Access to higher education in Finland: emerging processes of hidden privatization

The study about continuing higher education (CHE) in Finland shows finding on three levels: on the system level, the institutional level and the programme level. On the system level it gives a definition of what is covered by the term "continuing higher education". It gives information about the CHE framework, the different providers of CHE and the role of CHE in Finland. On the institutional level organisational structures and management of CHE are discussed. Special aspects such as quality assurance, public relations, marketing / advertising, funding and future prospects are addressed. On the programme level a case study of the University of Helsinki is presented.

While quality development has an important role in higher education in Finland, its connection with equality and equity in teaching and learning music is not often mentioned. Most of the discussions about equality in education have focused on how to equalize access to and participation in education, but there are disagreements about what the very concepts of equality and equity mean in education. When striving to achieve equality in higher music education, the use of learner-centered pedagogies may promote an engaging and satisfying learning experience. We illustrate a more holistic approach in teaching and learning music by adapting the equality-equity model developed by Espinoza (2007) to give an overview of dimensions of equality and equity with reference to the different stages of the educational process at the music university level. Constructivist research and phenomenographic research in teaching and learning music suggest that the conceptions held by teachers and students about teaching and learning can be relevant factors in the pursuit of change in educational practices. On this basis, we develop a theoretical framework and suggest some remedies for the research of teaching and learning in music universities aimed at developing more holistic quality in higher music education.

This article focuses mainly on the key results of research on the differences in participation in higher education in Finland in the 1980s and 1990s. The recent discussion surrounding the methods of measuring participation in higher education is also considered. The results show that, in 1980, the odds for children of the well educated participating in higher education was 13 times greater than that of children of fathers with only a basic level of education. Since then, the trend has decreased slowly from 12 in 1985 to 10 in 1995. Despite the various egalitarian policy measures applied by the State, the difference in participation, indicated by the odds ratio 10, is still enormous, and the actual situation for youth with poor family backgrounds has not changed during the past decades. The persistent inequality of educational opportunity in relative terms revealed by the odds ratio, which the authors argue to be the appropriate measure for changes over time, is analysed further by exploring regional differences and the differences between various fields of study. It is shown that the real competition for higher education is among the well off. This is illustrated by a metaphor from bicycle racing: even if the tail-end cyclists reach the main pack, the front-runners widen their gap between the main pack.

Division between academic and vocational education is a predominant feature of both upper secondary and higher education in Finland as well as in many other country contexts. This article focuses on a minority of higher education students, those who have not proceeded to higher education through the traditional academic track but have enrolled through the vocational route. We deploy the concept of institutional habitus and utilize Eurostudent VI survey data ( N=7318) to analyse the backgrounds and study experiences of higher education students with different kinds of educational backgrounds. Our findings indicate that those enrolling through the vocational route are more often mature students from lower parental educational backgrounds. They have often completed a longer study path and began to see themselves as future higher education students later in their life course. There are also differences in how students with diverse educational backgrounds experience their sense of belonging to the higher education community. This paper focuses on Finland but has relevance for other European countries as the institutional structures and practices discussed in this paper are evident internationally.

One-to-one tuition is an essential part of studying music and is appreciated by the music students. Problems can occur when there are diverse perceptions between teacher practice and student expectations. This study provides research-based evidence on 155 music students’ experiences of workload, stress, and coping in their interaction with teachers in higher education in Finland and the United Kingdom. The theoretical framework was informed by several theories in educational psychology research, such as the influence of teaching and learning environment on students’ perceived workload, and constructivist approach in teaching and learning music. The data included 155 music students’ open-ended answers in the questionnaire and interviews with 29 music students. The qualitative analysis was conducted through the methodological framework of transcendental phenomenology. The findings illustrate music students’ interaction with teachers concerning (1) the structure of students’ workload, (2) a music student’s individual workload, (3) workload relating to teaching and learning environments, and (4) psychological and physiological issues. A total of 43 constructive tools for teachers were created based on these music students’ experiences. These tools are based on the constructivist principles focusing on the music students’ knowledge and capabilities and they can be utilized to better support students in managing and coping with their workload and stress in higher music education institutions.

This paper examines the internationalization of the University of Helsinki in Finland's dual-track higher education system. It details the system, the shift to internationalization driven by policies like the Bologna Declaration, and Finnish International Higher Education Policies. The case study of the university covers its mission, as well as its strategies in different aspects. SWOT analysis assesses these. The university has achieved success in internationalization, but also faces challenges. Future research should broaden the scope to other Finnish universities and explore more deeply considering various factors.

Finland is the sixth largest country in Europe with just over five million residents. In 1994, the number of students enrolled in universities was 128,300. There are no reliable statistics about the number of students with disabilities in universities. Progress has been made for students with disabilities and learning difficulties in higher education in Finland. In relation to policies, most universities do take into account the special needs of students with disabilities. State financial support can be obtained since it avoids students with disabilities having to arrange loans to fund their studies. In earlier times, having a university degree was considered to guarantee a job for a student with a disability. For over a quarter of a century, the policy has been to promote access for students with disabilities. Blind and visually-impaired students have a long history of studying successfully at the University of Helsinki.

The article discusses the main approaches to quality assurance in higher education in Finland. The relevance of studying the experience for Ukraine is determined. Quality assurance in higher education is governed by the legal framework of the country. External evaluation is carried out by the Finnish Education Evaluation Center (FINEEC). The objectives of the FINEEC are: evaluation of education, teaching, teachers and activities of higher education institutions; development of educational evaluation; evaluation of the results of training in basic education, higher secondary education and training, basic education in the arts. Finnish higher education institutions are primarily responsible for the quality of education. Self-esteem is accomplished through a digital platform. Program accreditation aims to increase international recognition. The author notes that Higher Education Institutions are actively involved in external evaluations. The quality assurance mechanism of education is constantly being improved. The results of the external evaluation are used as a benchmark for internal evaluation. Higher education institutions select a national or international team to audit. Particular attention is paid to the accreditation of programs. The analysis of the quality assurance system of higher education gives grounds to claim that it is an effective organization, which provides the necessary resources (academic and administrative staff, students, scientific and administrative leaders, financial, material, information, scientific, educational resources, etc.); effective activity of relevant bodies that ensure the quality of higher education of the country; designation of audit teams; identifying audit objectives; undergoing appropriate procedure; defining clear evaluation criteria that demonstrate the effectiveness and quality of the evaluation. The outlined approaches and methods of quality assurance of education serve as an example of imitation for quality assurance of higher education of Ukraine and a guideline for its development.

PurposeCollaboration between universities and industry is increasingly perceived as a vehicle to enhance innovation. Educational institutions are encouraged to build partnerships and multidisciplinary projects based around real-world open problems. Projects need to benefit student learning, not only the organisations looking for innovations. The context of this study is a multidisciplinary innovation project, as experienced by the students of an University of Applied Sciences in Finland. The purpose of this paper is to unfold students’ conceptions of the learning experience, to help teachers and curriculum designers to organise optimal conditions and processes, and support competence development. The research question was: How do students in higher professional education experience their learning in a multidisciplinary innovation project?Design/methodology/approachThe study took a phenomenographic approach. The data were collected in the form of weekly diaries, maintained by the cultural management and social services students (n=74) in a mandatory multidisciplinary innovation project in professional higher education in Finland. The diary data were analysed using thematic inductive analysis.FindingsThe results of the study revealed that students’ understood the learning experience in relation to solvable conflicts and unusual situations they experienced during the project, while becoming aware of and claiming their collaborative agency and internalising phases of an innovation process. The competences as learning outcomes that students could name as developed related to content knowledge, different personal characteristics, social skills, emerging leadership skills, creativity, future orientation, social skills, technical, crafting and testing skills and innovation implementation-related skills, such as marketing, sales and entrepreneurship planning skills. However, future orientation and implementation planning skills showed more weakly than other variables in the data.Practical implicationsThe findings suggest that curriculum design should enable networked, student-led and teacher supported pedagogical innovation processes that involve a whole path from future thinking and idea development through prototyping to implementation planning of the novel solution. Teachers promote deep comprehension of the innovation process, monitor and ease the pain of conflict if it threatens motivation, offer assessment tools and help in recognising gaps in individual competences and development needs, promote more future-oriented, concrete and implementable outcomes, and facilitate in bridging from innovation towards entrepreneurship planning.Originality/valueThe multidisciplinary innovation project described in this study provides a pedagogical way to connect higher education to the practises of society. These results provide encouraging findings for organising multidisciplinary project activities between education and working life. The paper, therefore, has significant value for teachers and entrepreneurship educators in designing curriculum and facilitating projects. The study promotes the dissemination of innovation development programmes in between education and work organisations also in other than technical and commercial fields.

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to explore Master of Social Services students’ (MSS) thoughts of transversal skills in higher education studies and working life practice. Transversal skills are general skills that are transferable from field to field. For instance, transversal skills can promote individuals’ employability in the labor market or offer a framework to structure individuals’ unrecognized skills. The aim of the paper is to present Master of Social Services students’ (MSS) thoughts about transversal skills, especially in the context of their studies and working life. The research questions are how transversal skills develop during studies and what are their meaning in the context of working life.Design/methodology/approachThe study is a qualitative case study. The data was collected by open e-questionnaires, the first research question was answered by a minimum of two students per group, while the second research question was answered by each student alone. Altogether 23 participants were involved in the study. The data was analyzed by content analysis.FindingsAs result, it can be concluded that the MSS students described various ways to support the development of transversal skills in higher education. All transversal skills are constantly used in the working life and, especially in challenging working life situations, these skills are combined. Transversal skills are often needed in various situations, especially related to social work clients’ life situations. Moreover, updating qualifications and acting in different roles were described as important by students.Research limitations/implicationsThe study is a case study, so its limitations are obvious. In this study, we do not aim to generalize as the size of the data in our case study does not support generalization of the results. However, the study offers a specific perspective into transversal skills, as it is about the meaning of transversal skills in one higher education context in Finland (MSS). The results can be one example about how to draw attention to transversal skills in teaching and learning in higher education contexts. Transversal skills can be both professional skills in some specific field, but also transferable from field to field at the same time.Practical implicationsFuture professionals, who have a good knowledge of transversal skills, can find and benefit from different types of work-based learning opportunities. Additionally, they can learn to verbalize their skills as part of their competences. Also, in the working life context, one benefit of transversal skills can be that employers can offer more structured learning environments for their employees in order to develop their broader skills. All this can be a significant asset to various organizations.Social implicationsTransversal skills are skills that cross professional skills. When preparing for unpredictable changes in the world, transversal skills can help in adapting to new situations and increase resilience in those situations. Moreover, the definitions and framework of transversal skills can help recognize one's own skills and competences, including those skills that often remain hidden. Employees and communities benefit from identifying transversal skills. Higher education institutions can plan their teaching and learning processes to support the development of students’ transversal skills.Originality/valueThe value of transversal skills can be attributed to the fact that, at best, they can offer detailed and even previously hidden skills descriptions alongside the existing skills. The concept of transversal skills can be used in higher education, where their framework and competence descriptions may be part of curriculum work and education, especially in work-based contexts. Additionally, knowledge of transversal skills can be helpful in various pedagogical solutions, work-based guidance and other pedagogical work-based activities.

This chapter investigates discourses of investment in additional language learning among students of higher education in Finland. Additional languages in this context refer to those languages that pupils and students can choose to study. Using the concepts of investment, discourse, and scale, this sociolinguistic and discourse analytical study analyses 18 interviews of higher education students in various fields of technology and examines what kinds of spatial and temporal scales are at play when individuals talk about their investment in additional language learning. The chapter demonstrates how discourses of pleasure/enjoyment, struggle, and profit are drawn on by the students. The study also shows tensions between these discourses that reflect institutional values and neoliberal logic that permeate additional language learning practices and individual motivations in their investment efforts.

This research aimed to investigate the situation of first-generation migrant family students (FGMFSs) in higher education in Finland and determined how FGMFSs experience and perceive their educational journey to achieve higher education. The study focused on the factors that support students to be successful in their education. Fifteen first generation students in higher education who belong to migrant families in Finland were surveyed utilizing semi-structured in-depth interviews. In this qualitative study, grounded theory (GT) was used to identify emerging latent patterns from data. Three main categories family values, institutional values, and interpersonal relationships were identified to support students to be successful in their education and enter higher education. The results of this study can help educational institutions, educators, and policy makers understand what factors are important in improving educational success for migrant students.

The article suggests an overview and analysis of the principles and procedures of quality assurance in higher education and quality assessment of PhD study in Ukraine in the context of European integration. The leading international experience on the research topic for which we have selected universities of the partner countries Lithuania and Finland cooperating with the Institute of Higher Education in international projects is presented.The international experience on quality assessment of PhD study is presented by an analysis of the official documents available in English on the Lithuanian and Finnish universities’ websites in open access. The presented leading experience of the European universities have shown that the issue of quality assessment of doctoral programmes and study is considered as a part of the overall quality assessment in higher education and is not single out as a separate procedure. In case of absence of mandatory accreditation of educational programmes in higher education in Finland, a system of auditing the content and correspondence of the internal system of quality assurance in higher education institution, but not of separate educational programmes for PhD students, is in place. The responsibility for quality in PhD education is shared between a PhD student, supervisor and university structural units when their particular roles and functions are exceptionally important.

Recent Finnish policies have encouraged Finnish higher education institutions to develop a market-oriented approach to international higher education by implementing fee-based educational programmes for students from outside the European Union (EU) and the European Economic Area (EEA). From the Finnish government’s perspective, higher education is no longer merely a public service but it is also a private good, as the government is starting to consider international higher education as a means of generating extra revenue. Although the intention of the reforms in this area is apparent, concrete implementation strategies remain unclear. This article discusses what the Finnish government, higher education institutions, and other stakeholders should take into account when considering strategies for implementing tuition fee policies, based on international experience. It also provides a picture of one aspect of the recent reform of international higher education in Finland as well as other challenges related to the reform.

In the early 1990s Finland created the dual education system in which the universities of applied sciences (formerly known as polytechnics) are side by side with the existing universities in response to diverse demands in the higher education. Universities of applied sciences have been rapidly developed and successfully dedicated to the practically oriented higher education. The Japanese technical colleges have been also developed successfully as remarked by OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) since their establishment aimed at practical engineering education in the early 1960s. This paper discusses the Finnish dual education system comparing with the Japanese technical colleges, on the basis of a two-month field survey in Finland. The authors suggest that the Finnish dual education system deserves to be studied for providing the Japanese higher education much diversity.