A word from the Rector

Towards an international future

Hanken has gone through many changes during its nearly one hundred-year existence. Demands for change have been placed upon us from outside and have grown from within. Our foundation today is still the same as it was yesterday; we are a Swedish language university of economics and business administration in a bilingual country, whose mission is to educate economists who will serve the country's business life and public sector regionally, nationally and internationally. Hanken's bachelor- and master-level studies are conducted in a fruitful co-operation with the research of its teachers and researchers.

Today's foremost challenge is internationalisation. Our teaching and research must be internationally competitive. Our students need to obtain international experience already at the bachelor- and master-level through studying and working in other countries. Our doctoral students should also spend some time with other universities and our teaching staff needs to consist of a mix of teachers with different areas of expertise and experience in their professional portfolio.

We have already moved considerably forward on our road to internationalisation. A lively student exchange with universities around the world makes Hanken a multifaceted linguistic and cultural study environment. The offering of established courses given in English interest both Finnish and international students.

Deeply rooted in our original environment and with a healthy self-confidence, we are able to move about in new situations outside the ingrained. Hanken's role as a Swedish language university in Finland is the secure starting point we operate from. Our students' success on the labour market and our good co-operation with the business community and the academic world demonstrate that the efforts to reach a level of quality in our work are bearing fruit. With this background we also dare meet future challenges in a changing world.

Marianne Stenius
Rector