Strategy for the period 2010–2012

Objectives and future vision of the Swedish School of Social Science

1 Task and responsibility
The Swedish School of Social Science is an autonomous Swedish-language unit within the University of Helsinki. The School’s task is to provide academic and professional education in the social sciences and to carry out academic research in these disciplines. Within its fields, the School is responsible for ensuring that a sufficient number of people with knowledge of Swedish are educated for highly qualified society-oriented tasks in the public, private and third sectors. Together with the University of Helsinki, the School has a national responsibility for Swedish-language education in social work. The School also has a national responsibility for Swedish-language education in journalism.

2 Vision for 2020
The Swedish School of Social Science is a centre for Swedish-language education and research in the social sciences in Finland, offering a stimulating study environment, close ties to professional life, dedicated teaching staff and excellent research conditions. The School maintains versatile academic and societal contacts on a national and international level. Within its fields, the School is unrivalled in its contacts with universities and society in other Nordic countries. The School forms the hub of numerous activities in Swedish within the University, and enhances the University’s bilingualism.

3 Guidelines for development of the School’s activities

3.1 Research
As Finland’s largest Swedish-language research unit in the social sciences, the Swedish School of Social Science has a special responsibility for analysing the living conditions of the country’s Swedish-speaking minority in an increasingly multicultural and global society. The Nordic dimension will continue to occupy a prominent position. The comparative aspect of research will be enhanced by continued investment in International Readers and international research networks, and by participation in international research projects and doctoral education.

The School emphasises the central role of research in both the development of teaching and the professional competence of the teaching staff. The School has two publishing aims: to maintain and increase publication that is of high quality by scientific and international standards, and with reference to the University’s third task, to support scholarly and popular publication in Swedish through its own publication series. The School’s research is characterised both by an increased specialisation within its six scientific disciplines and by the interdisciplinary research themes established by the School. Research on ethnicity, the environment, lifespan development and socialisation, welfare and social services, the media, and the public sphere is given priority.

3.2 Teaching
The goal in teaching is to ensure that the students progress smoothly and efficiently in their studies, and to guarantee academic degrees of good quality. Good academic performance is achieved by using teaching methods that support a variety of learning strategies and by involving the students in research and development projects. The studies place an emphasis on interaction with the Nordic countries and the rest of the world. The School will invest in developing its pedagogy, and to that end will make use of student feedback and evaluations. All teaching is based upon research.

Efforts to further develop Master’s and doctoral studies will be intensified. The degree of internationalisation and the number of courses offered in English will be increased. The School will initiate and further develop Master’s programmes in Swedish and English jointly with the Faculty of Social Sciences.

Effective recruitment is based on the attractiveness of the School as a Swedish-language unit at the University of Helsinki featuring a range of educational disciplines in the social sciences. The School aims at a more balanced division of gender when recruiting new students. Offering a wider variety of courses in English enables further investment in the recruitment of international students. The School will evaluate and continue to develop its interdisciplinary and theme-oriented study units.

3.3. Societal interaction
The School’s research and teaching form the basis of its interaction with society, on both a national and an international level. The School seeks to strengthen its contacts with the labour market and to create new forms of collaboration between education and professional life. Societal interaction is promoted by developing activities aimed at school alumni, and by continued investment in the School’s cooperation body (samarbetsdelegation) and in external Board members.

The unit for Swedish adult education at the Swedish School of Social Science (SVUX/SSKH) is an important channel for the dissemination of the School’s special expertise. The adult education unit cooperates closely with key participants within the School’s fields of responsibility, and plays an important role in the University’s Swedish-language adult education programme. The School will increase the amount of teaching offered in cooperation with the Open University at the University of Helsinki, taking into consideration the needs of the Swedish-speaking population.

3.4 Cooperation
The Swedish School of Social Sciences participates in the regional cooperation of the Helsinki metropolitan area through the strategic alliance between the University of Helsinki (in which the School is included), the Hanken School of Economics and the Arcada University of Applied Sciences, as well as through special cooperation between the University of Helsinki and Hanken. The School is also involved in national cooperation in Swedish through a statutory coordination body for tertiary education in Swedish (Samordningsdelegationen för den svenskspråkiga högskoleutbildningen). The School carries out its research and teaching in close cooperation with relevant Finnish, Nordic and international organisations and associations.

The School’s move to its newly built facilities at the City Centre Campus enables more intensive collaboration with both the Faculty of Social Sciences and other faculties and departments on campus, the location making the School a centre for Swedish activities in the campus area.