This book is based on the papers presented during the 30th Annual Consortium of Higher Education Researchers (CHER) conference hosted by the Finnish Institute for Educational Research at the University of Jyväskylä in August 2017.
The conference focused on ‘Universities as Political Institutions – Higher Education Institutions in the Middle of Academic, Economic and Social Pressures’. ‘Political’ is defined in many different ways throughout the chapters in this book. During the conference, ‘Political’ was used as a broad and descriptive concept which may refer to definitions, uses and users of power or more broadly to a variety of relationships among different actors and agencies responsible for making, executing or resisting decisions concerning higher education institutions.
The main reason for the selection of this topic was the notion that universities are, in fact, political organisations and social institutions which consist of a variety of conflicting definitions and practices on how to organise, plan and implement academic and managerial decisions and processes. Similar variety occurs with the multiple relationships higher education institutions may have in their networks, formal agreements and practical cooperation with the actors and agencies in and of the surrounding societies. However, higher education institutions have been studied or problematised only rarely as political social entities in the field of higher education research. With recent changes in societies, politics and economy it is high time to open discussion and debate on HEIs as political institutions because the post-truth period has seriously challenged not only the validity of research-based knowledge but also the role of higher education in societies. We should have a better understanding on the tensions inside institutions and between higher education and societies.
I would very much like to thank all the authors who contributed to the book, with special thanks to Dr. Leasa Weimer and Dr. Terhi Nokkala for their hard work in editing the volume.