International Academics as Agents of Transformation: Lived and Managed Internationalization in a Finnish University

Vesna Holubek, Derek Ruez, Mila Bujić, Marisa Honkanen and Zsuzsa Millei
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Vesna Holubek: Faculty of Education and Culture, Tampere University, Finland
Derek Ruez: Faculty of Management and Business, Tampere University, Finland
Mila Bujić: Faculty of Information Technology and Communication Sciences, Tampere University, Finland
Marisa Honkanen: Independent Researcher, Finland
Zsuzsa Millei: Faculty of Education and Culture, Tampere University, Finland

Social Inclusion, 2026, vol. 14

Abstract: This article explores internationalization processes as an ongoing transformation of higher education institutions by examining a case of internationalization efforts at Tampere University (TAU) in Finland. Against the prevailing policy discourse of international “talent” which tends to instrumentalize international academics, we explore how the experiences of international academics provide a window into complicated dynamics of lived and managed internationalization, including how international academics are themselves agents of transformation. This case study combines a survey and interviews with self‐identified international staff at TAU, as well as our own critical reflections as a team of international and Finnish academics who conducted the research and used the findings to advocate for changes. Our analysis emphasizes a relational understanding of international academics and highlights intersecting challenges around language, uncertain career prospects, and distance from university decision‐making forums. Taken together, the findings illuminate the contradictory positioning of international academics and show the complicated convergences and divergences between managerial attempts to increase the university’s global competitiveness and the diverse needs, positionalities, and agencies of international academics.

Keywords: change agent; Finland; international academics; university internationalization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cog:socinc:v14:y:2026:a:11672

DOI: 10.17645/si.11672

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