Showing items 1 - 6 of 6

Academics under pressure : Fear and loathing in finnish universities?

- Aarrevaara, Timo, Dobson, Ian

  • Authors: Aarrevaara, Timo , Dobson, Ian
  • Date: 2015
  • Type: Text , Book chapter
  • Relation: Forming, Recruiting and Managing the Academic Profession p. 211-223
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  • Description: This chapter presents an examination of Finnish university academics and the pressures they encounter in the rapidly changing academic milieu. In addition to the evolution all societies are subject to, staff in Finnish universities has had to adjust to a Universities Act that came into force from 2010, and this ushered in fundamental changes in governance arrangements and confirmed a pattern of increasing managerialism. Evidence indicates that many academics feel little capacity to influence decision making, and some are trapped in a cycle of precarious employment by oft-renegotiated short contracts. In addition, universities find themselves in competition with other labour market segments for highly qualified knowledge workers, a factor which has the capacity to have an impact on universities and their academic workforce. Using quantitative data from the Changing Academic Profession survey and augmenting this with qualitative data from the EUROAC project, this chapter examines Finnish university academics perceptions of academic life in the twenty-first century. © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2015.
  • Description: This chapter presents an examination of Finnish university academics and the pressures they encounter in the rapidly changing academic milieu. In addition to the evolution all societies are subject to, staff in Finnish universities has had to adjust to a Universities Act that came into force from 2010, and this ushered in fundamental changes in governance arrangements and confirmed a pattern of increasing managerialism. Evidence indicates that many academics feel little capacity to influence decision making, and some are trapped in a cycle of precarious employment by oft-renegotiated short contracts. In addition, universities find themselves in competition with other labour market segments for highly qualified knowledge workers, a factor which has the capacity to have an impact on universities and their academic workforce. Using quantitative data from the Changing Academic Profession survey and augmenting this with qualitative data from the EUROAC project, this chapter examines Finnish university academics’ perceptions of academic life in the twenty-first century. © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2015.

Changing employment and working conditions

- Aarrevaara, Timo, Dobson, Ian, Wikström, Janne

  • Authors: Aarrevaara, Timo , Dobson, Ian , Wikström, Janne
  • Date: 2015
  • Type: Text , Book chapter
  • Relation: Academic Work and Careers in Europe : Trends, Challenges, Perspectives p. 95-115
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  • Description: This chapter considers the academic working environment in eight European countries and reports on academics' impressions of the changes that environment has undergone in recent years. We focus on the extent to which the content of academic work in these countries is similar or different; the nature of academics' working conditions and how they have changed; and what academics' affiliations are. The analysis also considers differences according to seniority. Based on interviews with European academics, we consider how changes in working conditions, employment and modes of operation have affected scholarly work and related activities, and the impact change has had on academic freedom. © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2015.

Is there a conflict between teaching and research? the views of engineering academics in Europe

- Aarrevaara, Timo, Dobson, Ian

  • Authors: Aarrevaara, Timo , Dobson, Ian
  • Date: 2013
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Global Journal of Engineering Education Vol. 15, no. 2 (2013), p. 75-81
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  • Description: This article presents an analysis of data from the international Changing Academic Profession (CAP) and the Academic Profession in Europe: Response to Societal Changes (EUROAC) surveys to compare engineering academics that prefer teaching over research, and vice versa. It also highlights the attitudes of each of these groups to teaching and research, the two major academic activities. There has long been debate about whether research and teaching are mutual activities or in competition with each other. According to the survey results, the majority stated a leaning towards research, but this preference was stronger in some countries than in others. In fact, data from the CAP survey reveal that 30% of engineering academics from the 12 participating European countries believe that teaching and research are hardly compatible with each other, but opinions from different countries vary considerably. Even though much higher proportions of academics agree that their research reinforces teaching, even on this measure, there are considerable gaps between countries. © WIETE 2013.
  • Description: 2003011212

Merger mania? The Finnish higher education experience

- Aarrevaara, Timo, Dobson, Ian

Publishing and presenting: A cross-national analysis of engineering academics in Europe

- Aarrevaara, Timo, Dobson, Ian

  • Authors: Aarrevaara, Timo , Dobson, Ian
  • Date: 2013
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Global Journal of Engineering Education Vol. 15, no. 3 (2013), p. 148-154
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  • Description: The international Changing Academic Profession (CAP) survey was used to compare several measures of research output in participating European countries. When looking at the output of books, articles, reports and conference presentations, results indicated variations between countries and between the engineering field of education and other fields of education. European university engineering academics produced relatively more research reports/monographs written for a funded project, but tended to produce at lower rates than academics overall in the other three forms of written research output. © WIETE 2013.

Time is on my side : How do engineering academics spend their days - an international study

- Aarrevaara, Timo, Dobson, Ian

  • Authors: Aarrevaara, Timo , Dobson, Ian
  • Date: 2012
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: World Transactions on Engineering and Technology Education Vol. 10, no. 3 (2012), p. 184-191
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  • Description: This article uses empirical data from the international Changing Academic Profession (CAP) survey to establish similarities and differences in work patterns among the world's academic engineers. Overall working hours and the distribution of work between teaching, research and other activities are examined. Summary results indicate that in periods when classes are in session, engineering academics from South Korea and Hong Kong reported a longer working week than equivalent staff from other countries. Engineering academics from Mexico and South Africa spent the highest proportion of their time on teaching, whereas those from Argentina, China and Italy spent the highest proportion on research. The most likely reason for international differences in the length of the working week is that national systems (such as higher education) have been constructed from the individual histories and cultures in each country. © 2012 WIETE.
  • Description: 2003010832
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