International Student to Naturalised Workers

Finland’s numbers of international students increase steadily, and a great deal of research is concentrated on attracting them into the country. However, many international degree students leave Finland after graduating. There appears to be a widespread general consensus in Finland that inherent qualities of the country, such as a rare language and distinctive culture, make it impossible to attract skilled foreigners to live here permanently, instead of leaving after graduation for their home countries or more lucrative labour markets. Finland must make a conscious effort to retain these students as workers.

The Finnish language and culture are indeed different from many others. However, this need not deter students from staying, nor need Finns change their culture or take up English as a third official language. The international students tend to know little about Finland despite long stays in the country, and this should be changed. After all, these students and professionals have already taken the steps to come to Finland and thus shown a strong interest in the country. Now let’s make them stay.

Language and culture: How to encourage integration systematically?

The Finnish language has been cited as one of the main reasons it is difficult to attract highly skilled international students to remain in Finland after university. It is often treated as a given problem with no solutions, or the sole solution being to increase the number of English-language courses in Finnish universities. Indeed, international students can very well get by in English in various Finnish cities, and the option to study in English is one of the greatest attractions of Finland to foreign students (Hietaluoma, 2001:22). However, it is also arguable that language is a fundamental part of integration into society. Once out of university, a stable and comfortable social and professional life in Finland will be difficult to build without knowledge of the local language. When an international student with little contact with Finnish society realises this, it will effectively discourage them from remaining in Finland after university. Better integration into Finnish society could yield greater numbers of those who stay.

However, a casual survey among some of my international acquaintances at the Helsinki universities shows that their learning and adoption of the language and culture is very weakly endorsed by the system. Garam’s (2002) research confirms this. For some students, their optional Finnish classes coincide with their other lectures, which prevents them from participating. Others are eager to meet Finnish students, but live in university residences with other international students and have classes and excursions with international students, and therefore never integrate into Finnish society during their stay. Many of these students, particularly postgraduates, are in the country for a year or two only, and their stay/go decision can be based on the impressions from their first months. Basic institutional endorsement of cultural integration and language studies can have a decisive effect on these impressions. At the moment, the student’s own perseverance and activeness tend to determine the extent of integration.

Finnish classes

There are several options for encouraging the international student population to make an effort to interact with the local community. One coercive possibility is to make Finnish classes a compulsory part of international students’ degrees, which is a means currently employed by 27% of English-language degree programmes at universities (Garam, 2004:12). However, there are other options that encourage without coercing. For example, Finnish classes could be more widely accepted as part of the degree in lieu of some subject-specific classes, thus encouraging good performance in the classes and effort towards learning the language. Currently, this is the case for 96% of exchange students’ agreements with their home institutions (Garam, 2002:23) and 81% of the English-language degrees offered at Finnish universities (Garam, 2004:14). It is an interesting situation that foreign universities appear keener than Finnish universities to give students the opportunity to study Finnish as part of their studies.

Furthermore, the degree programmes that did not accept Finnish classes as part of the programme tended to be technical and quantitative degrees (Garam, 2004:14). These graduates are precisely the ones that Finland, as a comparatively heavy and increasingly active R&D employer within Europe (Lipponen & Viitamo, 2003:55), should most attempt to integrate into Finnish society for a successful transfer from student to worker.

On the other hand, if a student is unable to attend language classes at university or during the day, they can be offered in the evenings, or the student can be directed to a local community college or other classes outside the university. Information on non-university classes can be especially relevant to non-student foreign professionals in Finland.

Cultural immersion

In the University of Oulu and the University of Lapland in Rovaniemi, matching international students with Finnish host families (termed “Kummi families” in Oulu) instead of student residences has in many cases bonded the student to Finland in ways that international student residences and multicultural classes cannot. The participants in Oulu have particularly enjoyed learning about Finnish cooking, family life and customs outside the university scene. (University of Oulu, 2004) It is not necessary that such schemes require the student to live with the family. More informal matching schemes, such as a few meetings per semester or inviting the student for dinner and a sauna can also give at least an introduction to Finnish culture.

Foreigners in Finland tend to experience an unsociable, taciturn mass within which they find very warm and hospitable individuals and families. Not enough use is currently made of personal means of integration, particularly in the Helsinki area, and in the students’ view, their knowledge of Finnish culture in general tends to be stronger than individual relationships (Garam, 2002:34). In addition, Garam (2002:25) finds that international students tend to find the Helsinki, Tampere and Turku student communities more difficult to participate in than in other cities, highlighting the need for attention to integration into both the general and student culture in these cities.

Career information: How to encourage working in Finland after university?

Foreign students are often given the same access to information as Finnish students about career options as well as career-relevant part-time work. However, this is not a “level playing field” due to Finns’ greater prior expertise in the Finnish environment. Again, as in language learning, the onus appears to be on the foreign student’s own active effort and persistence in finding information. Networking and casual investigation are currently more valuable career information tools to students than the support of the university or other institutions (Hietaluoma, 2001:32).

Perhaps the most relevant aid for foreign students in beginning their search for employment is very basic information on their chosen industry in Finland: for example, lists of companies and other potential employers in Finland, and other such tacit information that their Finnish counterparts have by default. A potential source of more detailed and personalised information for career planning can be specifically trained international careers advisors or advice centres. These do not necessarily have to be university-related, but instead could benefit from an affiliation with employers’ associations, and/or organisations with experience in international advising or an interest in Finnish competitiveness. With no university affiliation, the advice of these centres would not have to be limited to students, but could serve also e.g. alumni and non-student foreign professionals.

In addition to career information, those with career aspirations in Finland would likely welcome practical information on their probable future. For instance, it is difficult to estimate the time required to learn the Finnish language at working level, but knowing realistic estimated times and detailed options for the acquisition of relevant language skills can make a seemingly impossible task seem more manageable. Reducing these uncertainties increases the probability that a larger proportion will decide to make the attempt to stay. Other practical considerations for an international graduate in Finland are finding accommodation and health/dental care after the university no longer provides them with these services.

Providing such information during the studies is instrumental in encouraging the student to decide to seek employment in Finland. It might also raise the staying option for those who had not considered it from the start.

Conclusion

In summary, whilst successful measures have been taken to attract international students into Finland, not many specific measures have been taken to support the step from the international student community to naturalised worker and member of society. This paper makes suggestions regarding language classes, cultural integration and the distribution of career and everyday life information, for encouraging international students to take that step. A particular point of emphasis is the need for an information centre specialised in the needs of international students.

References

Garam, I (2002) My Finland – Selvitys ulkomaisten vaihto-opiskelijoiden kokemuksista suomalaisissa korkeakouluissa. CIMO Publications 5/2001, CIMO, Helsinki

Garam, I (2004) Ulkomaisille vaihto- ja tutkinto-opiskelijoille annettava suomen kielen opetus ja sen kehittämistarpeet. CIMO Publications, CIMO, Helsinki

Hietaluoma, H (2001) Why Finland – Selvitys ulkomaisten vaihto-opiskelijoiden hakeutumisesta suomalaisiin korkeakouluihin. CIMO Publications 3/2001, CIMO, Helsinki

Lipponen, H & Viitamo, E (2003) Suomen kilpailukyky ja toimintaympäristö – kansainvälinen vertailu. Finnish Ministry of Trade and Industry, Helsinki

University of Oulu (2004) Kummi Family Programme: Experiences Available online at http://www.oulu.fi/intl/kummifamily/experiences.html , cited September 4, 2004