Doctoral education reform in Finland – institutionalized and individualized doctoral studies within European framework

Abstract

In Europe, doctoral education systems have been systematically reformed. The reforms are aimed at improving the quality of research and the competitiveness of European countries. In Finland, the reform project of doctoral education started vigorously in the mid-1990s which has contributed significantly to the emergence of more structured doctoral training. The starting point for this article was a recent national follow-up evaluation of doctoral education in Finland. The results are based on qualitative analysis of a survey and interview data collected in the evaluation. The results showed that Finnish universities are launching the university-wide graduate school model. Each university is building a single or several graduate schools consisting of doctoral programmes compatible with the university's research strategies and profiles. Today, there is an apparent need to increase doctoral students' participation in the reform processes. It can be argued that there is discrepancy between the official statements of the doctoral students' key position in promoting research excellence within the European context and the actual doctoral training practices at institutional level. Therefore, we need to explore doctoral students' study conditions from their own perspective, in order to get a better picture of how the new universitywide graduate schools and doctoral programmes promote doctoral graduation in academic, pedagogical and cultural terms.

Academic Acculturation of Chinese Doctoral Students in Finland

“…In line with the Bologna Process and European Qualifications Framework (EQF), the main goals of the latest Finnish doctoral education reform are to restructure national doctoral education to meet the needs of international economic competition, to enhance universities' responsibilities in doctoral education, and to increase educational flexibility through more effective cooperation between institutions (Aittola 2017). In order to achieve these goals, the national higher education system in Finland has provided a high level of trust and autonomy for doctoral training in Finnish universities.…”

“…However, due to the different learning culture between Finland and China, they might be shocked by the unpredicted challenges and their inability to deal with academic difficulties effectively (Bai 2016;Mesidor and Sly 2016). Although the increasing amount of research referred to learning experiences of Chinese doctoral international students has been done based in universities in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia, our knowledge of Chinese doctoral students in Finnish universities is scarce (Aittola 2017;Pappa et al 2020). Therefore, given the significant proportion of Chinese students at Finnish campuses, and the limited research on Chinese doctoral students in Finland, this study aims to investigate learning experiences of Chinese doctoral students at Finnish universities.…”

Sources of stress and scholarly identity: the case of international doctoral students of education in Finland

“…There has recently been a surge of interest in doctoral education amidst academic discourse (e.g., Aittola 2017;Cantwell et al 2012;Laufer and Gorup 2018), especially with the Bologna Process suggesting key aspects of educational and political importance as well as a supranational character (Baptista 2011). Yet going beyond the technical aspects of doctoral training, the personal experiences of the doctoral student have largely remained underexplored (Amran and Ibrahim 2012).…”

“…Doctoral students may be particularly susceptible to stress and precariousness, as they run a high risk of having or developing mental health problems, especially depression, due to factors like organizational policies, work-life imbalance, job demands, and career prospects outside academia (Levecque et al 2017). Moreover, doctoral students' perceptions of their training play an important role in the success of doctoral programs (e.g., Aittola 2017). Although stressors and coping strategies have been examined in managing stress associated with doctoral education (Devonport and Lane 2014), stress continues to have a permeating and pernicious effect on doctoral students' experience of their training and, by extension, their future participation in the academic community.…”

“…Following the European models and regulations, such as the Bologna Process, the Finnish national system of doctoral education has undergone several reforms within the last decades. The reforms, including the expressed need for internationalization, have enhanced possibilities for participation in education for international doctoral students (IDS) (e.g., Aittola 2017;Peura and Jauhiainen 2018). This increase is evident in the number of IDS in education which increased from 72 students in 2007 to 138 students in 2017 (Vipunen, Education Statistics Finland 2017).…”