Recent developments in higher education have emphasized the importance of teaching and university pedagogy in Finnish universities. This has become concrete, on the one hand, in the establishment of different kinds of developmental units and educational programs in universities. On the other hand, the diversification of pedagogical practices is needed in order to accommodate in these developments. Also, the demands posed by the Bologna process have forced to reassess the foundation of teaching from new perspectives. The whole conception of teaching has been challenged. Altogether, these trends suggest that the pedagogical competence of university teachers has become an important issue in academic settings. The purpose of the study is (1) to investigate the competence needed in university teaching, (2) to focus on the development of this competence, and (3) to describe the role of the working community in competence development. These are discussed in and compared between university department and Open University. Two group discussions were conducted; one in each context. Total of eight teachers working in the field of education participated in the discussions. The data was analyzed by the means of content analysis.On the basis of the research findings one can argue that the professional expertise of university teachers is mainly understood as a developmental process intertwined with everyday interactions. Hence, the collective nature of competence was stressed at the expense of individual qualifications needed in academic professions. This shared cognition seems to be a key element in the construction of reflective practice of university teachers. The changes in university teaching described by the participants can in part be understood as a consequence of historical and cultural development of academic work. Furthermore, the centrality of research experience was highlighted as a foundation of the professional expertise of university teachers. For the practical purposes two implications are suggested. First, both the nature and the development of university teachers' professional competence should be comprehended as a collective entity. Second, research and teaching should be understood as complementary to each other.