The Teaching-Research Nexus of the Academic Profession in Finland, Estonia and Sweden

In this chapter, we discuss the teaching-research nexus in the higher education sectors in Estonia, Finland and Sweden. We analyse the extent to which the teaching-research nexus has changed in Finnish dual higher education system and, based on APIKS 2018 data, compare findings to the notions of the relationships of teaching-research nexus in Estonia and Sweden. We first look at how Finnish research and the teaching have changed between the CAP and APIKS surveys of 2008 and 2018, respectively. Second, we consider how the teaching-research nexus can be compared between these three countries. Estonia and Finland have binary higher education systems, and the Swedish university system has research universities and university colleges with an emphasis on teaching. Further, we outline the reasons why scholars moved into research. This phenomenon makes research- and teaching-focused higher education institutions convergent, and the chapter explores the change in teaching and research roles over time. The institutional and public expectations about the work in the academy are less focused on research as scholars’ use of their time suggests. Although the roles of the higher education sectors are different, in higher education sectors respondents considered that research activities reinforce teaching.