In my doctoral research, I am interested in social workers as agents of policy engagement. My dissertation takes the form of an article-based thesis, with its sub-publications examining social work students' views on policy engagement (Salonen et al., 2024), the voluntary political participation of social work students and social workers, the policy engagement practiced by social workers in their professional roles, and social workers who have transitioned into political decision-making.

Additionally, my research interests extend to the field of child protection, social workers as representatives of their profession, and social work students.