Rate My Professor Niina Manninen

Manninen's research interests focus on existential wellbeing and value clarity within helping professions, bridging moral sciences, psychology, social sciences, theology, and education. She explores how students and practitioners in social care and social work interpret and apply moral norms, as well as the role of new forms of spirituality in pedagogy and practice. As Principal Investigator, she leads the project "Ethnic and Racial Disparities in Maternal Care: Exploring Contributing Factors in Finland, Spain, UK, and Germany" (2024). Her key publications include "A Qualitative Case Study of Undergraduate Social Care Students’ Approaches to Social Justice in a Finnish Context" (Ethics and Social Welfare, 2024), "Benevolent and Spiritual - Undergraduate Social Care Students' Identification with Religious Beliefs and Moral Virtues in a Finnish Context" (Journal of Beliefs and Values, 2024), and "Finnish Social Services Students' Perceptions of Purpose and Helping Unknown Others" with Elina Kuusisto and Kirsi Tirri (International Journal of Social Pedagogy, 2019). She received the shared Reid Research Fund Award (2024). In teaching, she delivers courses such as SW2001 Contemporary Welfare States and SW1030 Perspectives on People in Society, leads MSc Social Work Critical Reflection Seminars, and supervises dissertations. Manninen actively participates in conferences, including the 50th Association for Moral Education Conference (2024), and serves as a peer reviewer for Nursing Ethics.