‘It’s Not Like Everything Changes Just With a Click on New Year’s Eve’: Perceptions on Educational Issues of University Mergers in Finland

Abstract

The study explored educational perceptions concerning Finnish university mergers. The data were collected by interviewing academics and students (n = 30) in four merger projects. Qualitative content analysis was applied to the data. According to the findings, (i) the implications of the merger with regard to educational activities were primarily connected to the institutions' own culture and history; (ii) new openings in education, teaching, and learning were only moderate in scope at the time of the interviews; (iii) there is strong potential for the enhancement of teachers' pedagogical competence; (iv) creating a joint organisational and educational culture is a challenging and time-consuming task. The findings further suggest that it is important to pay attention to openness and transparency at all stages of a merger. The study highlights the fact that the actual changes in education, teaching, and learning are slow.

The impact of mergers in higher education on micro-level processes – a literature review

“…That it is time-consuming to build a new culture and identity for the merged higher education institution might be underestimated. Several studies, among them three conducted in Finland, point to the importance of time to reach the original goals of the merger -higher quality of research and education -in addition to a more efficient institution (Leslie et al, 2018;Puusa & Kekäle, 2015;Tienari et al, 2016;Ursin & Aittola, 2019). To investigate the importance of time for micro-level processes and post-merger integration, we need more studies with a longitudinal research design.…”

“…However, studying mergers in Finland, Ursin and Aittola (2019) identified an improvement in the status of teaching as an important topic and the hope raised by informants to retain the relationship between teaching and research. The importance of improving the quality of teaching and learning was mentioned -in alignment with the principles of the Bologna process (see, e.g., Kehm, 2010).…”

“…Further, innovative models for teaching and learning emerged as a topic by Ursin and Aittola (2019) who suggest that merged universities might 'organize more diversified study programmes and broaden the range of subjects […] to encourage students to choose different subjects […] leading to novel subject combinations […].' Additionally, this might imply a more interactive and student-centered teaching.…”

“…Another topic was that of 'rationalization' to distinguish the profiles of the merging universities and to improve their core activities. As the profiles are built on the universities' prevailing strengths, the informants anticipated that the new universities after the merger could play a more powerful role in the (inter)national educational market (Ursin & Aittola, 2019).…”

“…Other studies stress the importance of sensitivity to different cultures and identities of the merging institutions, which for instance might be dependent on the relation between research and teaching and institutional status (Cai, 2006;Ursin & Aittola, 2019). Further, studies might further explore how the relation between research and teaching and institutional status on the one side, and sensitivity to different cultures and identities of the merging institutions on the other side, impact micro-level processes over time and in different national contexts.…”