Outi Sarpila, principal investigator

I work as a senior research fellow in the INVEST flagship, Unit of Sociology. I am also Adjunct Professor in Economic Sociology, and in charge of the project ”The social mechanisms behind the economic consequences of physical appearance, SOMA”, which is funded by the Academy of Finland. Between 2016 and 2018 I was PI of the Finland as an appearance society -project (funded by the Emil Aaltonen foundation) at the Unit of Economic Sociology. 

Link to research profile.

Erica Åberg, senior researcher

I am Erica Åberg, and I work as a senior researcher in SOMA as well as in the INVEST flagship at the Unit of Sociology. I defended my doctoral dissertation in December 2020. My dissertation concerned physical appearance -related social norms and gender.

I graduated as Master of Social Sciences in autumn 2016, after which I worked as a project researcher in a project called Finland as an appearance society (Emil Aaltonen foundation 2016-2018), and then I continued my research in the SOMA project. Besides physical appearance, gender and inequality, my research interests include social media, consumption and related social norms.

Before making a career in academia I did a Bachelor’s in international business administration, and worked in rental real estate.

Link to research profile.

Iida Kukkonen, senior researcher

I work as a senior researcher in SOMA, and am working on my doctoral research at the Unit of Economic Sociology. The topic of my dissertation is gendered physical appearance -related inequalities in Finnish working life. I employ both qualitative and quantitative methods in my research. Beyond topics related to physical appearance, gender and inequality, my research interests revolve around consumption and social media. 

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Aki Koivula, postdoctoral researcher

I am a Doctor of Social Science and Adjunct Professor in Economic Sociology. I currently work as University Lecturer and Head of the Economic Sociology unit. I specialize in research on digital participation and interaction, survey methodology and the social scientific theoretical tradition in a broad sense. In my previous research I have studied digitalized consumption, social media use and its effects, as well as experiences and norms related to physical appearance. In this project I am in charge of planning data collection and quantitative analyses.

Link to research profile.

Tero Pajunen, senior researcher

I work as a senior researcher in the SOMA project. I’ve previously worked some three years as a project researcher in the Finland as an appearance society -project, studying appearance-related meaning-making processes and the role of physical appearance in everyday working life. I have a MA in social sciences, I majored in sociology. I am currently working on my doctoral dissertation at the Unit of Economic Sociology.

Link to research profile.

Anna Grahn, research assistant