University Marketing without an Audience Is Futile: Value Perceptions and Expectations by Actors in University ICT Outreach Programmes for Upper Secondary Schools

Thesis event information

Date and time of the thesis defence

Place of the thesis defence

IT116, Linnanmaa campus

Topic of the dissertation

University Marketing without an Audience Is Futile: Value Perceptions and Expectations by Actors in University ICT Outreach Programmes for Upper Secondary Schools

Doctoral candidate

Master of Science Joni Rajala

Faculty and unit

University of Oulu Graduate School, Faculty of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, Interact

Subject of study

Information Processing Sciences

Opponent

Professor Samuli Pekkola, Univesity of Jyväskylä

Custos

Professor Netta Iivari, University of Oulu

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Expectation of education collaboration between upper secondary education and higher education

The thesis examines the education institution's interest and goals for participating in education collaboration required by the changes in General Upper Secondary Schools Act in 2018.

The thesis contains interviews of students, teachers, study councillors and other parties active in education outreach programs in upper secondary schools and higher education institutions in Oulu area. They have been asked what they expect from the collaboration, what they have gained from it previously, and why they think other parties want to participate in them. The data focuses on marketing and outreach of ICT and software development, but the results should be generalizable, as the thesis views outreach programs from the point of view on institutional collaboration.

The interview data was gathered between 2020-2023, but the results are based on experiences from a longer period. This was done in order for conditions caused by the pandemic have lesser impact on the findings, and information processing sciences in University of Oulu has done outreach programs remotely for over a decade.

The data shows that the institutions are clearly interested in possibility of collaboration, but the differing needs and internal resources hinder long lasting collaboration efforts. The institutions want to focus on different students, no one wants more work, and information exchange between institutions is lacking.

There have been some successful collaborations in the past, but they have required additional resources or have been larger than a single study program.
Last updated: 28.3.2025