Elina Haavio-Mannila


Elina Haavio-Mannila is a Finnish social scientist and Professor Emerita of Sociology at the University of Helsinki where she served as the Docent of Sociology, Assistant Professor, and Professor.She is known for researching gender roles and gender in Finnish life. Much of the research in the latter field was done together with Osmo Kontula. In 1958, she became the first woman in Finland to earn the Doctor in Social Sciences degree.

Early years and education

Elina Haavio was born in Helsinki, August 3, 1933. Her parents were Martti Haavio and Elsa Enäjärvi-Haavio.

Career

Haavio-Mannila became attracted to sociology during her studies after reading an English-language elementary textbook on the subject. In her 1958 dissertation, Kylätappelut – Sosiologinen tutkimus Suomen kylätappeluinstituutiosta, Haavio-Mannila wrote about village attacks. Erik Allardt inspired her to study gender roles. In addition, she also studied the work of health care professionals and doctors, the role of the sexes and the roles in family, work, politics and alcohol use, and the adaptation of migrants.
In the 1950s and 1960s, sociology was an important and popular subject from the point of view of the development of Finnish society, and according to Haavio-Mannila's assessment, it still provides "useful information and explanatory models for the development of social life". In the 1960s, she became associated with the Yhdistys 9, Sexpo, and women's organizations. Haavio-Mannila's book, The Finnish woman and man is a pioneer in Finnish women's and gender roles research.
The early history of Finnish sociology was discussed in the Roots of Sociology and the History of Finnish Sociology. A book by Haavio-Mannila and Kontula in 1993, Finnish sex attracted attention at the end of the 1990s, as there was opposition by some to their research results, citing the relative rarity of homosexuality.
During her academic career, Haavio-Mannila was often in the media commenting on social issues and writing several books. She has been a member of the Marriage Law, Alcohol Act, Working Time and Working Conditions Committees. She has held leadership positions in Finnish and international scientific organizations and continues to participate in international conferences through presentations of her ongoing research.

Associations

Haavio-Mannila was elected a member of the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters in 1975. She has been a member of the Academia Europaea since 1993, and served as the head of the Finnish Academy of Sciences.

Later life

In her retirement years, she has been actively involved in two broad international research projects: “Refer: Reproductive Health and Family Models in Russia, Estonia and Finland” and “Gentrans: Generations Chain - Study on Interaction and Helping each other with Large Baby Boomers and Their Children and Parents”. She characterizes retirement research as volunteering, for which she has received congressional assistance with travel and a computer. Haavio-Mannila has been following the development of computing for several decades and says she is "completely happy when I open my computer and find the files I need for the article, book, or message I have at hand". In her research, she is attracted by the statistical analysis she "designs at night by bedtime and in the morning before getting up".

Awards