It is Time for Professional Doctoral Education

The IMD World Competitiveness ranking shows that Finland’s competitiveness has stalled. Our economy has been weighed down by rising interest rates affecting investment, as well as the impact of Russia’s war of aggression on the export of goods and services. According to OECD reports, the proportion of highly educated people in Finland has declined relative to other OECD countries since 1991. Today, only 39% of people aged 25–34 hold a higher education degree.

Raising the national competence level is essential for strengthening the competitiveness of companies. This need is particularly acute in small and medium-sized enterprises, where the greatest potential for growth lies. SMEs would benefit significantly from research, development and innovation activities that generate new products, services and solutions.

In the public sector, too, familiar challenges persist—for example in the wellbeing services counties, which across the country are seeking ways to improve efficiency and develop new models of operation. There is a clear need for high‑quality, practice‑based applied research and development.

Across Europe, many countries have in recent years expanded doctoral education and RDI activities within universities of applied sciences. The aim has been to strengthen UAS institutions and enhance their capacity to compete internationally in work‑based applied research and innovation.

Finland should follow this development to escape its current competitiveness slump. Professional doctorates could be completed directly within companies, enabling them to gain highly skilled new experts and product developers who understand their operating environments. Work‑based research accelerates regional development and opens new opportunities for growth.

Professional doctoral education would complement the Finnish higher education model: university doctoral training and academic research would be matched by a parallel pathway focused on labour‑market needs and directly serving industry and organisations.

Access to doctoral education would also enable universities of applied sciences to attract a greater share of competitive international funding. At the same time, it would strengthen the attractiveness of Finnish UAS institutions in the global competition for highly educated and skilled international professionals. Doctoral programmes at universities of applied sciences would ensure that both pillars of our dual model are fully mobilised in support of Finnish expertise and research excellence.

Finland’s strength lies in advanced research and new innovations. Professional and university doctoral education would reinforce one another. We need the full capacity of our entire higher education system to strengthen Finnish research, capability and competitiveness.

This text was originally published in Finnish in Itä-Savo on 31 October 2025.