Taina Saarinen appointed new director of the Finnish Institute for Educational Research
The director is responsible for leading the independent institute and developing its research and other activities. Saarinen has operational experience from FIER as a vice director and she has also worked as a head of department in the Centre for Applied Language Studies. Saarinen will start in her new post on 1 February 2023.
PhD, Docent Taina Saarinen has worked as a research professor of higher education research since 2019. She has focused especially on language and internationalisation, equality and participation in higher education policy. Saarinen has also studied various issues of academic work and well-being.
Taina Saarinen completed her doctoral degree in applied linguistics at the Ä¢¹½Ö±²¥. She has worked in different research posts at the universities of Turku and Jyväskylä, and she has also work experience from the field of liberal adult education. Saarinen is a docent of comparative education research (University of Turku) and higher education policy (University of Helsinki).
The Finnish Institute for Educational Research (FIER) was established in 1968. It is a national centre of educational research with around 80 employees. FIER is the biggest research institute in the field of educational research in the Nordic countries, and it operates as a multidisciplinary independent institute of the Ä¢¹½Ö±²¥.