A3 Book section, Chapters in research books
Internationalisation of Finnish Higher Education as a Policy Driver in a Merger Process : Towards Competition, Collaboration, or Sustainability? (2022)

Vellamo, T., Mehari, Y., Kivistö, J., Pekkola, E., & Siekkinen, T. (2022). Internationalisation of Finnish Higher Education as a Policy Driver in a Merger Process : Towards Competition, Collaboration, or Sustainability?. In L. Cremonini, J. Taylor, & K. M. Joshi (Eds.), Reconfiguring National, Institutional and Human Strategies for the 21st Century : Converging Internationalizations (pp. 133-156). Springer. Knowledge Studies in Higher Education, 9. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-05106-7_7

JYU authors or editors

Publication details

All authors or editors: Vellamo, Tea; Mehari, Yohannes; Kivistö, Jussi; Pekkola, Elias; Siekkinen, Taru

Parent publication: Reconfiguring National, Institutional and Human Strategies for the 21st Century : Converging Internationalizations

Parent publication editors: Cremonini, Leon; Taylor, John; Joshi, K. M.

ISBN: 978-3-031-05105-0

eISBN: 978-3-031-05106-7

Journal or series: Knowledge Studies in Higher Education

ISSN: 2566-7106

eISSN: 2566-8315

Publication year: 2022

Publication date: 23/06/2022

Number in series: 9

Pages range: 133-156

Number of pages in the book: 29

Publisher: Springer

Place of Publication: Cham

Publication country: Switzerland

Publication language: English

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-05106-7_7

Publication open access: Not open

Publication channel open access: 

Publication is parallel published (JYX): https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/85287

Abstract

This chapter aims to investigate internationalisation strategies and the ensuing identities of universities in a merger process. It focuses on examining how the approaches to institutional merger and internationalisation are intertwined in the Tampere case. Specifically, it investigates how mergers are justified by internationalisation in an institutional perspective, and how the national discourses on internationalisation are transferred to the merger process and used as arguments for mergers. The research questions are addressed by the conceptual frameworks of internationalisation discourses and merger in higher education institutions that are useful for understanding the complex interaction between merger and internationalisation. Empirically, the study is based on qualitative documents. Our data consist of documents on the institutional level, as well as national strategies and agreement documents of the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture. To understand the role of internationalisation discourses in a merger process, we analyse the national internationalisation strategies, as well as documents related to the internationalisation of the newly merged Tampere University. Based on our findings, the predominant discourse was that of competition, while the discourse of collaboration seems to be relatively weak. The discourse of sustainable internationalisation remained on a rather general level, thereby offering no concrete justification for the merger, but rather appearing like greenwashing or window dressing.

Keywords: universities; institutions of higher education; tertiary education; internationalisation; international cooperation; joining together; unification; identity (mental objects); competitive strength

Contributing organizations

Ministry reporting: Yes

VIRTA submission year: 2022

JUFO rating: 2