Reetta Riikonen

I am a doctoral researcher in social psychology in the MAMANET project at the University of Eastern Finland. I study intergroup contact between mothers of young children in multiethnic neighbourhoods of Helsinki. The aim of my dissertation is to investigate 1) how mothers understand the roles and responsibilities of contact participants in intergroup encounters between Finnish and immigrant mothers and 2) how positive encounters between Finnish and immigrant mothers can be promoted through motherhood. I am doing my dissertation in the doctoral program in Social and Cultural Encounters (SCE). My dissertation is funded by the Kone Foundation, the Alli Paasikivi Foundation and the Finnish Cultural Foundation’s North Savo Regional Fund.