Sissel Seim

Sissel Seim is an Associate Professor at Oslo Metropolitan University specializing in social work with a focus on vulnerable populations, particularly children and youth. Her research spans multiple areas including child welfare systems, poverty research, user participation, and socio-material conditions affecting marginalized groups. She maintains an active research profile with numerous recent publications addressing critical issues in social services.

Dr. Seim's research interests focus on child care systems, social movements, user participation in social services, childhood and youth studies, collective action, social assistance, child poverty, children's participation rights, poverty research, and socio-material and socio-spatial aspects of social work.

• Her work examines how marginalized groups, especially children in welfare systems and homeless populations, can effectively participate in services designed to support them
• She investigates socio-material conditions that enable or constrain participation opportunities
• Her research often employs qualitative and participatory action research methodologies
• She explores structural barriers within welfare systems that limit effective user involvement

Her recent publications reveal a strong trend toward understanding participation mechanisms for vulnerable populations. She has published extensively on children's experiences in child protection services, collective action among homeless populations, and methodological challenges in researching with children. Her 2024 edited volume 'Brukermedvirkning for personer i sårbare posisjoner' represents a significant contribution to theoretical and practical understanding of user participation for vulnerable groups.

Dr. Seim collaborates extensively with researchers including Håvard Aaslund, Tor Slettebø, and Laila Luteberget. Her work often intersects with interdisciplinary teams examining socio-material conditions, spatial aspects of social exclusion, and participatory methodologies in social work research. She is affiliated with the Childlife research group at OsloMet, which focuses on childhood studies from multiple disciplinary perspectives.