ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we analyse the higher education policymaking network operating in and between Finland and the European Union (EU). Our aim is to understand its structure, formation, and characteristics. Drawing on public data and interviews, we formed a database on the Finland–EU network. We analyse the data with a network ethnographic frame and qualitative content analysis. Our network analysis reveals the whole network's lack of cohesiveness, primarily due to the presence of multiple disconnected components. When examining the network's core, we observed that the main component was divided into two elements: the Finnish national bloc and the EU Member State bloc. Our examination led us to conclude that in principle the network formation followed official structures, deliberate network building, and interest coalitions, and it was affected by the trust between different actors. The network's most prominent characteristics were blurry boundaries between network actors' informal and formal relations and the importance of physical presence in building trust and a sense of belonging between actors. When we compiled all the different analyses, we concluded that Finnish universities' autonomy combined with the EU's lack of competence in education policy affected the structure, and formation, and characteristics of transnational higher education policymaking networks within the EU and Finland.
