Tag: Guidance
Supporting Inclusion by Welcoming Highly Educated Immigrants Living in Finland to Teach
It benefits Finland when a maximum number of people living here feel they can contribute and be essential members of our community. There are numerous social and financial costs to us all if even one member of the society is excluded (1). In fact, promoting inclusion is a goal for both the Finnish government and the European Union. In Finland one of the most important forms of participating in our community is work (2). As a SIMHE Career Coach I support highly educated immigrants living in Finland in different life situations. Some of them are working, some are on a family leave planning on returning to work and some might be active jobseekers. As our services are voluntary, the common nominator with our clients is their goal to find work that fits their expertise and interests so they can contribute to Finnish society. Along the way I have encountered professionals of various fields. Some have been working as teachers or lecturers in another country; some of them for foreign universities. Finland is getting more multicultural, so there is also a need for teachers from various cultural backgrounds to better relate to and offer guidance to our students (3). Finnish Qualifications for Teachers with Foreign Degrees Senior Lecturer Minttu Räty validates my experience that teachers tend to be recruited to Finnish higher education institutions based on a combination of career, teaching, and scientific contributions and skills in addition to their formal qualifications. Language and work life skills acquired in Finnish organisations are especially valued because most studies are in Finnish and both students and colleagues may wish teachers to share also local experience and knowledge (4). Someone without formal qualifications can typically be a substitute teacher in Finnish basic and upper secondary education or in liberal adult education as well as in basic education in the arts for maximum a year depending on the school level. However, for permanent posts at public schools a qualification detailed by Finnish law is required (5). If someone is a qualified teacher abroad and they wish to continue their profession in Finland, they might choose to apply for a recognition of their professional competence via Finnish National Agency for Education (6). Teachers’ pedagogical studies can be supplemented in English. Many other qualifying studies are available only in Finnish and possibly Swedish. Also, most teaching positions require teachers using these national languages of Finland. In Finnish higher education teachers’ pedagogical studies are valued and could be required especially in the future (7). Five Finnish Universities of Applied Sciences who all have a School of Vocational Teacher Education, carried out the Opettajaksi Suomeen OSU project in Finnish during 2021 - 2023 (3). Many who participated in the OSU project completed their pedagogical studies and some of those have also been employed as vocational teachers in upper secondary education (8). Supporting Professionals to Lecture at Higher Education Institutions We should better utilise the knowledge and skills of highly educated immigrants who live in Finland. According to the Laurea University of Applied Sciences Intercultural Learning Online ILO project news this challenge should also be tackled by our universities and colleges. A growing number of immigrants would benefit from having representative role models also as educational institution staff members (9). I am glad that the ILO project thought of supporting highly educated professionals from abroad by showcasing their experience as guest lecturers. During this project within a wide European network migrants got to keep open lectures in English. Through these new connections in higher education institutions, they can find ways to continue working in their new European home. Some of the students attending those lectures received study credits in their higher education institution (10). The ILO project plan to publish materials targeted at both highly educated immigrants and all of us working in higher education institutions (4). The materials are published for use and further development, and you will find them online in March 2024. Among other things the project promoted intercultural understanding by having joint workshops where multicultural project participants collaborated to link project topics and guest lecturers into higher education courses (11). For example, during autumn 2023 Laurea UAS offered a course called Intercultural and Multiprofessional Competencies to their degree, exchange and open students. I participated in the course as a student to discuss these familiar topics. During the course we completed and gave feedback on a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) that was being developed. We were also welcomed to two Erasmus+ projects. Our teacher Tiina Wikström wrote that as ILO project guest lecturers “migrants will get for example supporting networks, experiences and certificates that support their employability” (12). How Can We Support Intercultural Inclusion into Finnish Workplaces? Everyone benefits if we succeed in creating multicultural teams in Finland. Did you know that diverse teams are smarter and more innovative and thus generate more return? (13). Tiina Wikström wrote that it is essential that highly skilled migrants find employment that genuinely match their education (12). This is also the aim of SIMHE Services at Finnish higher education institutions. We want to ensure that highly educated immigrants can enter appropriate education and career paths that match their pre-existing skills and interests in Finland (14). I share a dream with my colleague Metropolia's SIMHE Career Coach Latvian-born Elvira Vainio (15). Our wish is to will live in a Finland where new employees are chosen based on their relevant skills – not limited by their name nor cultural background. I believe that providing our students with relatable role models, such as teachers and guest lecturers, is important in building a Finland where everyone feels understood and included. Author Niina Tapanainen currently works as a SIMHE Career Coach supporting highly educated immigrants living in Finland. Niina has a Master’s Degree in Education and is a qualified Guidance Counsellor and Psychology (as a second subject) Teacher. She has worked nearly two decades within the career and guidance counselling field mainly in Higher Education Institutions. She loves continuous learning and spends rest of her free time enjoying life: relaxing, dreaming and whatever interesting comes her way. Sources: 1. Hilli, Petri; Ståhl, Timo; Merikukka, Marko & Ristikari, Tiina 2017. Syrjäytymisen hinta – case investoinnin kannattavuuslaskemasta. Retrieved on 11 Dec 2023. https://www.julkari.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/135714/YP1706_Hilliym.pdf?sequence 2. THL 2022. Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare. Osallisuus. Web page. Updated on 4 May 2022. Retrieved on 11 Dec 2023. https://thl.fi/fi/web/hyvinvointi-ja-terveyserot/eriarvoisuus/hyvinvointi/osallisuus 3. TUNI 2023. Tampere University of Applied Sciences. Opettajaksi Suomeen OSU. In English. Web page. Retrieved on 11 Dec 2023. https://sites.tuni.fi/osu/in-english 4. Räty, Minttu 2023. ILO-project Manager in Laurea University of Applied Sciences. Personal video interview on 17 November 2023 supplemented with personal emails on 24 November 2023 and on 13 December 2023. 5. Asetus opetustoimen henkilöstön kelpoisuusvaatimuksista 1998. Finnish decree on the eligibility requirements for teaching personnel 14.12.1998/986. https://www.finlex.fi/fi/laki/ajantasa/1998/19980986 6. EDUFI 2023. Finnish National Agency for Education. Finnish National Agency for Education's decisions on eligibility for positions in the field of education and training. Web page. Retrieved on 23 Nov 2023. https://www.oph.fi/en/services/finnish-national-agency-educations-decisions-eligibility-positions-field-education-and 7. OAJ 2023. Trade Union of Education. Teaching in higher education. Web page. Retrieved on 11 Dec 2023. https://www.oaj.fi/en/education/what-does-teaching-involve/teaching-in-higher-education 8. TUNI 2023. Tampere University of Applied Sciences. OSU -Opettajaksi Suomeen -hankkeesta hyviä kokemuksia. Blog post on 16 Nov 2023. Retrieved on 11 Dec 2023. https://blogs.tuni.fi/taokblogi/hankkeet/osu-opettajaksi-suomeen-hankkeesta-hyvia-kokemuksia 9. Räty, Minttu 2022. Laurea University of Applied Sciences. ILO-projektissa korkeasti koulutetuille maahanmuuttajille mahdollisuuksia luennoida opiskelijoille. News published on 3 March 2022. Retrieved on 20 November 2023. https://www.laurea.fi/ajankohtaista/uutiset/ilo-projektissa-korkeasti-koulutetuille-maahanmuuttajille-mahdollisuuksia-luennoida-opiskelijoille 10. ILO-project 2022. Intercultural Learning Online. Web page. Retrieved on 20 Nov 2023. www.iloproject.eu 11. ILO-project 2022. Project Aims, Activities and Expected Results. Web page. Retrieved on 20 Nov 2023. https://iloproject.eu/project-aims 12. Wikström, Tiina 2022. On the move: Supporting highly educated migrants in Europe Case: Erasmus+ project ILO. Article on 28 April 2022. Retrieved on 11 Dec 2023. https://journal.laurea.fi/on-the-move-supporting-highly-educated-migrants-in-europe-case-erasmus-project-ilo/#953c953c 13. Rock, David & Grant, Heidi 2016. Why Diverse Teams Are Smarter. Harward Business Review. Published on 4 November 2016. Retrieved on 11 Dec 2023. https://hbr.org/2016/11/why-diverse-teams-are-smarter 14. EDUFI 2023. Finnish National Agency for Education. SIMHE services at higher education institutions. Web page. Retrieved on 11 Dec 2023. https://www.oph.fi/en/simhe-services-higher-education-institutions 15. Vainio, Elvira 2022. Nimi leimaa työnhakijaa – asenteet vaikeuttavat maahanmuuttajien työllistymistä. Tikissä on Metropolian tutkimus-, kehittämis- ja innovaatiotoiminnan (TKI) blogi. Blog post on 18 August 2022. Retrieved on 20 November 2023. https://blogit.metropolia.fi/tikissa/2022/08/18/nimi-leimaa-tyonhakijaa-asenteet-vaikeuttavat-maahanmuuttajien-tyollistymista
My Journey in Supporting Immigrant Women in Higher Education
By June this year, we have met over 800 highly educated immigrants in personal guidance at SIMHE-Metropolia (1). In 2018, we met more women than men in personal guidance. Although, the gender ratio has been fairly equal among the sexes in previous years too. In general, immigrant-background women face more difficulties in entering the labour market compared to their male counterparts as pointed out by 2018 OECD report on skills and labour market integration of immigrants in Finland (2). Career mentoring is a joint effort towards better employability I have volunteered as a mentor for an immigrant-background lady in the Finnish Family Federation’s nine-month Womento mentoring programme (3) in 2018-2019. The programme has been running since 2011 to pair up highly educated female immigrants and native Finnish women. The mentor-menteer pairs usually share similar educational and professional backgrounds. Thus, our autumn 2018 group had 12 mentor-mentee pairs with the mentees interested in finding careers in their field in Finland. I was also happy to find few of my previous SIMHE customers among the mentees in our group. Furthermore, the mentors have a long experience in their field and a genuine interest to support their mentees. As a result, the mentees become more familiar with the Finnish society and working-life. We have met with my mentee in the joint sessions at the Finnish Family Federation and in our one-to-one meetings about once or twice in every two months since October 2018. As we shared common interests and educational background, it has been of mutual benefit to talk, share experiences and discuss about the trends in the field. My mentee had education as her main goal and we have been very pleased that she has accomplished her goal during our mentoring voyage. I have now been a mentor twice in my professional life. At first, in Metropolia’s own mentoring programme in 2017-2018 and now in the Womento programme. Therefore, I strongly recommend mentoring to anyone who is willing to support others in finding their way in working life and in Finland. Above all, the small investment you put in as your time and devotion results in many wonderful encounters and enticing discussions. Additionally, you will get new and fresh idea for you to use as well. How to make Finland a home - let’s focus on the spouses Finland is in need of international talents (4) due to an ageing population and already existing competence-deficit in some fields. Many brave newcomers have already moved here with their families. Universities, like Aalto University (5) in Helsinki region as well as Finnish business sector (6) have also paid attention to make it all easier to move to Finland - also with the family. It is somewhat common that women move to Finland along with their company-recruited husbands. Thus, highly educated wives are also looking for their path in Finland. Some of them have perhaps spent several years at home due to taking care of their children. Once your family has settled in at work, daycare or school, you wish to get back to business too! Companies do try to make it better for people to settle. For instance, I participated in a Supercell spouse event in May to introduce our SIMHE services. Albeit, this was not a new concept at Supercell as they had had a spouse event (7) also in 2018. The get-together was well organised with guest speakers from municipality services like International House Helsinki (8), well-being experts from Compass Psychology (9) to start-up scene at Shortcut (10). There was also plenty of time to mingle prior to and after the presentations. I had vivid discussions with some affluent ladies from Mexico, Singapore, Russia, Kazakstan and India over a buffet meal. It’s a woman’s world Moving between countries and settling into new cultures is more and more prevalent trend in our contemporary world. Although, giving immigrant women possibilities to integrate in the society through education and work benefits not only them, but also their families and the Finnish society in general. Living in a new country without any connection to education or work can be a daunting experience for an educated person. However, I have met many courageous ladies who are ready to tackle the obstacles. In conclusion, English writer Virginia Woolf has encapsulated this phenomenon so well nearly a century ago in her quote “As a woman I have no country. As a woman I want no country. As a woman, my country is the whole world”. Sources SIMHE-Metropolia website: https://www.metropolia.fi/en/about-us/simhe/ (Read 3 June 2019) OECD (2018), Working Together: Skills and Labour Market Integration of Immigrants and their Children in Finland, OECD Publishing, Paris. https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264305250-en Väestöliitto website: https://www.vaestoliitto.fi/monikulttuurisuus/womento/career-mentoring/ (Read 3 June 2019) Kauppakamarin linjaus: Suomi ei selviä ilman työperusteista maahanmuuttoa https://kauppakamari.fi/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/tyoperusteinen-maahanmuuttolinjaukset.pdf (Read 3 June 2019) Aalto University website: https://www.aalto.fi/fi/palvelut/for-families-and-spouses (Read 3 June 2019) TalentBoost Finland website: https://www.businessfinland.fi/en/do-business-with-finland/work-in-finland/in-brief/ (Read 3 June 2019) Business Tampere news 14.3.2018. International talents boost growth – Talent Boost Spouse event on 22 March: https://businesstampere.com/international-talents-boost-growth-talent-boost-spouse-event-on-22-march/ (Read 3 June 2019) International House Helsinki website: https://www.ihhelsinki.fi/ (Read 3 June 2019) Compass Psychology website: https://compasspsychology.fi/ (Read 3 June 2019) Shortcut website: https://theshortcut.org/ (Read 3 June 2019)
Supporting Highly Educated Immigrants’ Career Paths in Finland
Since 2016, SIMHE-Metropolia has been actively developing and modelling its services to find out ways to improve highly educated immigrants’ education and employment possibilities in Finland. The number of customers at SIMHE-Metropolia has risen steadily over the past two years totalling in over 550 users for Guidance and Counselling and Recognition of Competences services in 2017. Creating a sustainable yet flexible method for recognising immigrants' competences SIMHE-Metropolia first piloted recognition of competences for highly educated immigrants in the field of technology in spring 2016 with some 30 customers to establish what would be the best method and participant criteria for the process. The current method, Mapping of Competences, has now been carried out in the fields of technology and business thrice since autumn 2016 with some 150 customers. The choice of fields was based on them not being regulated professions in Finland and Metropolia offers Bachelor’s and Master’s programmes in both fields. Mapping of Competences is managed and conducted by SIMHE-Metropolia. The field-related expertise is provided by heads of degree programmes or departments who work in the fields of technology and/or business at Metropolia. In autumn 2017, the Mapping of Competences service was also offered for suitable customers through Public employment and business services (TE Services) in Uusimaa region with almost 60 customers along with some 25 customers who entered the process through SIMHE-Metropolia’s own registration path. The continuation of the cooperation with TE Services is yet to be realised later in 2018. Recognition of Prior Learning is also needed for those not currently in higher education Recognising existing skills and competences is not a new concept in university of applied sciences as Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) is strongly supported in study planning for example at Metropolia to create individual learning paths for degree students. SIMHE-Metropolia’s service thus augments and modifies RPL concept to highly educated immigrants who are not able to use such services as they are not registered in higher education institution in Finland. The official Recognition and Comparability of International Qualifications is conducted by Finnish National Agency for Education whereas SIMHE-Metropolia’s service aims at taking a more practical approach for recognising competences by helping customers to make their foreign qualifications and competences also more familiar to the Finnish employers. Self-knowledge and understanding of the Finnish context make a difference Education is highly appreciated in Finland, but being a highly educated immigrant in Finland does not always result in swift access to education or work. Immigrants often lack an inherent knowledge of the Finnish society and culture, they may lack sufficient language skills to enter in their field of expertise, and most importantly, they are not certain how their existing competences match with the Finnish requirements. Even though educated immigrants are needed in the Finnish labour market, we tend to run somewhat homespun and closed labour market in Finland (Kauppalehti 29.1. 2018). As customers are in a centre in Mapping of Competences, the aim is to offer both individual encounters in addition to group meetings throughout the process by helping customers to understand how their formerly acquired skills and competences match with the Finnish requirements find suitable educational paths, when applicable support employment and obtain information and ideas on various ways for job-search in Finland be able to express their competences better Now I know, where I am SIMHE-Metropolia's customers share common features like high level of education and being of foreign origin, but they are yet a very heterogeneous group of people with varied backgrounds, hopes and dreams how to live their lives in Finland. The best achievement over the past two years we have run the service, is to see how we have been able to empower people and give them tools for building possible career paths. Now that we have developed the ways to support self-knowledge and growth in more localised professional identity through our services, the next steps are to create even more ways to match the job-searching talents with those in need of skilled workforce. The existing events like Recruitment and Matching Morning by COME project help immigrants to meet up and network with employers-to-be. The road is still rocky and bendy, yet a lot has been accomplished by far. The most important thing is to include immigrants to the Finnish society by not always emphasising what they may not have, but rather embrace a feeble question raised by one of our customers: What if I am perfect already? More information: Maahanmuuton vastuukorkeakoulutoiminta Opetus- ja kulttuuriministeriön julkaisuja 2017:38 https://julkaisut.valtioneuvosto.fi/handle/10024/80706 Työ- ja elinkeinoministeriön julkaisuja.Työelämä 36/2017 Maahanmuuttajien koulutuspolkujen nopeuttaminen ja joustavat siirtymät -työryhmän loppuraportti ja toimenpide-esitykset http://julkaisut.valtioneuvosto.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/80625/TEMjul_36_2017_verkkojulkaisu.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y Kauppalehti 29.1. 2018 https://www.kauppalehti.fi/uutiset/uutinen/HzNP4peF?ref=ampparit:730b&ext=ampparit Mäki, Kimmo. 5.12. 2017 Osaamme sanoittaa osaamista http://www.amkverkkovirta.fi/osaammeko-sanoittaa-osaamista
Highly skilled immigrants aboard to build Finland
Pedro Góis (2017) informs that in USA alone, immigrants have been involved with founding companies such as “Google, Intel, WhatsApp, PayPal, eBay, Tesla, and Yahoo” and even though immigrants “make up less than 15 percent of the US population, skilled immigrants account for over half of Silicon Valley start-ups and over half of patents”. Could this be achieved in Finland as well? Building companies operating in English and having international potential such as the IT companies Góis mentioned will keep being created in Finland. However, working in many professional fields here requires the knowledge of our national language(s), mainly Finnish but speaking also Swedish can be an advantage. The language skills and navigating how our education and work-life operates typically takes time in the beginning. Yet they are significant puzzle pieces to integration. Back to studying basics? Anything human rarely surprises me, but I must say that the first time I heard a foreigner having a Bachelor´s Degree Certificate telling me he is studying in Finnish Basic Education - I went speechless. Basic Education is the school Finnish youngsters nearly always complete by the age of seventeen (EDUFI 2017a). Sadly, we in SIMHE-Metropolia have had a handful of clients like him who have taken too many steps backwards. SIMHE-Metropolia: 1) aims for faster integration It touches my heart when a client says after a thank you that they wish they had met me X years (that number could range from two to multiple years) earlier. Thus, I completely agree with the Minister of Education, Ms. Sanni Grahn-Laasonen, “We cannot afford to miss or waste anyone’s skills.” (Ministry of Education and Culture 2017b) and therefore need to better and faster recognize and utilize immigrants’ existing skills. 2) guides highly skilled immigrants My first three months in SIMHE-Metropolia have flown by fast because there is no shortage of clients. We guide those immigrants who reside in Finland but are not currently degree students in higher education (=HE) here. The minimum criteria to become a SIMHE client is that one is eligible to apply to HE in their home country and therefore in Finland as well. Actually, most of our clients already have at least one HE degree. 3) helps to steer multiple ways SIMHE-Metropolia has many services which we constantly develop. I mainly focus on group and personal guidance. In personal guidance discussions, we reserve an hour so we can holistically go through the immigrant´s situation and possible options. We focus on the topics they want, most typically connected to studies and career. SIMHE-Metropolia has been operating as of spring 2016 and already some of our clients have succeeded in gaining admission to studies or work where they were hoping. New initiatives for integration When it comes to degree studies, in my opinion vocational institutions are further with flexible options like apprenticeship training and competence-based qualification (terms from EDUFI 2017b). Fortunately, there is a momentum in Finland to accelerating immigrants’ integration seen in for example the launch of International House of Helsinki and that Espoo adopted English as their third official language. The Minister of Education allocated in total 5.5 million euros to various measures promoting development of for instance immigrants´ educational paths (Ministry of Education and Culture 2017a). From prep courses to graduates Some HE institutions like Metropolia University of Applied Sciences (UAS) have preparatory courses for immigrants. One of the projects which received funding from the Minister of Education is called in Finnish “Valmentavasta valmiiksi” where we in Metropolia UAS have teamed up with eight other UAS to develop preparatory courses. The idea is to develop them to be more nationally compatible and that the student who wants to graduate with a degree in higher education on that field would have a clear path for that. Utilizing everyone’s skills I have met so many clever and inspiring immigrants, most of whom are eager to stay and become full members of the Finnish society as fast as possible. Thus, I hope that initiatives like the above mentioned will help to make it more and more possible. I wish work places will to a greater extent take advantage of the diverse skills and ideas our multilingual and -cultural clients can bring. Sources: EDUFI (2017a) Finnish National Agency for Education. Education system in Finland picture available at http://www.oph.fi/english/education_system [retrieved 1.12.2017] EDUFI (2017b) Finnish National Agency for Education. Opetushallinnon sanasto available at http://www03.oph.fi/sanasto/listaakaikki_s.asp [retrieved 1.12.2017] Góis, Pedro (2017) Facing the human capital challenges of the 21st century’s new era of mobility: Migrant populations in higher education – students, academics, researchers. Keynote lecture, 13 December 2016 published in Käyhkö, Katinka; Bontenbal, Ilona & Bogdanoff, Minna (Eds.), "Open the doors!": Migrants in Higher Education: Fostering Cooperation at Universities Seminar 13.-14.12.2016 in Jyväskylä. Available also online: http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-951-39-6977-6 Ministry of Education and Culture (2017a) Solutions for accelerating immigrants’ educational paths are sought and supported. Press release published in 11.8.2017 at http://minedu.fi/artikkeli/-/asset_publisher/maahanmuuttajien-koulutuspolkuja-vauhditetaan?_101_INSTANCE_0R8wCyp3oebu_languageId=en_US [retrieved 1.12.2017] Ministry of Education and Culture (2017b) Steering group: We need better ways to recognise immigrants’ skills. Press release 25.9.2017 published in English on 29.9.2017 at http://minedu.fi/en/article/-/asset_publisher/maahanmuuttajien-osaaminen-tunnistettava-nykyista-paremmin [retrieved 1.12.2017]
365 steps later
Supporting Immigrants in Higher Education in Finland (SIMHE) has now been part of my professional life exactly for a year. It has most certainly been a year of many new encounters, views, angles, ideas, networks, seminars and happenings. This has been most apparent in terms of guidance and counselling as I have met around 300 educated immigrant-background people through one-to-one personal guidance discussions, Guidance Generalia lectures and in orientating customers to our Recognition of Competences Services. It was a very good year How could I describe the past year and its eventful occurrences? We started from an empty desk, only having a grasp of what there is to do, or what we wish to accomplish. Things evolved very fast and the first pilot in recognition of competences services, SIMHE-Metropolia internet pages and guidance and counselling services got a kick-start during April-May 2016. Evidently, once you get going, things tend to grow bigger and bigger, like a snowball effect. I have come across with people from many walks of life as my counselees have had education in engineering, nursing, law, medicine, business, pharmacology, languages and teaching, just mention a few. Some of them have been in Finland only for months, whereas some have been living here even for years. Despite their various backgrounds, all SIMHE customers share a need to get information and help in learning how to surf in the Finnish education system and labour market, or getting to know what are the authorities regulating certain professions in Finland. This has also put my skills to the test as I have myself learned so many new things by searching for information from various channels. Likewise, I have also learnt a lot from my customers and their international experience. It’s all about networks Many SIMHE customers’ main objective is to get employed in their field of expertise. Job-searching has been a daunting experience for many as there is little or no response from the employers, even after numerous applications and contact-making. It has become as a surprise to some that having the credentials and qualifications is somewhat meaningless, unless you have the networks and connections with the local people. It is a matter of trust, or sometimes of mere existence. If you have no one to endorse you and your competences, you are non-visible in the labour market. Thus, one of our challenges is to help to create such networks in making people exist in the eyes of the Finnish employers. Again, we aim to support this through our own networks like TE-office, Helsinki Chamber of Commerce and Start-Up Refugees in addition to our Recognition of Competences Services. The show must go on SIMHE-Metropolia and SIMHE-Jyväskylä pioneered the concept throughout 2016 with good results and a strong support from Ministry of Education and Culture. Issues revolving around immigration phenomenon have become more and more prevalent in Finland and the implications are apparent on all levels of education. The actions to be taken are described on The educational tracks and integration of immigrants - problematic areas and proposals for actions document that was handed to Minister of Education and Culture, Sanni Grahn-Laasonen, at Metropolia in mid-February 2017. SIMHE is getting even a stronger foothold in 2017 as more educational institutions are joining the concept and the work will continue until the end of 2020, or even beyond. We are very happy to welcome University of Helsinki, University of Turku, Oulu UAS and Karelia UAS to heighten the service concept and bring in fresh views and ideas. There is most certainly a need to open-up and brush-up the existing policies to create ways for immigrants to have an access to education, also on its highest level. SIMHE-concept could work as a stepping stone for supporting more inclusive education in catering the needs of immigrants and the Finnish society.
Can you see it more clearly now?
SIMHE-Metropolia services has now reached its next step – or even two of them – in making the Finnish education and higher education system more approachable and understandable for the immigrants living in Finland. We launched the monthly Guidance Generalia lecture series in June and now, after the round two in the end of August, it is time to evaluate the outcome. Don’t you Know, it’s all so simple from early day care to the doctoral level! Guidance Generalia lecture aims at unravelling the mysteries of the Finnish education system and how to enter in the higher education in particular. The lecture is open for anyone and is advertised on SIMHE’s For Immigrants website and through other networks. We are also introducing guest speakers this autumn from many relevant arenas such as TE-office, National Board of Education, Kela for Finnish Social Security System and so forth to help people to make the most of the events. For us, who have travelled through the system from early childhood day care to the higher education, all is very smooth and clear; this is how the story goes and we take this highly praised system for granted. However, for those, who come from the outside, it may come across as foggy and almost unreal: there are free meals in the primary and secondary levels of education and what does it even mean to have a dual model in the tertiary level? Overcoming the language barrier The first ever Guidance Generalia in June, set the mark for what we wish to reach. We have a service promise to master the lecture in Finnish and in English, simultaneously. It is even possible to have an interpret on our expense, if there is enough demand for additional languages on top of these two. The limits of our language were certainly not the limits of our world as the June lecture was managed in Finnish, in English and in Arabic with the help of an interpret. Or, perhaps, it was muddled through as having three different languages made it feel like being in an international airport at times. The message went through to the twenty something participants, even though them, the interpret and I were mopping sweat from our foreheads after two hours of intensive schooling. However, as we are able and capable to develop, the August lecture introduced the renewed state of the affairs with a new set of slides to help to overcome the language malarkey. We are in this together August setting was thus thoroughly planned and the session welcomed yet again some thirty participants. This time we were lucky in terms of lingua franca as all participants were able to follow the lecture in English. We managed to create a very reciprocal way of making the education system more familiar to the participants and the lecture passed by with many questions, comments and remarks. Participants were very pleased that someone offers such services just for them and for their needs. We were also happy to invite the first guest speakers, Bayazidi Saeed and Ahmad Moussa from Uudenmaan TE-Office where they work with highly educated immigrants to support their employment. Mr Saeed and Mr Moussa explained the role of TE-office in supporting education for immigrants during and after their integration program period. They gave an invaluable insight into the TE-office services for independent education. Expanding the cooperation Guidance Generalia has proven to add up substance to SIMHE’s service palette. It is also a very good forum to meet up with people to tackle questions that are general to all. Additionally, it enables us to reach those who need more personal support in their individual quest in the Finnish education system. The next session will take place in September with a guest speaker from the Finnish National Board of Education who will tell us more about recognition of international qualifications in Finland. We are also expanding our horizons as the lecture will be simultaneously streamed to participants in central Finland in cooperation with SIMHE-Jyväskylä and JAMK University of Applied Sciences.
To have someone who listens to me…
Supporting Immigrants in Higher Education, SIMHE-Metropolia, started its guidance services for educated immigrants, or those who are willing to apply for higher education, in early May 2016. Now that I have had a dozen or so customers visiting me, it is a good time elaborate the outcome by far. I wish to raise few issues that I find important when guiding people with little or no experience in the Finnish society, let alone in our education system and all that lies within. You are not dealing with the statistics when meeting someone face-to-face It is somewhat easy to hide behind the statistics and look into the immigration phenomenon through numbers, figures and percentages. There are currently over 200, 000 immigrants residing in Finland for various reasons and the amount is growing year by year. However, statistics do not count, when you have someone sitting in front of you in need of guidance and advice. At this point, your task is to listen to his or her individual life story and try to make people to see the difference that they are able to make for their lives. Immigrants are often seen as one pool of people and objects, not as capable individuals who are able to make their own decisions. All my customers have been highly educated and talented people who are just facing new circumstances they were not able to predict. They are ready to make a new start, even to take a step back in their already acquired competence level in order to fit in and fulfil the requirements of our society. My task is to provide the necessary facts and information to support the process. I am not being naïve as I know the existing hardships and obstacles on both sides, but giving options and possibilities is what matters here. Knowing me, knowing you is the best I can do Guidance is always about communication, seeking common grounds and establishing trust between people. I have worked with international degree students from various parts of the world for ten years, so the change in the clientele was not that dramatic to me. I have learnt through experience and my own education in intercultural communication that knowing yourself well is the key for understanding others. Also, guidance work is first and foremost done through your own personality traits for which I hope to come across as competent, down-to-earth kind of person with a tender heart. Yet this needs to be decided by my customers. Firstly, I feel humble and privileged to have this opportunity to be able to be one of those, who make Finland and its peculiarities more familiar and less haunting for immigrants. Secondly, my guidance work puts me in the learning curve too as every person needs to be treated not only as a member of a certain group, culture or ethnical background, but as a unique individual. My job is not to fortify the existing boundaries but rather lower them to help us to find the common platform to build our dialogue together. Thirdly, meeting people from other cultures gives you more than it takes from you as you broaden your horizons through every encounter. If you just let it happen. Like a beacon shimmering light at night How do I see the SIMHE project and its objectives after working in the project for three months? It seems to be well needed for sure and has been welcomed by many. There is a constant need for having a place where an immigrant-background people are able to seek for advice in the amazing maze of the Finnish education system and society when searching suitable paths for themselves. We are not to change the world, perhaps we only just tickle a corner of it, but I find SIMHE and its guidance services to have its stance among other similar activities. I somehow see SIMHE project like a beacon shimmering light at night; you do not see everything clearly at one glance, but you start to get the big picture by each beam of light. The more familiar you make the system and its demands and possibilities to immigrants, the easier it is for them to find their individual paths in Finland. It takes time, but it’s worth a go for us and them. We will have the first Guidance Generalia lecture in June, so stay tuned for hearing more about it soon!
Recognising competencies of educated immigrants
Since the last autumn, there has been an intense debate on what should be done in this new situation with a growing number of asylum seekers and immigrants that has exceeded even the wildest guesses. ”Rajat kiinni”, “Close the borders”, has been one approach and on the other hand it has been considered if immigrants could be seen as a resource to benefit Finland. Metropolia’s solution is to offer a service concept produced by the SIMHE project, which is funded by the Ministry of Education and Culture. The aim is to recognise the competences of highly educated immigrants and to guide them, and those who are eligible to apply to higher education, to interesting and meaningful educational and career paths. Setting objectives for the project is easier than implementing them into contemporary society. Mathematical competence, professional engineering competence and digital competence were selected to form the pilot test on recognising engineering competence that was implemented in April at Metropolia. The test parts were compiled by the Metropolia experts in mathematics, different engineering degree programmes and in digital competence. We considered what kind of competence the Finnish employers might value, and on the other hand, we thought that immigrants could benefit from the recognition of competences for example, if they apply to higher education in Finland, as an institution of higher education has already made an evaluation on their competences. When choosing the content to the recognition of competence, we looked at the issue from a perspective of integrating immigrants into Finnish society. 30 immigrants participated in the recognition of competence day out of which 28 were male and 2 female. The majority of them were from Iraq, a few from Syria and Afghanistan, one from Iran and one from Belarus. The participants’ age varied between 20 and 44. A few of them had been in Finland for nearly three years, the majority for 6-10 months. It was possible to do the test in Arabic, in English or in Finnish. The language options were based on the fact in which language the participants had filled-in the enrolment form. The results will be ready soon and we will reflect on them as well as on methods used in the recognition of competence together with participants and our experts. We need to reflect critically on both - the used methods and the chosen fields of competencies. Is the recognition of mathematical competence relevant when working as an engineer? Those participating in the pilot, already had a degree, or studies in higher education in the field of technology. Why would someone, who already has a degree, and who has made the official recognition and international comparability of qualifications want to participate in our recognition of competence? What do the participants benefit from recognition of competence will probably not become clear until a long-term follow-up is done based on their individual educational and career paths. Do the individual’s and society’s perceptions about adequate educational and career paths meet? This is also an interesting question to be considered later. How do I get a chance to show my competence, attitude, motivation and will to do anything reasonable that would benefit both myself and Finland? How and where can I get more competence that can help me to get a job? These kind of questions are now directed to Metropolia. At this point, I must humbly state that these things we work with in the SIMHE project launched this spring are quite enormous. In the project we will consider the new models to recognise the competence of highly educated immigrants and asylum seekers and to guide them to adequate educational and career paths. This is done together with the Ministry of Education and Culture, Finnish National Board of Education, CIMO, Ministry of Employment and the Economy and the UniPID network. There is clearly a demand for our new service concept - hopefully employers and educational institutions will grasp this new potential. Let´s turn the societal debate even more towards the direction of possibilities!
Blog introduces information, tips and insights that help international talents with a higher education background to integrate and find their study and career paths in Finland. The blog is part of Metropolia’s #talentboost actions.
Outi Lemettinen (head editor)
Riikka Wallin
Anu Luoma
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