The evaluation of internationalization strategies of Finnish universities : a case study of two universities in Finland

Abstract

The research examined the actual internationalization strategies of Finnish universities today. The research utilized two universities out of fourteen in Finland as cases. Three internationalization strategies were identified. However, the internationalization strategies of these Finnish universities towards the recruitment and retention of international degree students are not yet well developed, lack any unique attributes and are mainly geared towards getting funding from the State. This strategy can be described as “non-focused push-strategy”, whereby existing academic programmes are pushed to nonselected markets with the principle “something for everybody”. Instead of current internationalization strategies, the authors propose a strategy focusing on specific academic programs based on local and Finnish business needs, as well as on the demands of selected students and markets.