This book explores how the notion of the responsible university manifests itself at various levels within Nordic higher education. As the impetus of the knowledge society has catapulted the higher education sector to the forefront of policy agendas, universities and other types of higher education institutions face increasing scrutiny, assessment and accountability. This book examines this phenomenon using the Nordic countries as cases in point, given the strong public commitment towards widening participation and public research investments. The editors and contributors analyse the history and current transformations of the idea of the responsible university, investigate new innovations in the educational landscape and look into how universities have begun to organise themselves to become more responsible. Drawing together scholars from the humanities and the social sciences, this interdisciplinary collection will be of interest and value to students and scholars of the role and nature of the modern university, in addition to practitioners and policy makers tasked with finding solutions to address the competing and often contradictory demands posed by a responsibility agenda.

This book explores how the notion of the responsible university manifests itself at various levels within Nordic higher education. As the impetus of the knowledge society has catapulted the higher education sector to the forefront of policy agendas, universities and other types of higher education institutions face increasing scrutiny, assessment and accountability. This book examines this phenomenon using the Nordic countries as cases in point, given the strong public commitment towards widening participation and public research investments. The editors and contributors analyse the history and current transformations of the idea of the responsible university, investigate new innovations in the educational landscape and look into how universities have begun to organise themselves to become more responsible. Drawing together scholars from the humanities and the social sciences, this interdisciplinary collection will be of interest and value to students and scholars of the role and nature of the modern university, in addition to practitioners and policy makers tasked with finding solutions to address the competing and often contradictory demands posed by a responsibility agenda.

This is a study which deals with leadership in the context of different disciplinary and departmental cultures during an era when budget funding for universities has been declining and the power of individual leaders is increasing. It is a comparative study involving eight university departments, which represent four distinct disciplines -- history, sociology, biology and physics -- at two Finnish universities. All the departments studied were established around a single chair. Within them faculty members are trained, teach and have common backgrounds in the same basic discipline.

Management and leadership have become increasingly important issues in academic context and in educational organizations. This is reflected in the growing branch of literature dealing with the topic. Many books, papers and studies on academic leadership treat academic institutions as rather homogenous entities. Although it is commonly accepted that there is no one best way to lead -- good leadership depends on context and on culture -- little attention has been paid to academic leadership in the contexts of different disciplinary or departmental cultures.

The book focuses on four distinct disciplines (history, sociology, biology and physics). The material is based on 56 in-depth, semi-structured interviews with scholars in eight departments representing these disciplines. Leadership histories and cultures of the academic departments form the basis of the case studies analyzed in this study. The case studies demonstrate how diverse value-orientations and perspectives inherent in the cultures of the disciplines and specialisms, and local cultural processes in the departments, together direct and affect academic leadership. Academic leaders may affect these processes, but a strong local culture may considerably frame the expectations connected to leadership. The book highlights how leadership practices and preferences concerning leadership can vary considerably in different disciplinary, departmental and historical contexts. Leaders and managers in universities and other educational organizations will benefit from the resulting insight and understanding of cultural and social dynamics in the units and departments they are leading.