to a dynamic research environment focused on contemporary work life challenges. The Centre's multi-method expertise and access to comprehensive register data enable rigorous analysis of labour market transformations and their societal implications.
