Paperpresentation 19 maj
Political cultures and university autonomy: Differences and similarities in the higher education system in Finland and Sweden
Through a comparative approach, we analyze how the international trend of new public management (NPM) reforms have had different repercussions in two similar Nordic societies, which nonetheless have political cultures that differs in significant ways.
In Sweden as well as in Finland, the protection for academic freedom has been strengthened rhetorically in the legislation in recent years, but the influence of external stakeholders over the governance of higher education has increased. At Finnish universities, this trend has, however, been slowed down by the Constitutional law committee and its interpretation of the strong constitutional safeguards for university autonomy. In Sweden, where the political system has fewer checks and balances, there is no comparable institution that have been able to defend university autonomy.
Presentatörer: Johanna Ringarp och Janne Holmén
A vice-chancellor in action
The paper focuses on the working conditions of top university leaders. In this way, it is standing on earlier research on executive behaviour from Sune Carlson in the 1950s to the present time. It is also a continuation of an earlier study of ours where thirty Swedish Vice-Chancellors were responding to structured interviews. Empirically the paper presents a close-up analysis of a diary during six months in 1990 of Stig Strömholm, Vice-Chancellor of Uppsala University between 1989 and 1997. The results are in line with Sune Carlson’s work as well as the previous survey study. In the latter, Vice-Chancellors expressed preferences for dealing with long-term strategic issues. However, when asked about their daily work, it turned out that short-term issues dominated their days. In the same way, various kinds of social contacts dominated Strömholm’s working days. The most common words in the diary were thus Visit, Meeting, Reception, Lunch, Conference and Gathering. In two thirds of the cases, the counterpart was external, while about half of the meetings took place within the university. In conclusion, the paper points to the role of university leaders as boundary spanning liaison actors as well as internal trouble-shooters.
Presentatör: Lars Engwall