Tenure track in Finland – from closed vacancy-based recruitment to more diverse tenure track recruitment in Finnish universities

Abstract

The recruitment processes in Finnish universities have transitioned from employing the ‘traditional’ full professor recruitment model to adopting both the traditional and tenure track model or, in some universities, exclusively using the tenure track model. Although the tenure track processes and models vary among universities, the primary guidelines and structures are fairly consistent across the country. The proportion of tenure track recruitments is steadily increasing, and most universities now hire their professors through a tenure track process, making the use of only the traditional recruitment model an exception these days. This trend has seen a significant impact on the internationalisation of applicants and recruited candidates because tenure track recruitments attract more international applicants than traditional ones. Another notable change is that tenure track recruitments draw more male applicants, resulting in a greater disparity between the number of male and female applicants compared with traditional recruitments.