Ulpukka Isopahkala-Bouret
PhD
Centre for Research on Lifelong Learning and Education, CELE ulpukka.isopahkala-bouret@utu.fi +358 29 450 3883 +358 50 501 7306 Assistentinkatu 5 Turku : 380 : https://orcid.org/https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8535-8874(external) |
higher education; adult education; equality and justice in education; access to higher education; graduate employability; educational life course
I am working as a professor of education at University of Turku, Centre for Research on Lifelong Learning and Education (CELE), with a special emphasis on educational equality and justice. I have a title of docent at University of Helsinki. I have worked at University of Helsinki in various academic positions 2005-2016. I have been a team leader in the Nordic Centre of Excellence (2013-2018): ‘Justice through education in the Nordic countries’ (http://blogs.helsinki.fi/just-ed/). In addition, I have been a visiting scholar at University of Iceland (Iceland), University of Surrey (UK) and Northern Illinois University (USA).
Since 2019, I have been a Chief Editor of Aikuiskasvatus, a peer-reviewed adult education research journal: https://aikuiskasvatus.fi/
I have developed over time what one might describe as
a cumulative research agenda. My research interest include equality in/through education, educational credentialing, access to higher education, graduate employability, and professional career trajectories. I am specialised in
qualitative research, especially in narrative and discursive analysis. My research is particularly relevant to the fields of education
policy, sociology of education, adult education, and life course studies. I
apply theories from social sciences and cultural studies and most of my
research projects are multi-disciplinary. I have recently expanded the research
literature, especially on:
- credentialism and the relative
value of degrees, - fairness of access and
non-attainment to higher education, and - adult graduates’ employability
CURRENTLY, I am leading a research project: ‘Higher
education graduates’ employability and social positioning in the labour market’
(duration Sep 2018 – Aug 2022), funded by Academy of Finland as a consortium
between University of Turku and University of Eastern Finland. https://www.uef.fi/web/highemploy/
PREVIOUS
RESEARCH PROJECTS:
2016-2018 ‘Cross-cutting themes and issues in the
Nordic higher education research’, NordForsk
2011–2015 'Ageing and expertise. Narrative inquiry
into the experiences of older workers who acquire Master's degrees in their
fifties', Academy of Finland
2009–2010 'Competence and the dual model of the
Finnish system of higher education', Ministry of Education
2009–2013 'Citizenship, agency and difference in
upper secondary education', Academy of Finland
My current teaching includes:
- Educational Equality and Justice
- Aspects of sociology and politics of education
- Ajankohtaiset koulutuspolitiikan ilmiöt ja tasa-arvo
- Doctoral course on qualitative methodologies - lecture on narrative analysis
- Writing and publishing research
- Graduseminaari
- Accounts of Occupational Prestige in the Discursive Context of the Knowledge Economy (2025) Higher Education and Work in the Knowledge Economy Isopahkala-Bouret, Ulpukka; Siivonen, Päivi
- Positional Competition and Social Inequality in Graduate Careers (2025) Isopahkala-Bouret, Ulpukka; Tholen, Gerbrand; van Zanten, Anges
- Struggles of highly educated adult immigrants as identity negotiations through Finnish language learning (2025) Chavez Rodriguez, Paulina Beatriz; Isopahkala-Bouret, Ulpukka; Järvinen, Tero
- Ei-ylioppilaiden mahdollisuudet korkeakoulutukseen (2024) Hyvinvointivaltion kouluttamat: Yhteiskunnallinen tutkinto ja muut vaihtoehtoiset reitit akateemisiin ammatteihin Jauhiainen, Annukka; Haltia, Nina; Isopahkala-Bouret, Ulpukka
- Epävarmuuksia työväenluokkataustaisten korkeakoulutettujen työllistymisen polulla (2024)
- Kasvatus : Suomen kasvatustieteellinen aikakauskirja
- Finnish open university education and students’ transitions into and within higher education (2024)
- Journal of Praxis in Higher Education
- Kasvatustieteen päivät 2024 kokoontuu keskustelemaan osallisuudesta, yhdenvertaisuudesta ja ylirajaisuudesta koulutuksessa (2024)
- Kasvatus : Suomen kasvatustieteellinen aikakauskirja
- Tiedejulkaisemisen monimuotoisuutta vahvistetaan vapaaehtoisvoimin (2024)
- Aikuiskasvatus
- Tiedejulkaisemisesta syrjinnästä vapaa alue (2024)
- Aikuiskasvatus
- Tiedeyhteisö puolustaa eettistä ja läpinäkyvää tekoälyn käyttöä (2024)
- Aikuiskasvatus
- Ammatillisen koulutuksen merkitykset ammattikoulutaustaisten yliopisto-opiskelijoiden näkökulmasta (2023)
- Aikuiskasvatus
- Ammatillisessa aikuiskoulutuksessa riittää tutkimatonta sarkaa (2023)
- Aikuiskasvatus
- A visit to another class? Working-class graduates entering university and the graduate labour market in Finland (2023)
- Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management
- Getting a head start: capital inheritance and the labour market entry of Finnish business graduates (2023)
- British Journal of Sociology of Education
- Higher Education Equity and Justice (2023) Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Education Isopahkala-Bouret Ulpukka
- Iällä on väliä myös koulutusta koskevassa päätöksenteossa (2023)
- Aikuiskasvatus
- Introduction: Rethinking Graduate Employability in Context (2023) Rethinking Graduate Employability in Context: Discourse, Policy and Practice Siivonen Päivi, Isopahkala-Bouret Ulpukka, Tomlinson Michael, Korhonen Maija, Haltia Nina
- Introduction to the special issue: positionality and social inequality in graduate careers (2023)
- Journal of Education and Work
- "Oli kyllä ajatuksena, että suorittais sitten sitä töiden ohella loppuun" : Ikuisten opiskelijoiden taustat ja opintojen venymisen syyt (2023)
- Tiedepolitiikka
- Preface (2023) Rethinking Graduate Employability in Context: Discourse, Policy and Practice Siivonen Päivi, Isopahkala-Bouret Ulpukka, Tomlinson Michael, Korhonen Maija, Haltia Nina