When: Thursday 6.6.2024

Time: 10:00-18:00

Where: Tieteiden talo, Helsinki (Kirkkokatu 6), and in Zoom (link has been sent via email to those who are registered)

Room number: 505 (fifth floor)

Cost: Free-of-charge

Registration: Please register for on-site or online participation by 30.5.2024

Organisers: Consortium of Higher Education Researchers in Finland (CHERIF), Edistyksellinen Tiedeliitto and Finnish Institute for Educational Research, University of Jyväskylä.

Description:

To create a more equitable future that fosters inclusivity and diversity in academic careers, research, and teaching, it is essential to understand how inequalities arise in academia. This seminar will approach equality/inequality in higher education from the perspective of academic careers. In order to have more diversity in academic careers, it is necessary to understand what prevents academics in the intersections of ethnic and social backgrounds, sexualities and genders, and people with disabilities from advancing in Finnish academia.

Universities create structures that can be inclusive or exclusive. These structures can relate to academic career structures and the evaluation criteria used in promotion and recruitment, for example. There is a lack of understanding of how these structures work.

This seminar will examine different aspects of equity and inclusion to discuss recent improvements and the key aspects that still require attention. Discussions will be facilitated with online Padlets, fusing the wisdom of all the online and in-person attendees. The day’s discussions (including online discussions in Padlet) will be used as a basis for a follow-up workshop in the autumn of 2024, during which recommendations for universities will be formulated.

Preliminary schedule:

10.00-10.10 Opening

10.10–10.40 Senior Professor Liisa Husu, Örebro University, Hanken School of Economics – KOTAMO-project: the state of equality and diversity in Finnish academia

10.40–11.10 Postdoctoral researcher Quivine Ndomo, University of Jyväskylä – PhDs with international background in the Finnish working life

11.10–11.40 Vice-rector Martin Meyer, University of Vaasa – Internationalisation and international staff in Finnish universities

Lunch (at own cost) 11.40 – 12.30.

12.30–13.00 Assistant professor Andrea Sand, Aalto-university – Women in STEM, perspectives from physics

13.00–13.30 Quality and Accountability Specialist, Tytti Matsinen, University of Jyväskylä – (dis)ability in academia

13.30–14.00 Coffee

14.00–14.30 University lecturer, Mari Käyhkö, University of Eastern Finland – yhteiskuntaluokka akatemiassa / social class in the academia (presentation in Finnish, slides in English)

14.30–15.00 Docent Leonardo Custódio, Åbo Akademi – Benefits of International Diversity in Academia

15.00-16.00 Joint reflective discussion: Concrete actions and future perspectives

16.00–18.00 In/equalities in the early stages of academic career: Informal conversations over coffee (organised by the Network of Finland-based early-career higher education researchers)

Seminar organizing team:

Vesna Holubek, Henna Juusola, Marc Perkins, Maria Pietilä, Taina Saarinen, and Taru Siekkinen.