Tag: SIMHE
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
Courage to Use Finnish – Growing into a Professional
Immigration and emigration are sensitive topics to those who come to a new country and to those who accept the individuals. Those coming to a new country usually face struggle with integration and inclusion, especially when it comes to education and employment. The main barrier is often the language. My Finnish beginnings When I moved from Kosovo to Finland in July 2012, I started high school in Eira High School for Adults in Helsinki after less than a month. I, of course, started in an English-speaking program. Back then, I was completely new to my new home country and I was getting culture shocks almost every day, not only by Finland and the Finnish culture but by the international community within the program as well. I started learning basic Finnish immediately. However, after some time I noticed that my Finnish language progress was hindered by me speaking English all the time. I would switch to English completely when I did not remember a word in Finnish. When I started speaking Finnish with my friends who had the nerves to talk to me and correct me, it encouraged me to start switching from English speaking courses to Finnish ones. I started with Math where the need for complex vocabulary is not as relevant as in other subjects. Being in an international community in high school, I could hear every Finnish accent there is, which in hindsight benefited me massively as now I can easily understand different Finnish accents. Outside of school I started using Finnish in supermarkets and restaurants. When it came to the matriculation exams in Finnish language, I chose Finnish, Math, English and History. I barely passed them all, but did nonetheless. Even though my writing and spoken Finnish skills were not the best, I challenged myself, and I triumphed. Towards using the language at work My professional life in Finland has mostly consisted of working in Finnish speaking environments. When at the age of 18 I started a summer job working as a cleaner, I spoke only broken Finnish. By the next year I already saw an improvement in my spoken language skills. My Finnish was basic at the time but still it allowed me to access the coffee room discussions and gave me the necessary motivation one needs to continue learning. During my period when I worked as a security guard, I could no longer work with only broken Finnish, because the job required clear communication with people. For example, I could not use Google Translate in the spot, like I had when I worked as a cleaner. After the job as a security guard, I worked mainly in English for a while, gaining experience in Marketing and Content Creation. During my work placement in autumn 2020 at SIMHE services in Metropolia University of Applied Sciences, my professional Finnish has gone to another level. From the begining my focus was set into developing my Finnish in an office environment, also applying a model developed in SIMHE to support my language learning in a goal-oriented manner. This has boosted my confidence to use Finnish at work and improved my professional proficiency. Diverse workplace: not just the language, but also new perspectives and innovation Although employment might feel quite difficult for internationals in Finland, there is always hope and positive stories. I understand many of us search for jobs only in English, which are quite scarce, even though the number has been growing throughout the years. However, I would encourage everyone try and challenge yourself with Finnish. I have been through the process myself and I understand it is not easy and it gets tiring from time to time. It's good to keep in mind that we are trying to be professionals in a different country, which takes a lot of adapting and perseverance. At the end of the day, it is not all black clouds, because the international community is growing bigger and bigger in Finland, bringing a diverse set of skills to work communities. It’s good to understand that we as internationals not only represent our backgrounds and our culture, but we are skilled individuals as well, who bring innovation and other points of view to the table. Language is a barrier to be overcome, for sure - what we can do as foreigners is to try our best to adapt to the working culture and requirements in Finland. It takes courage to use Finnish as a beginner, but as long as you try, it shows professional motivation and opens a path to learning more. Ahmet Binaku is an intern at SIMHE Services and 4th year student in European Business Administration in Metropolia University of Applied Sciences (at the time of the writing)
Finding suitable career paths for the highly educated immigrants
SIMHE-Metropolia customers have many characteristics in common yet the need for an individual and personal approach for planning their path in Finland is highly demanded. The most frequently discussed topics, that are almost always in the core of the discussions when it comes to career paths and taking the first steps: how to create a coherent image of yourself as a professional, and how to sell and brand your competences to employers? Also, how does a certain field work in Finland, and which competences are appreciated in the field? How to update and supplement those competences if necessary? I will share some thoughts concerning these topics below. What are you made of? Knowing your skills and assets can take you far in today’s working life (1). To create a coherent image of you as an expert in your field, you could start by searching answers e.g. to these questions: What are your interests? Where are you good at? Which are your core skills and competences? What can you do with them? Which are concrete examples of your talents? It is also beneficial to strive to understand how your competences position you in your field in the Finnish context (2), as different skills might be appreciated, different applications used, or different educational level required. Finding out about the educations in your field gives you an image of the skills set that is valued and offered by the Finnish degrees. To perform a detailed comparison between your skills acquired in e.g. a degree in higher education and the Finnish counterpart, have a look at the curricula open for all at the websites of the higher education institutions. Do you know your field of expertise in Finland? It is important to understand the characteristics of the field you aim to, as fields can be different between countries. There are multiple ways to access information, but one could be through the organizations functioning in your field in Finland. You can get information e.g. about the different companies operating in your field. Another good way to get information is to go through the open job vacancies ads, as they give you information of what the employers are looking for. Remember, that you don’t have to tick every box to apply. Different mentoring programmes exist to give you an opportunity to connect with an expert from your own field to add to your field-specific knowledge, but also the opportunity to find out more e.g. about the practices for applying for a job and contacting interesting employers with an open application. Overall, networking is a key skill in today’s working life. Where can you update your skills set? At the moment, the pressure to continuous self-development and learning is strong in Finland, as job descriptions are more and more complex and multidisciplinary (1). This applies to everyone, not only immigrants. After mapping your competences, comparing them with the competences gained through the local degrees, and familiarizing yourself with the competences the working life requires, it might be easier to understand what kind of completing of your skills could benefit you. Options to build up your expertise could be e.g. open university/university of applied sciences studies, different educational opportunities offered by the TE-office or degree studies in an educational institution. Supplementary studies do not only increase your expertise, but also help you build up your networks and knowledge of your own field. (5.) Preparatory educations for immigrants aiming for studies in higher education can give you an intensive Finnish language learning opportunity. How to brand and sell yourself? The ability to brand yourself and to sell your skills is crucial, especially because it might be that the employers do not know what skills your degree completed abroad has given you. Research shows, that the employers find it difficult to comprehend the true skills of the immigrant applicants (3). At the same time, the capacity and potential of immigrants is not in full use (4). Building your cv towards a skill based cv could help. Instead of focusing only on the formal degrees you have completed, in a skill based cv you focus on outlining the key skills the degree and everything else in your life has given you. The emphasis is in describing how you convert all that learned into practice, with the help of practical examples from your personal history. Don't forget to add in the results you have gained during your work history. (6) Sources 1 Hakala, L. (2018) Työelämä muuttuu - mitä työelämävalmiuksia tarvitsemme? https://stm.fi/artikkeli/-/asset_publisher/tyoelama-muuttuu-mita-tyoelamavalmiuksia-tarvitsemme- 2 Autero, M. (2018) Osaamisen kartoitus tukee maahanmuuttajan työelämään ohjaamista. In the title Osaamisella ei ole rajoja – Vastuukorkeakoulutoiminta maahanmuuttajien integraation tukena Suomessa. https://www.metropolia.fi/fileadmin/user_upload/TK/Julkaisut/pdf/2018_stenberg_ym_osaamisella_ei_ole_rajoja_TAITO.pdf 3 Hakala, K. & Pesonen, J. (2018) Työnantajien haasteet korkeasti koulutettujen maahanmuuttajien työllistämisessä. https://unlimited.hamk.fi/ammatillinen-osaaminen-ja-opetus/tyonantajien-haasteet/ 4 Uudenmaan liitto. (2019) Helsingin seudun muuttotutkimus: Koulutettujen maahanmuuttajien osaamista ei hyödynnetä, paitsi huippualoilla. https://www.uudenmaanliitto.fi/uudenmaan_liitto/uutishuone/tiedotteet/helsingin_seudun_muuttotutkimus_koulutettujen_maahanmuuttajien_osaamista_ei_hyodynneta_paitsi_huippualoilla.34372.blog 5 Hiitelä, E. & Kolu, M. (2018) Korkeasti koulutettu maahanmuuttaja matkalla työelämään. https://verkkolehdet.jamk.fi/elo/2018/11/29/korkeasti-koulutettu-maahanmuuttaja-matkalla-tyoelamaan/ 6 Uusivirta, M. (2019) Pelkkä töiden listaus ei enää riitä - Näin laadit osaamista korostavan cv:n, jonka avulla erotut ja saat työpaikan varmemmin. https://www.hs.fi/ura/art-2000006091980.html
Do you need supplementary education?
Application process has started to five different educational models, which enable your rapid transition to individual career path. The aim is to remove the language barrier and build up the networks for you to get employed. Deploying competence in Finland According to UTH-research (1), in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area with 47% of the immigrant population of Finland, a special need has been identified to create an ecosystem for the integration of highly educated immigrants to work-life. As the number of immigrants living in Helsinki, Espoo and Vantaa is growing yearly, deploying the competence of each and everyone makes a big difference both in the society and in the daily lives of highly educated immigrants. Jobseekers with higher education and immigration background are facing multiple obstacles in finding employment that corresponds to their skills and education. For example, the previous education might not be recognized by the recruiting companies or lack of some niche skills might prevent the use of the existing education. Comparison of the foreign-born unemployment data available from OECD (2) and the total unemployment rate (3) shows that the immigrants have a lot higher unemployment rate in Finland and this has been recognized by the SIMHE (Supporting Immigrants in Higher Education) services at the Metropolia University of Applied Sciences. Paths to support your integration and employment Since 2016, SIMHE-Metropolia (Supporting Immigrants in Higher Education) has been offering its services for recognizing the competences and for guiding to suitable educational and career paths. Within SIMHE services, Deploying Competence in Finland Project will facilitate your participation to private and public sector jobs via different development paths: first, it will create an ecosystem for promoting your integration in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area. In addition, higher education institutions will implement several educational paths for recognition and completion of your competence. Each educational model enables your rapid transition to an individual career path. The above development paths will be supplemented by improving the accessibility of the education offering of the higher education institutions by collecting the relevant courses to an easy-to-access location. What is our goal with the project? The aim of the project is to develop a cross-administrative ecosystem, which enables the recognition and completion of your competence and rapid transition to individual career path, for promoting your integration in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area. Most importantly, the project includes partnerships from potential employers: direct link with the public and private sector employers ensures that the additional training is impacting the right skills and facilitate your employment. We aim to strengthen the inclusion and equality of the multicultural population in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area, and also promote your employment and integration as active members of the society. Check if you belong to our target group! Check if you are in the target group in this specific project! Do you have a higher education degree in the following areas? If yes, do you need to get the legal qualification? Nursing, Metropolia University of Applied Sciences (continuous application) If you have a nursing degree from an ETA or EU country, you belong to our target group. During this path, you will get to know about the Finnish service system, legislation and decrees. Early childhood education and care, University of Helsinki Centre for Continuing Education HY+ (application deadline 5th April, 2019) If you have a degree in early childhood education and care from abroad, you belong to our target group. The aim of this path is to complement your existing degree with certain pedagogical studies required in Finland. In addition, different supplementary studies, providing a bridge for the participants to professional and managerial positions, are organized in three different paths: Construction and Real Estate Management, Metropolia University of Applied Sciences (application deadline 30th April, 2019) Sales, Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences (application deadline 30th April, 2019) Travel and hospitality, Laurea University of Applied Sciences (application deadline 30th April, 2019) All the educational paths have a common objective, which is to develop your Finnish language skills in the specific area of studies. More information about the specific requirements concerning each path and the scheduling can be found from the website of the project. If you have a degree in one of the areas mentioned above, do not hesitate to apply! Sources: UTH-research online: http://www.terveytemme.fi/uth/(read 11th March, 2019) OECD data online: https://data.oecd.org/migration/foreign-born-unemployment.htm (read 11th March, 2019) Statistics Finland’s Labour Force Survey online: https://www.stat.fi/til/tyti/2017/06/tyti_2017_06_2017-07-25_tie_001_en.html (read 11th March, 2019) More information: Deploying Competence in Finland Project Korkeasti koulutettujen maahanmuuttajien osaaminen käyttöön Suomessa –hanke SIMHE path - From Recognizing and Supplementing Competences to Employment SIMHE (Supporting Immigrants in Higher Education in Finland) SIMHE-Metropolia
How to succeed in higher education in Finland?
When browsing through various websites of Finnish higher education institutions (HEIs), you notice that the institutions emphasize the difference between studying in Finnish higher education and studying in some other country. But what does that actually mean? What are the differences between the Finnish system and a system in a completely different culture? The Finnish higher education system – simple or not? To understand the way of studying in Finnish HEIs, you need to start by exploring the Finnish culture, which is a complex mix of different traits. Two characteristics come up especially. The first is the emphasis of individuality. In the Finnish culture people are expected to take considerable responsibility of their own lives. In more collective cultures, people might rely on communities of different types in their life planning, such as their family or relatives. The second is the focus on independence. In the Finnish culture, it is highly appreciated to control your own life, to make independent choices and to take responsibility of them. When studying in countries with the collective culture as a strong influencer, the focus is on teacher centered teaching methods. The Finnish way of studying, strongly affected by our individual culture, focuses more on student centered teaching methods and emphasizes the responsibility of the students as active agents in their own learning. In the Finnish world of HEIs there is a sense of equality between teachers and students. In more collective cultures the teacher is considered as a know-it-all. Do not get intimidated by all this. You can learn to find your way and succeed in the Finnish world of higher education. Start by digging into your past. You have probably already acquired a vast collection of different study skills during your life. It is also equally important to understand, that while the previously learned study skills are useful, you might have to modify them suitable for studying in a Finnish higher education institution. And also, you might have to learn some totally new skills as well. The skills you need in order to survive in Finnish higher education In the Finnish universities and universities of applied sciences, study and learning skills are highly emphasized. Here are some examples (based on e.g. Kangasniemi & Murtonen 2017): Self-knowledge: Start by aiming to form an image of the skills and knowledge base, that you already have, and of the skills and knowledge you still need to learn to reach your goals. Not only in studying but also in working life, the key skill is to be able to map your competences. Self-direction: Self-direction has a major role in the Finnish world of higher education. For many students coming outside of Finland, this might be the key element which makes the Finnish way of studying so difficult to take in. Self-direction means, that you take responsibility of your own learning. You independently aim for understanding, and also for developing your thinking and expertise. Time management: The Finnish higher education gives you considerable freedom. But with that freedom comes responsibility. The courses take up a lot of your time and include also significant amount of independent work in addition to contact lessons, which need to fit into your everyday life. If you start studying in a somewhat new language, remember that it might take you longer to take on materials. Planning skills: Be prepared to plan the schedule of completing your degree including a yearly plan for courses to be finished. In addition to scheduling your studies, consider how you want your degree to look like. When planning, keep your focus in your future: what would be a good and useful mix of studies for the working life? Self-direction plays a strong part here as you ponder and find out things yourself. Readiness for team work: One of the most central ways to work around a course theme is to team work. This requires for you to be ready to communicate as you are not the only one in the team. Think of yourself in a group. What are your strengths and weaknesses? Step by step you create self-knowledge of you as a team member. Need tools for your survival kit? If you want to prepare yourself before pursuing degree studies in higher education, consider brushing up your study skills as well as Finnish language skills in the Metropolia Preparatory Education for Studies at the University of Applied Sciences for Immigrants, open for applications in August. Online version of the preparatory education, including a course in developing your study skills, is offered during the year 2019 by the development project Valmentavasta Valmiiksi, so stay tuned. Sources: Kangasniemi, Mari & Murtonen, Mari. 2017. Yliopiston toimijoiden näkemyksiä vastuullisen yliopisto- opiskelijan taidoista. Yliopistopedagogiikka. 24:1. https://yliopistopedagogiikka.files.wordpress.com/2017/07/kangasniemi-murtonen_press.pdf AMK-opintoihin valmentavat koulutukset maahanmuuttajille –website. 11.5.2018. http://www.metropolia.fi/koulutukset/maahanmuuttajille/ Valmentavasta Valmiiksi - project website. 11.5.2018. http://www.metropolia.fi/tutkimus-kehittaminen-ja-innovaatiot/hankkeet/valmentavasta-valmiiksi/
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]
Is it all about happiness?
Migration is by no means a new phenomenon. Many Finnish families have their own American cousin or a Swedish aunt with interesting stories. Migration thus evokes many feelings as a historical phenomenon. I was very pleased to be able to participate in Migration conference 2017,that was organized this year in Athens, Greece. Is aiming at happiness an underlying factor in migration? Saskia Sassen, a Dutch-American sociology Professor at The University of Columbia, has widely examined globalization as a phenomenon. After Sassen´s keynote speech, all in the audience understood how multidimensional phenomenon migration is. Her research concentrates on the underlying governmental issues that are the hidden factors causing the basic reasons for migration such as wars and religious conflicts. Yet, the main reason for people leaving their home country seems to be hopes for achieving better life that the home country is not able to provide. In Athens, it was easy to reminisce the philosophies of the ancient era. Even Aristotle indicated that a good life is achieved, when a man can use his abilities and capabilities for the society he feels connected to, and when he feels of being a useful member of this society. Unfortunately, while walking on the streets of Athens, I was forced to face the immigration crisis of 2015 in Europe in its real terms. This tragedy of the immigration overflow, is something you can still witness today. Having a good life and achieving happiness seems an unreachable quest for many living on the streets. It seemed paradoxical that I have just learnt about different research results on which factors increase the risk of violence among immigrants such as insecurity, uncertainty and hopelessness as I could see these feelings in people’s eyes when walking back to my hotel. How do different countries relate to immigration? Nelli Esipova from Gallup World Poll, had a presentation on immigration acceptance in different countries. The research focused on presenting a research setting, in which the acceptance index in the world was set as 5,299. The acceptance index included 164 countries and 1,7 million interviews among adult respondents. The research was conducted in USA in 2017 and in the other research countries in 2016. Among the top ten countries that accepted the immigration the least were e.g. Estonia (2,37) and Hungary (1,69). Among the top ten most accepting countries for immigration, the Northern Countries were represented as Sweden scored 7,92 and Iceland 8,26. Finland scored 6,58, which was above the World and also the European index. According to the survey results, immigration acceptance was higher on a personal level among those, who know immigrants personally, and acceptance was increased with other factors such as having a degree in higher education, living in an urban environment, economic status and belonging to the Z-generation. In EU countries, it was especially noted that opinions were also formed based on the interviewer’s positive emotions and social ability. If a good integration is based on happiness and in experience of having a good life, how can we contribute towards this feeling among the immigrants? Immigration is portrayed in the European media more through tragedies than through success stories. The media has a significant role in forming attitudes and in shaping the attitude among the general public. “Close the borders” and “Isolation” strategies have never been sustainable solutions on immigration based on research results and historical evidence. On the contrary, immigration is also proved to bring out many positive socio-economic possibilities. Being a member of a community, feeling of being part of something bigger, and finding your life to be meaningful have proven to increase happiness and well-being according to various research. We aim to reach these factors also in our services for immigrants at SIMHE-Metropolia. When planning our services, our vision was to include our customers in developing the service concept and that we create such services that we would like to use if living abroad as immigrant by ourselves.
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.
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