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(1)

Employment of international graduates

from Finnish Higher Education Institutions

KV-kevätpäivät, Lahti, 22 May 2012

Yuzhuo Cai & Yulia Shumilova

Higher Education Group, School of Management University of Tampere

(2)

Main findings of two recent studies on international graduates’ employment

 VALOA study: international graduates (2009-10) from Finnish 15 HEIs (survey with 363 respondents, 10

interviews with graduates and 10 with employers)

Employers’ views on Chinese graduates educated in

Finland (interviews of 16 Finnish companies in China)

Main topics

(3)

 VALOA is a national project, partly funded by

European Social Fund, promoting the employment opportunities of international degree students in Finland. http://www.valoa-hanke.fi/

 In spring 2011, VALOA invited research institutes to

conduct the study through a public tender in February 2011.

 The Higher Education Group (HEG), School of

Management, University of Tampere eventually won the tender and started the investigation from June 2011.

VALOA

(4)

 363 eligible responses from international graduates of 2009-10 from 15 HEIs (part of VALOA network)

 response rate - 21.3%

 Majority of respondents (62.4%) are university graduates

 75 nationalities

 20 complimentary interviews with graduates and employers

 Graduates: employed, unemployed

 Employers: IT, Production, servicers/consulting, public sector

VALOA study (2011-12)

(5)

 Free of charge education,

 Possibility to study in English,

A chance to improve employability,

A chance to explore a foreign country

 Reputation of HEIs

Top five reasons to choose

Finland as a study destination

(6)

Location after graduation

77,9 % 12,6 % 9,5 % 0,0 % 10,0 % 20,0 % 30,0 % 40,0 % 50,0 % 60,0 % 70,0 % 80,0 % 90,0 %

Settled in Finland Returned to home country

Moved elsewhere

(7)

70% of all respondents are currently employed

(N=253)

Among those who are not employed (N=110),

61% are undertaking further studies,

11% are doing internship,

29% are taking care of family,

12% are in other situation.

Employment rate

(8)

Employment by regions

55,10% 63,64% 67,53% 71,43% 77,27% 77,78% 86,36% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% n=49 n=44 n=77 n=105 n=22 n=18 n=44 Africa Non EU East Asia EU Other

(South East Asia 7, Oceania 5, Latin America 10) North America South, West, Central Asia 8

(9)

Employment rate by sectors

52,94% 59,09% 83,33% 61,19% 80,00% 83,33% 84,38% 56,25% 66,67% 33,33% 89,19% 71,43% 66,67% 91,67% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Africa Non EU East Asia EU Other (South East Asia 7, Oceania 5, Latin America 10) North America South, West, Central Asia University UAS 9

(10)

Employment rate by location

71,74% 70,21% 54,55% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

Settled in Finland Returned to your home country

Moved elsewhere

(11)
(12)

Status of employment

a permanent full-time job 33 % a permanent part-time job 8 % a fixed-term full-time job 38 % a fixed-term part-time job 9 % self-employed by own initiative 3 % self-employed (Forced) freelancing 5 % other 3 % 12

(13)

Character of first and current job

0,0 % 10,0 % 20,0 % 30,0 % 40,0 % 50,0 % 60,0 % First Job Current Job 13

(14)
(15)

The relevance of current job to the

level of education attained in Finland

10,7 % 14,3 % 64,3 % 10,7 % 0,0 % 10,0 % 20,0 % 30,0 % 40,0 % 50,0 % 60,0 % 70,0 %

The job did not require a higher education degree

A lower level higher education degree

could be used in this job

The job was at the same level to my

own education

The job was at a higher level than my own education

(16)

Income

The salary level is lower than the local average

in the field. (the most typical gross salary level

among those who settled in Finland is 2001 to

2500 euro)

However, there is a tendency of salary

increase when comparing the first job and the

current one.

(17)

Job satisfaction

very dissatisfied 4,0% dissatisfied 9,8% neutral 17,2% satisfied 43,7% very satisfied 25,3% 17

(18)

Skills own vs. required at work (Perceived

by the graduates)

According to the graduates’ perception:

their skills are higher than those

required at work

Overeducated or underemployed?

(19)

2 3 4 5

a. Mastery of your own field or discipline b. Knowledge of other fields or disciplines c. Analytical / research skills e. Leadership skills

f. Team working skills

g. Problem-solving skills h. Ability to coordinate activities / projects i. Creative/innovative thinking j. Communication / social skills k. Presentation skills m. Inter-cultural competences n. Foreign language proficiency o. Computer skills p. Entrepreneurial skills q. Work experience in the filed

Own level Required at work 19

(20)

Skills that significantly matter

 a. Mastery of one’s own field or discipline

 b. Knowledge of other fields or disciplines

 c. Analytical / research skills

d. Ability to rapidly acquire new knowledge

 e. Leadership skills

 f. Team working skills

 h. Ability to coordinate activities / projects

 m. Inter-cultural competences

 o. Computer skills

(21)

Employers requirement is generally higher than

those perceived by the graduates

Employers highlight the importance of

generic/transferable skills (apart from

subject-specific knowledge):

“Energy, ambition, …evidence of being an achiever, and goal minded person. Self-motivated characteristics and attitude” “negotiation & presentation skills” (engineers sometimes lack these) (E1)

“fluent social skills, understanding of economic matters” (E2)

“innovativeness and the independent research skills” (E3)

“good team working skills and communication skills” (E5)

Skills needed by employers (Valoa interviews)

(22)

2 3 4 5

a. Mastery of your own field or discipline

b. Knowledge of other fields or disciplines

c. Analytical / research skills d. Ability to rapidly acquire

new knowledge

e. Leadership skills

f. Team working skills

g. Problem-solving skills h. Ability to coordinate

activities / projects i. Creative/innovative thinking j. Communication / social skills

k. Presentation skills l. Ability to write reports and

documents m. Inter-cultural competences n. Foreign language proficiency

o. Computer skills

p. Entrepreneurial skills

q. Work experience in the filed

Required at work (perceived by graduates) required by employers

(23)

Obstacles to finding a job for international graduates in Finland

(24)

 Most of these barriers will disappear when it comes to the Finnish companies in the graduates’ home countries

Research assumption

(25)

Employment prospect in Finnish

companies in China (2010-11)

 2010 Oct.-Dec. interviews of 16 Finnish companies in

China

 Research questions:

What are the China-based Finnish employers’ beliefs on

Finnish-educated Chinese graduates as their potential employees?

 And how the employer’s beliefs or perceptions have been developed?

(26)

Interviewed companies by

sectors

IT; 3 Consulting; 3 Production only; 3 Production & sales; 4 Trading & sales; 3 26

(27)

 Generally, the employers have positive attitudes to Finnish-educated Chinese graduates

 They are easy to communicate with due to their

proficiency of English language and understanding of Finnish culture;

 they could help the companies to overcome the cultural challenges through cross-cultural perspectives;

 they have good professional knowledge and hand-on skills.

For these reasons, most employers would like to

offer job interview opportunities for those Chinese job applicants with Finnish degrees.

Employers’ positive perceptions

(28)

Other soft skills valued by

employers

independent ability

 capability of adjusting to new environment

straightforward way of communication  initiative

 good work motivation

 teamwork spirit

 leadership skills

Responsibility  loyalty

(29)

 Overqualified in some works

 Cultural disadvantage

 Low quality

Lack of work experience

 Over-demanding

Employers negative perceptions

(30)

 Finnish employers strongly welcome those Chinese

job applicants who have both Finnish education and

work experience, and are willing to take a “reasonable” salary.

Who are most welcomed by

employers?

(31)

 Employers expect the graduates have more

internship experience during their study vs. some employers are reluctant in receiving students as trainees.

 Finnish companies come to China for utilising the low

cost labour vs. the higher expectations of the graduates on salaries.

 Some competent graduates do meet all expectations

of Finnish employers vs. they are also attractive to other companies too.

Dilemmas 1

(32)

 Studying in Finland can lead the graduates to cultural advantage vs. the long absence from home can result in the graduates’ difficulties in adapting to the

Chinese business environment.

 Employers’ high expectation on the quality of the

graduates vs. the source of students studying in Finland is not always the top quality.

Dillemmas 2

(33)

 High quality of education can attract international students

 However, the quality cannot easily be measured,

 in practice students are inclined to judge the quality by its

international reputation (Marginson, 2006) and the career success of graduates (Teichler, 2009, p. 15).

 More help and guidance with finding internships, jobs and

networking

 Internship experience is often considered by employers as equivalent to work experience

 The university career centres were the least used when searching for a job

 Students simply don’t know where are the potential employers

Recommendations for HEIs—Lessons

from both studies 1

(34)

 Enhance the labour market relevance of higher education studies

 Universities need to pay more attention to the needs in the labour market and have more cooperation with potential employers in curriculum design and teaching.

 Filling in the gaps between skills of graduates and needs of labour market does not only need students’ commitment but it is a responsibility of universities too.

 Relevant soft skills are expected to be developed during students’ study in the universities.

Recommendations 2

(35)

 Universities should strive to make the curriculum offered in English equal to that of offered in Finnish

 Many important courses are available only in Finnish or Swedish.

 More opportunities to learn Finnish and Swedish

language

Essential in the Finnish labour market.

 The language study is not enforced and the teaching methods are criticised being too grammar oriented.

Recommendations 3

(36)

 Promote graduates to employer

Most employers’ perception of the skills of international

graduates are intuitive

 More information and channels to be developed for the employers to have a true picture of the graduates.

Recommendations 4

(37)

 Recruiting most gifted or relevant students is also a guarantee for the quality of the graduates.

 Little attention is paid in recruitment strategies.

 Wisely use finical incentives (fee paying programmes).

 Study the targeting student markets.

Recommendations 5

(38)

Finally…

Keep the e-mail database of your graduates and collect

feedback from them on the relevance of HE to the world of work

Track their employment situation for QA and

marketing purposes!

Recommendation to HEIs - 6

(39)

 Y. Shumulova, Y. Cai, & E. Pekkola, Employability of international graduates educated in Finnish higher

education institutions (VALOA Report), to be released in June 2012

 Shumilova, J., & Cai, Y. (2011, 22-23 September).

Factors influencing the employability of international graduates. Paper presented at the DEHEMS

International Conference--Employability of Graduates & Higher Education Management Systems, Vienna, Austria.

Publications 1

(40)

 Cai, Y. (2012). International graduates from Finland: Do they satisfy the needs of Finnish employers

abroad? Journal of Research in International Education, 11(1), 19-31.

 Cai, Y. (In review process). Employment prospects of

Finnish-educated Chinese graduates in Finnish companies in China—employers' perspectives. Tampere University Press

Publications 2

(41)

Email: yuzhuo.cai@uta.fi

yulia.shumilova@uta.fi

Thanks! Kiitos!

References

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