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The Transnational Idea of University Autonomy and the Reform of the Finnish Universities Act

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Abstract

In 2009, the Finnish parliament passed a new Universities Act that aimed to strengthen the institutional autonomy of the country's universities. But why and how did the idea of autonomy come to frame the reform agenda in the overt way it did? In analysing a sample of authoritative policy and strategy papers by the key stakeholders in the higher education policy fields at the European level and in Finland, the author argues that a conceptual shift took place at the turn of the millennium. This was based on managerial values and top-down organization that emphasized the potential of universities to operate on the education market as would any enterprise. But the Finnish higher education policy agenda was not simply downloaded from supranational actors; parts of the Finnish Higher Education establishment had long been active in promoting the novel idea of autonomy at both national and European forums, thereby making the process of ideological transformation truly transnational.

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Notes

  1. I emphasize that although the reform of the Finnish Universities Act provides the context for the empirical analysis, this is not a study of the Act as such: details of the law are discussed only when strictly necessary.

  2. The method of empirical analysis of the present study could best be described as theory-driven, qualitative content-analysis: close reading, interpretation and classification of the data were guided by the conceptual framework depicting various dimensions of university autonomy.

  3. Approximately, one-third of the answers came from organizations that primarily deal with other than higher education issues and who only contributed to some specific issues that were included in the draft bill. Hence, many commentaries did not refer to the issue of autonomy in any way. All the data can be accessed at http://www.hare.vn.fi/mAsiakirjojenSelailu.asp?h_iID=13112&tVNo=4&sTyp=Selaus.

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Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank the Network for Higher Education and Innovation Research (HEINE) at the University of Helsinki for making the research financially possible, Tero Erkkilä for his intellectual support, Max Eklund for the collection and screening of sources and data, Salla Garský for her valuable comments on the first draft, Mark Waller for his help in turning the text into readable English, and the two anonymous referees whose constructive remarks helped to focus on the essential.

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  1. Department of Political and Economic Studies, Helsingin Yliopisto/University of Helsinki, PL 17 (Arkadiankatu 7), Helsinki, 00014, Finland

    Ossi Piironen

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Piironen, O. The Transnational Idea of University Autonomy and the Reform of the Finnish Universities Act. High Educ Policy 26, 127–146 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1057/hep.2012.22

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