Sami Karhu began studying history at the University of Helsinki in 1985.

“Being accepted to study at the University of Helsinki was a great feeling. I had been very interested in social issues. We always watched the 9 o’clock news at home, and it made me wonder what was really going on in the world. The Cold War was still a big deal. In my matriculation examination I only answered the history questions.”

As his minors Karhu chose public administration and social policy.

Cooperative activities became familiar to Karhu for the first time through his social policy studies. The course proved to be a difficult one.

“I was interested in the subject, but I did not get a very good grade. I had a habit of doing quite well, so it was a bit of disappointment. It was somewhat of a struggle to get a grasp on the issues, which felt rather abstract to me. I made a note that cooperatives were not my thing.”

Karhu considers meeting fellow students from all around Finland to be one of his best memories of the University. He has crossed paths with many of them later on in his career.

“People who I know from the University often come to the Pellervo society to dig around in our archives.”

Otherwise the University of Helsinki felt like a crowded place when he was working on his degree. Karhu only knew the professors from a distance. The situation changed when he started work on his licentiate’s thesis and joined research projects.

“I got to know some of the professors and I received more personal guidance. And they even managed to get something out of a stubborn individual like me.”

Karhu finished his licentiate’s degree in 1996. The topic was engineers working in public administration.

In his research Karhu went to the roots of public administration and discovered when the Crown began employing technical staff to supplement their military personnel and magistrates. The first representatives of the profession were surveyors and fortification officers, and as we approach the present day they were joined by engineers working for electricity and water boards, and the air force.

The work was connected to a research project headed by Karl-Erik Michelsen, which led to the publication of the book Viides sääty. Insinöörit suomalaisessa yhteiskunnassa (‘The fifth estate. Engineers in Finnish society’).