Kristiina Brunila

Kristiina Brunila is Professor of Educational Sciences at the University of Helsinki, Finland. She is affiliated with the Department of Educational Sciences, the AGORA Research Center for Social Justice and Equality in Education, the Institute of Sustainability Science (HELSUS), and the Teachers' Academy. She also serves as a supervisor in the Doctoral Programs in Gender, Culture, and Society Studies and in School, Education, Society, and Culture.

Her research critically examines the intersections of education, power, and governance, with a particular focus on neoliberal policy regimes, therapeutic governance, youth subjectification, and educational inequality. She employs feminist, deconstructive, and discursive methodologies to explore how education systems produce and regulate subjectivities under market-driven and psychologized paradigms.

Brunila has led and co-led multiple externally funded research projects, including AGORAEd, FuturEd, CoSupport, and TASOVA, addressing themes such as social justice in education, youth vulnerability, and future-oriented governance. Her work has been recognized with awards such as the Maikki Friberg Equality Award and the Adult Educator of the Year.

Scientific Awards:

• Adult Educator of the Year (2011)
• Faculty Student Union Merit Badge with Golden Merit (2012)
• Candidate for Bonus Magister – Excellent Teacher Award (2016)
• Honourable Mention, Nordic Journal of Migration Research Best Article Award (2024)
• Maikki Friberg Equality Award (2021)

Doctoral Supervision and Mentoring:

• Supervisor or co-supervisor of 14+ doctoral theses
• Supervisor in Doctoral Program in Gender, Culture and Society Studies
• Supervisor in Doctoral Program in School, Education, Society and Culture

Research Projects:

• AGORAEd: AGORA for the study of social justice and equality (Project Director)
• FuturEd: Interrupting Future Trajectories of the Precision Education Governance (Project Director)
• CoSupport: Interrupting Youth Support Systems in the Ethos of Vulnerability (Project Director)
• TASOVA: Equality in Regional Development (Project Director)