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
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
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
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)
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
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
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
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
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
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
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 % 12Character of first and current job
0,0 % 10,0 % 20,0 % 30,0 % 40,0 % 50,0 % 60,0 % First Job Current Job 13The 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
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.
Job satisfaction
very dissatisfied 4,0% dissatisfied 9,8% neutral 17,2% satisfied 43,7% very satisfied 25,3% 17Skills 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?
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
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
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)
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
Obstacles to finding a job for international graduates in Finland
Most of these barriers will disappear when it comes to the Finnish companies in the graduates’ home countries
Research assumption
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?
Interviewed companies by
sectors
IT; 3 Consulting; 3 Production only; 3 Production & sales; 4 Trading & sales; 3 26 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
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
Overqualified in some works
Cultural disadvantage
Low quality
Lack of work experience
Over-demanding
Employers negative perceptions
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?
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Email: yuzhuo.cai@uta.fi
yulia.shumilova@uta.fi