Education a 'social equaliser', says new university president

Prof Eeva Leinonen: 'One of the great things that has attracted me to Maynooth University is that there is this very authentic commitment to social justice, equity, and inclusion.'

Professor Eeva Leinonen sees education as a "social equaliser". Born and raised in Finland, she and her two older brothers were the first in their family to go to university.

“My parents didn't have the opportunity to do that,” she tells the Irish Examiner. “I come from a working-class family in Finland, and I benefited greatly from the great education system, which enabled us all to progress.” 

Prof Leinonen, an international researcher and former vice-chancellor of Murdoch University in Perth, Australia, has now taken office as  president of Maynooth University.

She is the first woman appointed to the role and succeeds Professor Philip Nolan, who led the university for the past 10 years.

Prof Leinonen says: “I come from a family where we probably didn't take it for granted that you go to university but we were enabled to do that through our parents and the society.

“One of the great things that has attracted me to Maynooth University is that there is this very authentic commitment to social justice, equity, and inclusion, and that really resonates with me, as a person.

“I come to Maynooth University, and Ireland, with an open mind and with a lot of experience from around the world in higher education and beyond.” 

Having worked both across Europe and Australia, Prof Leinonen says she doesn’t subscribe to any particular model of higher education.

“I'm very committed to continuing to support the great agendas of Maynooth University and one of them, of course, is the widening access and participation in higher education for all who can benefit,'" she says.

The university is in a unique position because it is the only university in its locality and region, she says.

“I see Maynooth University as a civic university, one that is very much embedded in its communities.

Higher education is situated in a societal, economic, cultural, and political context, says Prof Leinonen, but adds that she sees many similarities, and differences, between Ireland and its international counterparts.

“What may be appropriate for one context may not be suitable in another context,” she said.

“There are similarities in higher education across the world, many similarities, and there are some differences, and I think the differences are particularly reflective of the context within which they sit. The sort of similarities that we would have, for instance, with Australian and Irish education would be that both countries value education and higher education.” 

“I am very impressed by the Irish participation in higher education, which is very high. There is a great understanding of the value of education here, quite clearly, and that's something to really embrace and build on.” 

Prof Leinonen believes that the funding of higher education should ensure there is an “equity of access for everybody who can benefit, irrespective of their background.

“There are different funding models across the world and, but for me, that important element in funding is that they have to be founded on the principle of equity of access. 

"There are different ways in which education is funded but it should not be dependent on your own or your family's ability to pay.” 

Prof Eeva Leinonen: 'What may be appropriate for one context may not be suitable in another context.'

Until last summer, Ireland hadn’t appointed a woman to lead a university in more than 400 years. Now, Prof Leinonen will be the fourth to take up her office.

Does she believe more needs to be done to address gender inequality in higher education?

“It's very interesting that we are already talking about this means we have a journey to travel,” she said. “This conversation takes place around the world — it’s not just in Ireland.

Across the world, there are challenges for females in reaching senior leadership positions. 

In Australia, I was the first female vice-chancellor of the university that I was leading. 

"At that time... nine out of the 39 universities were led by a female and that was great progress that was made there in a few years. 

“I'm very impressed and very pleased to be coming to Maynooth where it has the highest percentage of female professors of any university in Ireland, I think it's 34%. I think the sector average is around 27%. That's really good progress that we're making. 

"But there's much more that we need to do, and universities are taking action to enable career development for females.

“And you know, not least a challenge there is when females have career breaks, to have families and rear children. We need to find ways in which we support those career breaks and enable people to return to employment, and flexible working is part of that. 

“Female leaders, I feel, have a real obligation to inspire girls — young girls and young people — to act as role models and advocates. There is an obligation, I think, for female leaders to ensure that [in] generations to come,  some of this gender inequity will be mitigated, or indeed erased.”