Transforming finnish higher education: institutional mergers and conflicting academic identities
Supporting Agencies
- Finnish Institute for Educational Research.University of Jyväskylä
Abstract
As in many other European countries also Finnish higher education system has witnessed several reforms over the past decade many of which originate in efforts to make more competitive and affordable higher education system. The aim of this paper is to describe the changes and institutional mergers in particular that have taken place in Finnish higher education and explore what kind of academic identities are constructed amid changes in Finnish higher education. The paper shows that the mergers followed the objectives set by the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture for the structural development of the higher education system and that the creation of a joint culture for merged institutions was important yet challenging. The paper also argues that due to these external changes in Finnish higher education there is a tendency to move from a traditional notion of an academic toward more hybrid and dynamic understanding of what it is being an academic in the 21st century.
Downloads
References
Aarrevaara, T., Dobson, T. I., & Elander, C. (2009). Brave new world: Higher education reform in Finland. Higher Education Management and Policy, 21(2), 1–18.
Anderson, G. (2008). Mapping academic resistance in the managerial university. Organization, 15(2), 251–70.
Becher, T. (1989). Academic Tribes and Territories. Buckingham: SRHE/Open University Press.
Calma, A., & Davies, M. (2015). Studies in higher education 1976–2013: a retrospective using citation network analysis. Studies in Higher Education, 40(1), 4–21.
Dahl Norgård, J., & Skodvin, O.–J. (2002). The importance of geography and culture in mergers: A Norwegian institutional case study. Higher Education, 44, 73–90.
Eckel, P., & Kezar, A. (2003). Key strategies for making new institutional sense: Ingrediens to higher education transformation. Higher Education Policy, 16(1) 39–53.
Fanghanel, J. (2012). Being an academic. London: Routledge.
Gornall, L., & Salisbury, J. (2012). ‘Compulsive Working, ‘Hyperprofessionality’ and the Unseen Pleasures of Academic Work’. Higher Education Quarterly, 66, 135–154.
Harman, G., & Harman, K. (2003). Institutional mergers in higher education: lessons from international experience. Tertiary Education and management, 9(1), 29–44.
Hatton, E. J. (2002). Charles Sturt University: A case study in institutional amalgamation.
Higher Education, 44(1), 5–27.
Hay, D., & Fourie, M. (2002). Preparing the way for mergers in South African higher education and further education institutions: An investigation into staff perception. Higher Education, 44(1), 115–131.
Henkel, M. (2005). Academic Identity and Autonomy in a Changing Policy Environment. Higher Education, 48, 155–176.
Jauhiainen, A., Jauhiainen, A., & Laiho, A. (2009). The Dilemmas of the Efficiency University Policy and the Everyday Life of University Teachers. Teaching in Higher Education, 14 (4), 417–428.
Kyvik, S. (2002). The merger of non-university colleges in Norway. Higher Education, 44, 53–72.
Livio, H.-L., & Tomperi, H. (2011). Making Sense of Academic Leadership. Engage, 27, 1–4. Locke, W. (2007). Higher education mergers: Integrating organizational cultures and developing appropriate management styles. Higher Education Quarterly, 61(1), 83–110.
Mao, Y., Du, Y., & Lia, J. (2009). The effects of university mergers in China since 1990s. International Journal of Educational Management, 23(1), 19–33.
Marttila, L., & Aittola, H. (2010). Yliopistojen yhteistyö ja fuusiot – ennakointia ja sopeutumista uuteen tilanteeseen. [Collaboration and fusions of universities – preparation and adaptation to a new situation]. In H. Aittola & L. Marttila (Eds.), RAKE – Yliopistojen rakenteellinen kehittäminen, akateemiset yhteisöt ja muutos. RAKE- yhteishankkeen loppuraportti. [RAKE – The structural development of universities, academic communities and change.] Opetusministeriö. Opetusministeriön julkaisuja, 5, 93–95.
Mathisen, E.H. & Pinheirio, R. (2016). The anatomy of a merger process in the greater Oslo Region. In R. Pinheiro, L. Geschwind & T. Aarrevaara (Eds.), Mergers in Higher Education – The Experience from Northern Europe. Higher Education Dynamics, vol. 46. Springer, 91–106.
Melin, G. (2015). University merger processes. In R. Pritchard, M. Klumpp & U. Teichler (eds.), Diversity and Excellence in Higher Education – Can the Challenges be Reconciled (pp.31–52). Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.
Mok, K. (2005). Globalization and educational restructuring: University merging and changing governance in China. Higher Education, 50, 57–88.
Rinne, R., & Jauhiainen, A. (2012). In the shifting sands of policy – University academics’ and employees’ views and experiences of Finland’s new higher education policy, In S. Ahola & D.M. Hoffman (eds.), Higher education research in Finland. Emerging structures and contemporary issues (pp. 89-110). Jyväskylä: Koulutuksen tutkimuslaitos
Sehoole, M.T.G. (2005). The politics of mergers in higher education in South Africa. Higher Education, 50(1), 159–179.
Skovdin, O.J. (1999). Mergers in higher education: Success or failure? Tertiary Education and Management, 5(1), 65–80.
Tirronen, J., & Nokkala, T. (2009). Structural development of Finnish universities: achieving competitiveness and academic excellence. Higher Education Quarterly, 63(3), 219–236.
Ursin, J., Aittola, H., Henderson, C., & Välimaa, J. (2010). Is education getting lost in university mergers? Tertiary Education and Management, 16(4), 327–340.
Ursin, J., Aittola, H. & Välimaa, J. (2010). Kohti yhteisiä koulutusrakenteita. [Towards joint educational structures] In H. Aittola & L. Marttila (eds.), RAKE – Yliopistojen rakenteellinen kehittäminen, akateemiset yhteisöt ja muutos. RAKE-yhteishankkeen loppuraportti. [RAKE – The structural development of universities, academic communities and change.] Opetusministeriö. Opetusministeriön julkaisuja, 5, 51–67.
Ursin, J., Vähäsantanen, K., McAlpine, L., & Hökkä, P. Emotionally Loaded Identity and Agency in Finnish Academic Work. Submitted to Teaching in Higher Education.
Välimaa, J. (2012). The Corporatization of National Universities in Finland. In B. Pusser, K. Kempner, S. Marginson & I. Ordorika (Eds.), Universities and the Public Sphere. Knowledge Creation and State Building in the Era of Globalization. (pp. 101–120). New York, London: Routledge.
Välimaa, J., Aittola, H., & Ursin, J. (2014). University Mergers in Finland: Mediating Global Competition. New Directions for Higher Education, 168, 41–53.
Ylijoki, O-H., & Ursin, J. (2013). The construction of academic identity in the changes of Finnish higher education. Studies in Higher Education, 38(8), 1135–1149.
Ylijoki, O.-H., & Ursin, J. (2015). High-flyers and underdogs: The polarisation of Finnish academic identities. In L. Evans, & J. Nixon (Eds.), Academic Identities in Higher Education: The Changing European Landscape (pp.187–202). Bloomsbury Academic.
The articles and scientific documents published in RIE abide the following conditions:
1. The Servicio de Publicaciones de la Universidad de Murcia (the publisher) has the property rights (copyright) of all the documents published and allows the reuse under the user’s license indicated in point 2.
2. All documents are published in the digital edition of RIE under a Creative Commons Reconocimiento-NoComercial-SinObraDerivada 3.0 España (legal document) license. These documents can be copied, used, distributed, communicated and explained publicly if: i) the author(s) and its original source of publishing (magazine, publisher and URL of the document) are cited; ii) it is not used for commercial purpose; iii) the existence and the specifications about this license are mentioned.
3. Auto-archive’s conditions. The authors are allowed and encouraged to digitally distribute the pre-print versions (a version before evaluation) and/or post-print (a version that it is already evaluated and accepted to its publication). This promotes circulation and distribution earlier and can increase the citations and significance within the academic community.
