Epäfokus laadullisessa tutkimuksessa
Tässä artikkelissa tarjoamme autoetnografisen katsauksen kahteen soveltavaa kielentutkimusta ja korkeakoulututkimusta yhdistelevään tutkimusprojektiin, jotka molemmat olivat pitkän, osittain varsin fokuksettoman prosessin tulosta. Näiden kahden projektin avulla esittelemme ja pohdimme sitä, miten projektit saivat alkunsa, miten ne etenivät ja miten niiden ydin kirkastui vasta useiden kollegoiden kanssa käytyjen keskusteluiden, prokrastinoinnin ja muuttuneiden suunnitelmien jälkeen – molemmissa tapauksissa lähempänä tutkimusprosessin loppua kuin sen alkua. Artikkelin tavoitteena on käsitteellistää epäfokusta laadullisessa tutkimuksessa; tuoda läpinäkyvyyttä tutkimusprosessin epälineaarisuute…
The spatiotemporal dimension of doctoral education : a way forward
For an individual doctoral student, doctoral education happens in multiple spaces across a considerable amount of time. However, the existing literature and conceptualisations of doctoral education do not adequately address the spatiotemporal dimension related to it. By using the concept of scales, this article examines how the social action of doing doctoral studies is affected by space and time. As a mode of inquiry, I use nexus analysis, which allows the analyst to spotlight issues that routinely go unnoticed by scholars, policy-makers but also doctoral students themselves. Based on the analysis, I argue that to theorise doctoral education further, its spatiotemporal dimension has to be …
Multidisciplinary Peer-Mentoring Groups Supporting Knowledge Sharing in Doctoral Education
Obtaining a doctoral degree requires acquisition of different types of skills and knowledge. The aim of this article is to explore multidisciplinary peer-mentoring groups (PMGs) facilitated by senior academics as a knowledge sharing practice in doctoral education. Drawing from interviews with participants of PMGs at a Finnish university, we found that the participants perceived that cultures and practices of doctoral education in departments and faculties, as well as limited support from supervisors might hinder knowledge sharing. They highlighted that a flat hierarchy and confidential atmosphere supported by the multidisciplinary group composition promoted knowledge sharing and emotional s…
Multidisciplinary peer-mentoring groups facilitating change?
This article discusses the potential of multidisciplinary peer-mentoring groups to facilitate individual and institutional change. To do this, we view peer mentoring as a form of critical education praxis (Mahon et al. 2019), the purpose of which is to create a space for reflexive thinking and asking critical questions. The data were collected by interviewing all thirteen participants – doctoral students and more established scholars – of a multidisciplinary peer-mentoring pilot project. The results show a variety of both individual changes and desired changes within the university, which were brought into view as a result of the sharing of experiences, views and ideas in an open, confident…
Working outside academia? : perceptions of early-career, fixed-term researchers on changing careers
This article examines the perceptions of early-career, fixed-term researchers in Finnish universities towards changing careers. It maps out the reasons this group has considered the change and where they see themselves in five years. As a theoretical framework, a synthesisation of variables related to career change, created by Ryan, Healy, and Sullivan [2012. “Oh, Won’t You Stay? Predictors of Faculty Intent to Leave a Public University.” Higher Education 63: 421–437.], was used. The results show that the most common reasons for early-career researchers to change careers are job-security related stress, job-related dissatisfaction, and salary. Over half of the respondents would like to work…
“Palosta tutkimukseen, mielenkiinnosta ihmisiin”
Studying international doctoral researchers : nexus analysis as a mode of inquiry
In this paper I argue how nexus analysis (Scollon & Scollon, 2004), as a holistic, qualitative mode of inquiry, can offer a fruitful activist research approach to study international doctoral researchers. To do this, I will introduce and explain the core concepts of nexus analysis and afterwards empirically demonstrate how nexus analysis can be done in practice by presenting a case study on international doctoral researchers in a particular nexus—at a Finnish university. The overall aim of this paper is to present nexus analysis as a viable alternative for those higher education researchers who want to study communication, interaction, and language-related challenges of international do…
Finland
In this chapter, we present the results of the Finnish pandemic study. Compared to many other countries included in this report, the Finnish higher education system is small: In 2021, there were approximately 310,000 undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate students studying in Finnish higher education institutions (Vipunen, 2022). Furthermore, the system is quite homogenous in a sense that it is mainly publicly funded. However, the dual system has different kinds of institutions: universities and universities of applied sciences (UAS), which have different missions, as well as their own legislation. In the report, we refer to the first set of institutions as universities and the latter as…
The historical potential of flux in this unique moment. Conceptually highlighting an opportunity for praxis-driven change
The historical potential of flux in this unique moment : Conceptually highlighting an opportunity for praxis-driven change
Explaining the Difference between Policy-Based Evidence and Evidence-Based Policy: A Nexus Analysis Approach to Mobilities and Migration
Abstract In this policy analysis, we explain the difference between policy-based evidence (PBE) and evidence-based policy (EBP). We argue that better, evidence-based understanding, explanations, and questions can be sought by problematizing the challenging forms of twenty-first century migration and mobilities. We emphasize that this can be done by not confusing PBE with EBP, especially when each is needed as a basis for specific types of action. By focusing on topics often viewed as “unrelated” or confused with one another, we underline the social dynamics that are unfamiliar to many policy actors, professionals, and stakeholders, who rely on scholars for actionable analyses. Our mode of i…