In Finland, structural, ideological and functional changes in universities have often been linked to the change in the University Act 2010. In line with the Modernisation Agenda, several New Public Management approaches have been applied to the activities of Finnish universities (de Boer & Enders 2017). Furthermore, international attractiveness has increasingly motivated university reforms, and the demand for internationalisation has challenged the national role of universities (Saarinen & Talas 2017).

This presentation is based on a research project Changing University and Equalities in Academic Work (Haapakorpi, Plamper, Tapanila, Jauhiainen, Laiho, Leinonen, Ylijoki & Jauhiainen 2023), which examined the tasks of university researchers and teachers in various positions, the conditions and possibilities of doing the work, and related changes. There is no established and shared definition of the concept of equality, it receives its content within a given time and context. Different actors – political and administrative actors or employees, for example – pay attention to the different meanings of equality and there is ongoing debate on the concept. (Kantola, Koskinen Sandberg & Ylöstalo, 2020) Equalities in academic work are intertwined not only with gender equality but also with age, social background, position, discipline, the possibility of attaching themselves to the university community and time resources.

The equality and non-discrimination work of universities is linked to national policies, legislation and international commitments. The promotion of equality at the university has traditionally meant actions aimed at individuals, especially women, but the individual perspective has shifted to structural and cultural factors. In international comparisons, progress on equality has been observed to slow down or halt (Tanhua 2020, 4). The Ministry of Education and Culture's report on the state of equality and diversity in Finnish higher education institutions noted, among other things, that women working in universities experience discrimination slightly more often than men, and ethnic minorities experience discrimination twice as often as ethnic Finns (Jousilahti, Tanhua, Paavola, Alanko, Kinnunen, Louvrier, Husu, Levola & Kilpi 2022).

In this presentation, we are interested in how representatives of the middle management of three case universities approach equality and non-discrimination in academic work and what challenges they talk about in terms of equality and non-discrimination. We also highlight the experience of international researchers and teachers in the field of equalities of academic work.

The interview material of the research project has been produced at three multidisciplinary universities in different stages of organisational change. Two faculties and two departments were selected from each university. In-depth interviews were conducted for researchers and teachers, and representatives of middle management. Furthermore, two focus-group discussions for international staff and two in-depth interviews for part-time teachers were carried out. (see Haapakorpi et al. 2022). In this presentation, we use the interviews of middle management (n=10) and focus-group discussions of international academic staff (n=2). The interviews with middle management were conducted by video (Zoom) and they lasted from 30 minutes to 90 minutes. At first, the middle management interviews were aimed at getting acquainted with each university. When the material began to become interesting and rich, interviews were collected in such a way that interviews met the criteria for qualitative material. Among other things, we asked the interviewees to share their own views and experiences, in addition to illustrating the situation of their own unit in relation to the university’s leadership in their role. The focus-group discussions of international staff were carried out in English. Group discussions focused on academic work and career development. At the beginning of each discussion theme, participants were given an argument that the group was asked to reflect on and share their own experiences with the theme. In the first phase of analysis, the interviews were approached, using the principles of inductive thematic analysis. In the second phase of the analysis, interpretations of themes were elaborated with the help of the equality research literature and concepts.

The middle management approached equalities in academic work most often from the traditional perspective of equality and non-discrimination work. Interviewees saw equality as an equal representation of the genders in the disciplines as well as in the different positions of academic work. Equality issues were also related to the planning of equality and non-discrimination work. Finnish gender equality and non-discrimination legislation obligates educational institutions to prepare a gender equality and non-discrimination plan to develop their activities. Some interviewees had experience in equality and non-discrimination work, and they saw it as part of their field of operations, but for some, it was more HR-driven action. In addition, the status of international staff and the language issue were raised in most interviews with the middle management. International personnel appear to the middle management as people with the foreign background, mainly as researchers, who are trying to recruit to universities. What is more, international staff represents a diversity, which brings value to the university in the name of internationalisation. The language policy and practices of the case universities were varied and unestablished. The middle management saw the Finnish and English language relationship and the use of it as a key problem of equality that requires a solution. Language policy is an issue of inclusion: how can democracy and participation in decision-making and participation in the academic community be achieved if the worker does not understand the language. The experience of international staff highlighted uncertainty and the experience of inequality in access to information and decision-making. In addition, the lack of Finnish language skills can become an obstacle to career development or the application of Finnish funding. The lack of language skills may also affect the focus of international staff and their future plans on staying in Finland or going elsewhere.

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