Maija Jäppinen

Maija Jäppinen is an Assistant Professor in Social Work at the University of Helsinki. She serves as a supervisor for the Doctoral Programme in Social Sciences and is affiliated with the Helsinki Inequality Initiative (INEQ) and Helsinki Practice Research Centre (HPRC). Her work spans academic, policy, and practice domains in social work.

• Doctoral Programme Supervisor
• Helsinki Inequality Initiative (INEQ)
• Helsinki Practice Research Centre (HPRC)

Her research focuses on communication skills in child and family social work, migrant integration, ethical research guidelines, community-academic partnerships, and deinstitutionalization in child protection systems. She emphasizes practitioner research and interdisciplinary collaboration.

Recent publications analyze linguistic autonomy in migrant integration, ethical frameworks for interview research, and outcomes of community-university partnerships. These works reflect her engagement with social policy, cultural sensitivity, and evidence-based practice.

Scientific recognition includes a Docent title in Social Work awarded on 20 Feb 2023. She actively participates in academic conferences and knowledge translation initiatives.

Jäppinen leads national projects like TAITAVA (2025) on communication skills development and SUOJATIE (2023-2024) on cross-border child protection. Her international collaborations include work on welfare bureaucracies in Finland and Russia.