I didn't understand much about the Finnish higher education system back when I received a life-changing phone call during my daily work commute in Washington, DC. This was twenty years ago. The screen on my early 2000s-era Nokia cell phone showed it was a call from Finland.
"Hello, this is Liz."
It was Markku Filppula, Professor of English from Joensuu University. I had met him earlier that summer at a linguistics conference.
I couldn't hear him very well, because I was walking through morning rush hour in downtown DC. But I did know that I had recently applied for a job in his program at Joensuu University.
"Would you really move to Finland?" he shouted.
I said yes.
Two months later, I started a post as an English linguistics lecturer at the Joensuu University, now called the University of Eastern Finland. My learning curve of academic life in Finland started with a jolt, even though the colleagues there were kind, welcoming, and did everything they could to ease my transition. Great people.
A few months after I had settled in at Joensuu, I attended a symposium hosted by one of my PhD dissertation supervisors, Jan-Ola Östman. He introduced me to Arja Piirainen-Marsh, an English professor from the University of Jyväskylä. It turned out that the University of Jyväskylä was looking to hire someone with my profile, and Arja urged me to apply.
In August 2004, I started my new post at the University of Jyväskylä: University Lecturer in English linguistics. I spent two happy years there, during which time I had a couple of major life events, including getting married. I continued to commute from Helsinki, where my partner, dog, and bonus daughter all lived.
There was an opening for a University Lecturer at the University of Helsinki's (then) English Department. I applied, but didn't get the job. A few months later, though, I received a surprise email from a staff member at the Department. She asked if I would be interested in filling in for a staff member who was going on research leave. The thought of being full-time in Helsinki sounded quite appealing; I was a bit tired of running for and then sitting in trains, and I was planning to have a child, which would make a long-distance commute a bit complicated. But why did they ask me? There were a lot of people who had applied for the job in Helsinki. The reason they asked me, I was told, was because I had presented an engaging and inspiring test lecture back when I applied for the job I didn't get. Now they wanted someone they knew could teach, and that person was me.
That was in 2007. I have been working at the University of Helsinki ever since, at the English Department, then, later, when various language subjects were merged, at the Department of Languages.
If there is a take-away message from my early experiences in academia, it is that none of the posts I ended up in were "cold" calls: they all happened because of meeting the right people at the right time, or making a positive impression when I didn't know it would count. The lesson learned, I guess, is always do your best. Even if you don't get the job, you might make a positive impression, and it can help you later on.
Throughout my many years at the University of Helsinki, I have gained extensive knowledge about academia and Finnish universities in general, but especially the University of Helsinki. I have come to understand the significant impact that external factors like government and the economy have on our work. I have learned how the leadership of different individuals, at all levels, affects every aspect of our working life. I have learned that change is constant, and that in the midst of constant change you have to choose carefully what to hang onto and what to let go of. Who are you as a teacher, a researcher, and a colleague?
I have seen many positive changes during my time at the University of Helsinki. When I first started, it was still quite normal that "native speakers" of English, like me, would teach certain classes, spend most of their career as teachers, and to serve as languages checkers. There was not a strong expectation that individuals like me, non-Finnish born and a university lecturer, would do things like conduct independent research, supervise PhD students, or lead MA seminars. For me, this has all changed. There is now a much more even distribution of working tasks than there used to be. I view this as huge improvement, and I am very fortunate to have been able to gain these opportunities that my predecessors did not. I have likewise been privileged to have many, many inspirational colleagues and mentors during my time University of Helsinki, and student memories and teaching experiences that will stay with me for a lifetime.
So, why all the sentimental recollections just now? For one thing, because I am now marking the twenty-year anniversary since I received that fateful phone call from Markku Filppula -- who, sadly, passed away earlier this year. But there is also more. I am moving on.
This summer I found out that I have been selected for a new post: Associate Professor (tenure track) of English at the University of Jyväskylä.
As fate would have it, the post I am assuming at the University of Jyväskylä is recently vacated by Professor Arja Piirainen-Marsh, the very person who encouraged me to apply at Jyväskylä all those years ago. The details are still to be decided during the autumn, but if all goes according to plan, I should start my work there in January 2025.
I leave the University of Helsinki with an amount of sadness, a lot of gratitude to certain individuals for offering me the opportunities and friendships I have had, and also with a lot of "what-if's" floating around in my mind. These thoughts are in the background, however. In the foreground, my thoughts are this:
I am so very excited and grateful to be given this new opportunity. I look forward to taking on a leadership role and serving in a visionary capacity at the University of Jyväskylä, in a department and faculty that inspired me as a young academic and have continued to serve as a "home away from home" in my intellectual thinking and principles. In short, I believe this is a terrific fit, which is exactly what I said in both my job application and the job interview. I could not be happier, if humbled, to be selected for the position of Associate Professor of English at the University of Jyväskylä. I am confident we will do great things together.
I continue to learn about Finnish academia. Here is something else I have learned: the fact that the University of Jyväskylä's Faculty of Humanities has selected a non-Finnish-born person for the role of Associate (--> Full) Professor of English is no small feat. Did you know that, historically, there have been very few non-Finnish born people who have been Professors of English in Finland? This is quite something when you consider the sheer number of people who work worldwide in English linguistics and literature. To my knowledge there have three professors of English from Åbo Akademi, all of whom, if I am not mistaken, are of a British background. There is one Associate Professor of English of a non-Finnish background recently hired at Tampere University, and one Associate Professor of English of a non-Finnish background (kind of) at the University of Jyväskylä. [[Later edit: there was a Professor of English literature, of a British background, at the University of Turku.]] I will therefore be one of a handful of individuals of a non-Finnish background who have been chosen for professorships of English in Finland--and, as far as I know, the first person of a North American background to fill such a post. (Colleagues more familiar with the history of the study of English in Finland can correct me if I am mistaken.) I applaud the selection committee at the University of Jyväskylä, the Faculty Council, and the Rector, for making what could be considered a brave and groundbreaking decision: hiring someone of a non-Finnish background to fill a tenure track professorship post in English. Optics matter, and representation matters. While the fact remains that I am a cis-gender, white woman who comes from a "rich," Western country, let's still acknowledge that this is progress, with more room for improvement. I do not take this knowledge lightly: knowing that we are making moves to challenge biased traditions makes me feel even more dedicated and honored to begin my duties at the University of Jyväskylä.
If there is a take-away message from my later experiences in academia in Finland, I suppose it would be this: it matters to try and do your best. It might take a while, but eventually the right opportunity will come -- if you're lucky and the time is right. Answer the call.
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