Jaakko Kauko gave a presentation at the EDULOG international conference , Lisbon, on 2 February 2023.
His main conclusion was that the foundation universities culminated some of the university policies of the 2000s in Finland. This means struggle with resources, pushing forward competition and managerialism as well as opening universities towards the society (as described by Välimaa 2012 and Kauko 2011).
Politically, the foundation universities have culminated the internal divides caused by managerialism. In addition, and lately in the case of Tampere University, the public attention has been critical. The main aims of the political programme have not been achieved or their evaluation is difficult as the foundation universities do not differ that much from publi
c universities. For some aims, such as the more stable funding base, foundation capital can be promising in the longer term. In terms of process, the foundation universities chose managerialistic tools.
The conference was part of a series of debates on the proposed changes to the Portuguese higher education legislation. Presentation slides are available at the university research portal.