Finnish University Research Articles

From gaps to transaction: Reflections on a long-term collaborative research practice in VET

The purpose of this article is to reflect on and theorise collaborative research practices. Research–practice collaborations are widely recognised and encouraged by means of university strategies, policy intentions, and funding requirements. One way to provide for and strengthen collaborative research in education is to form long-term partnerships between schools and universities. In this reflective account, we draw on our own experiences from doing research in the field of vocational education and training (VET) as participants in a long-term collaboration among two social and health care vocational colleges and two university departments. Assisted by Dewey’s pragmatic approach to learning as transaction, we seek to move beyond the binary of ‘research’ and ‘practice’ as constituting a gap to be bridged between two forms of knowledge. Instead, we conceive of the collaboration as an emerging ‘third context’ in its own right created by various activities, all of which involve both theoretical and experiential knowledge.

Visions of the Future of Craft Education

AbstractThis study examines the history of craft education, especially in the context of social and temporal changes, and envisions its future based on narratives collected by student teachers at two Finnish universities. The research material covers essay responses that discussed the future of craft education in the light of forecasted megatrends. The essay responses were analysed using narrative methods, and the results are presented as visions of the priorities and content of future craft education. While craft teaching today emphasises technology, well‐being and communal living, the growth of digitality, sustainable education and materiality is likely to continue in the future. We envision that future craft education will focus on pedagogical content rooted in craft traditions, with a strong emphasis on skills education.

Is Information Risk Priced? New Evidence from Outer Space

Satellite images of the parking lots of U.S. retail firms provide information about the firms’ future earnings, and the limited access to these images produces information asymmetry between sophisticated and unsophisticated investors. We construct a cloud-based information risk (CIR) measure to capture this satellite information risk and investigate its asset pricing performance. We find that CIR positively predicts future stock returns of retail firms in the cross-section and that the predictability cannot be explained by weather reasons. We provide evidence that CIR indeed captures the information asymmetry among investors. The profitability of short selling is more pronounced on clear days. The return predictability of CIR is more pronounced in preannouncement periods. During cloudy days, parking lot traffic data from satellite images are harder to obtain, and the retail store sales estimated using parking lot data are noisier. We further show that high CIR is associated with low liquidity and that the decrease in liquidity purchases is greater than the decrease in liquidity sales. Our empirical analyses suggest that information asymmetry is priced and that CIR affects equity premiums through the liquidity channel, which are consistent with the theoretical predictions from a noisy rational expectations equilibrium model under imperfect competition. This paper was accepted by Kay Giesecke, finance. Funding: S. Wang acknowledges financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China [Grants 72373110 and 71902140] and Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities in China. Y. Wang acknowledges financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China [Grants 72342003 and 72071114]. Supplemental Material: The online appendix and data files are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2023.00713 .

Layout Optimization for a Large-Scale Grid-Connected Solar Power Plant

A solar power plant provides green electricity to the public via a power grid. As governments worldwide have pledged to reduce carbon emissions and achieve carbon neutrality, large-scale grid-connected solar power plants are booming. Developing such a plant requires significant investment, a large proportion of which covers construction costs. Such costs, together with the energy yield, critically depend on the plant’s layout. The layout planning of a solar power plant involves a series of complex optimization problems such as district partitioning, photovoltaic (PV) component location, and cable routing problems in a solar power plant. These problems have received limited attention in the literature and are highly challenging because they involve large-scale instances, complex design principles, and complicated physical constraints. Motivated by our collaborative projects with an electrical engineering company in China, this paper specifically focuses on the integrated location and routing (ILR) problem, which involves locating service ways, inverters, combiner boxes, and routing cables to connect them. We develop exact algorithms to effectively solve the ILR problem via a decomposition framework (leading to a variant of Benders decomposition (BD)), which is proven to produce an optimal solution. We also develop an exact branch-and-cut scheme to solve each subproblem in the decomposition framework by incorporating cutting planes and separation algorithms. Our solution approach is evaluated on 50 real-world data instances via extensive numerical experiments. Compared with the manual method based on greedy heuristics used in practice, our approach reduces the total cost by approximately 20%. Our decomposition method also achieves an average gap of 0.02% between the obtained lower and upper bounds, significantly smaller than the 16.08% gap achieved with the traditional BD. History: Accepted by Alice E. Smith and David Alderson, Area Editors for Network Optimization: Algorithms & Applications. Funding: This work was partially supported by the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong [Grant 15501221], the National Natural Science Foundation Program of China [Grants 72122006, 72471100, and 72131008], Huazhong University of Science and Technology Double First-Class Funds for Humanities and Social Sciences (Digital Intelligence Decision Optimization Innovation Team), the Interdisciplinary Research Program of HUST [Grant 5003300129], and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities [Grant 2023WKFZZX101]. Supplemental Material: The software that supports the findings of this study is available within the paper and its Supplemental Information ( https://pubsonline.informs.org/doi/suppl/10.1287/ijoc.2023.0223 ) as well as from the IJOC GitHub software repository ( https://github.com/INFORMSJoC/2023.0223 ). The complete IJOC Software and Data Repository is available at https://informsjoc.github.io/ .

The evolving role of Finnish universities of applied sciences in the regional innovation ecosystem

ABSTRACT This article examines how Finnish universities of applied sciences (UAS) have developed as a form of higher vocational education and their current role in the education system, and how this is reflected in student flows and the share of research funding. Furthermore, we have aimed to increase understanding of the frameworks and conceptualisations that have contributed to modelling the position of UAS with respect to their relation to knowledge. Our study thus explores the central frameworks that have been important in framing their mission from this perspective. We present how approaches such as the Triple Helix model and innovation ecosystem and the competence-based approach have been important in shaping our understanding of their role in society and regions and in developing curricula. The study critically examines the relationship between UAS and knowledge by presenting a framework for a restricted versus expansive view of the relationship between UAS and knowledge. Finally, trends in UAS research, student enrolment, student progression and transition to the world of work are presented to give further ground for discussing the role of UAS with respect to knowledge. To conclude, the need for a future review of the purpose and role of UAS in the education system and new research and frameworks for envisioning their role are discussed.

Policy Citations tracked by Overton.io versus Altmetric.com: Case Study of Finnish Research Organizations in Social Sciences

The citing of academic publications in policy documents is an important indication of social impact and there is increasing interest in using policy documents as evidence of scientific impact on policy and the society more broadly. This research compared the policy coverage of 18,996 Scopus publications au-thored by researchers affiliated to 17 Finnish universities and research institutes. The coverage and overlap of two sources of policy citations, namely Overton and Altmetric.com, were analyzed. The overall results suggest that about 39% of publications in various social science fields from Finland are cited by policy documents tracked by Overton and 9% by those tracked by Altmetric.com. There is on average about 5% overlap between the sources, while 0,6% of the policy document citations are unique to Altme-tric.com and 19% to Overton. Combining results from Overton and Altmetric.com thus provides most coverage.

Kielikoulusta yliopistoon

The article examines the history of translator training in Finland. The planning for the new training took place in the early 1960’s and led to the birth of Language Institutes in the towns of Turku and Tampere (1966) and later in Savonlinna (1968) and Kouvola (1971). This new type of language studies was largely based on the need to adapt third level education, both in terms of the mid-sixties demographic changes and of the perceived need for professional education. The institutes first gave two-year courses in one language; soon a third year and another language were added to the training programmes to improve the graduates’ employment prospects. In 1981 Language Institutes became part of the Finnish university system and the institutes were remodelled into degree programmes in Translation and Interpreting. These developments are examined in the light of archived documents, with a view to shedding light onto the educational but also the material environments of translator training.

Brexit, Science and Higher Education: Legal Problems and Regulatory Dilemmas of Disintegration

The purpose of the study is a dialectical consideration of the sphere of science and higher education as a factor influencing the development of integration interaction between integration entities and member states and preventing disintegration. The authors substantiate that over the years of EU membership, the United Kingdom has become a highly integrated state that has received numerous benefits in the field of science and higher education, for which Brexit can be considered a step back. The concluded agreements between London and Brussels, as well as the adopted British legislation, on the one hand, contributed to a decrease in the flow of students and representatives of the academic community to the UK, and on the other, became an obstacle to the UK’s participation in projects for organizing mobility and developing the potential of universities within the framework of EU educational and research programs, previously making up a significant portion of UK university funding. As a result, the British government did not give up attempts to restore a high degree of interaction with the EU in this area. Following Windsor Framework Agreement, the two parties agreed on UK’s participation in European programs on an equal basis with colleagues from EU member states and access to appropriate funding, which, however, only partially compensates for the negative consequences of ending membership in EU. The authors emphasize that Brexit confirms that international interaction in science and higher education is an important factor in strengthening integration construction, which is fully relevant for the development and strengthening of integration of states within the Eurasian Economic Union.

The impact of IBD on ability to work and study: a patient perspective

Purpose The aim of this study was to explore the multifaceted ways in which inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) negatively affects working life and studies. Material and methods IBD patients were identified by diagnosis codes from the hospital records of a Finnish University Hospital. Patients were sent questionnaires via mail and text messages. Respondents, being 561 patients, formed the sample. Hospital records and data of medications were combined to questionnaire data. Results Over a fifth of the patients reported having to change their job due to IBD, whereas a third of the sample had to modify their work due to IBD. On average, they had changed jobs once. Most common modifications were to do fewer hours or work during different hours, decreasing the physical burden of their work and moving their workplace closer to a toilet. Around a fifth of the sample’ studies were negatively influenced by IBD. Interestingly, clinical parameters or sex did not affect the probability of job modifications, changes or negative effects on studies. Conclusions IBD has a considerable negative impact on many patients’ studies and working life that extends beyond commonly studied absenteeism and presenteeism.

ℓp-Sphere Covering and Approximating Nuclear p-Norm

The spectral p-norm and nuclear p-norm of matrices and tensors appear in various applications, albeit both are NP-hard to compute. The former sets a foundation of [Formula: see text]-sphere-constrained polynomial optimization problems, and the latter has been found in many rank minimization problems in machine learning. We study approximation algorithms of the tensor nuclear p-norm with an aim to establish the approximation bound matching the best one of its dual norm, the tensor spectral p-norm. Driven by the application of sphere covering to approximate both tensor spectral and nuclear norms ([Formula: see text]), we propose several types of hitting sets that approximately represent the [Formula: see text]-sphere with adjustable parameters for different levels of approximations and cardinalities, providing an independent toolbox for decision making on [Formula: see text]-spheres. Using the idea in robust optimization and second-order cone programming, we obtain the first polynomial-time algorithm with an [Formula: see text]-approximation bound for the computation of the matrix nuclear p-norm when [Formula: see text] is a rational, paving a way for applications in modeling with the matrix nuclear p-norm. These two new results enable us to propose various polynomial-time approximation algorithms for the computation of the tensor nuclear p-norm using tensor partitions, convex optimization, and duality theory, attaining the same approximation bound to the best one of the tensor spectral p-norms. Effective performance of the proposed algorithms for the tensor nuclear p-norm is shown by numerical implementations. We believe the ideas of [Formula: see text]-sphere covering with its applications in approximating nuclear p-norm would be useful for tackling optimization problems on other sets, such as the binary hypercube with its applications in graph theory and neural networks and the nonnegative sphere with its applications in copositive programming and nonnegative matrix factorization. Funding: This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [Grants 71825003, 72394360, 72394364, 72171141, 72192830, and 72192832], and the program for Innovative Research Team of Shanghai University of Finance and Economics.

Microbiome and Metabolomics Reveal the Effect of Gut Microbiota on Liver Regeneration of Fatty Liver Disease

Metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) is associated with impaired regenerative capacity and poor postoperative prognosis following hepatectomy. Previous research has highlighted the importance of the gut-liver axis in the physiological and pathological processes of the liver. However, the contribution of gut bacteria to the regeneration of livers with MAFLD and its metabolic regulatory mechanisms remain elusive. Partial hepatectomy (PHx) was performed on C57Bl/6J mice fed with high-fat diet (HFD) for 12 weeks. Pathological examination, immunohistochemistry, and qRT-PCR analysis were performed to assess the severity of steatosis and proliferative potential. The gut microbiome was examined by 16S rRNA gene sequencing and shotgun metagenomics, whereas liver metabolomics was analysed via untargeted and targeted metabolomics using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS). HFD-induced hepatic steatosis in mice led to impaired liver regeneration following PHx. The gut microbiota and liver metabolites were altered along with the liver regeneration process. Longitudinal time-series analysis revealed dynamic alterations in these data, whereas correlation analysis screened out bacterial candidates that potentially influence liver regeneration in MAFLD by modulating metabolic pathways. Among these bacteria, the dominant bacterium Akkermansia was selected for subsequent investigation. MAFLD mice gavaged with Akkermansia muciniphila (A.muciniphila) exhibited reduced liver lipid accumulation and accelerated liver regeneration, possibly through the regulation of the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle. These data demonstrated the interplay between the gut microbiome, liver metabolomics, and liver regeneration in mice with MAFLD. A.muciniphila has the potential to serve as a clinical intervention agent to accelerate postoperative recovery in MAFLD. This work was supported by the Research Project of Jinan Microecological Biomedicine Shandong Laboratory [JNL-2022008B]; the Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China [LZ21H180001]; the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities [No. 2022ZFJH003].

Evaluation of the effectiveness of Russian universities in addressing personnel development challenges

Introduction. The transition to a new system of higher education in Russia is examined within the framework of the Strategy for Scientific and Technological Development.Aim. The present research aims to analyse existing and planned university performance indicators, assess their relevance to personnel development at universities, and formulate proposals to enhance the personnel development system, taking into account the implementation of a new personnel training system in Russian higher education.Methodology and research methods. The fundamental methodological approach employed was systematic. Theoretical research methods utilised included a literature review on the research problem, analysis of normative documents, comparison and generalisation, induction, and synthesis, which involved formulating proposals for an approach to evaluating university activities.Results. An analysis of the current performance indicators of universities led the author to conclude that two indicators are prioritised: the proportion of employed graduates and the proportion of teaching staff whose average salary is 200% or more than the regional average salary. The introduction of a new indicator, which aims to characterise the system of personnel development (the share of employees under the age of 39 among the total number of scientific and pedagogical workers), may result in a reduction of teaching staff from other age groups. Based on an analysis of the trends in the number of teaching staff at leading universities in the Chelyabinsk and Sverdlovsk regions, a consistent decline in both the total number of teaching staff and the proportion of teachers under 40 years old has been observed. The issue of personnel reproduction within universities is a critical one. However, the new system of indicators for evaluating the effectiveness of universities, which will take effect on January 1, 2025, does not address this problem.Scientific novelty. The author proposes a reevaluation of the approach to financing universities, suggesting that the state should financially support the number of staff positions justified by each university. This proposal includes the establishment of salary rates for young teachers, with the estimated proportion of these rates constituting at least 35% of the total number of teaching staff positions at the university. Implementing this approach will promote continuity in the intellectual and value-based development of teaching staff, grounded in established scientific schools.Practical significance. The research findings can be used to formulate a strategy for advancing the scientific and educational sectors in light of the transition to a new personnel training system in higher education.

Funding for China’s Top Universities: Does Size Matter?

Over the past thirty years, thanks to government initiatives for the “construction” of world-class universities, a cohort of elite (leading) universities has been created in China, covering about 5 % of universities, which have tangible advantages over other universities in student recruitment, teaching, research, funding, and support from local authorities. Despite the similar possibilities gained by universities when they transition to the status of elite institutions, each of them has a different budget structure and distinct operational results, which are primarily associated with the positions of universities in international rankings. Therefore, the aim of the article is to show whether increased investment in development really allows Chinese universities to be successful in the ranking race. The article describes the sources of funding for Chinese universities, shows the funding structure of some leading institutions, and presents a model of funding for state universities. Special attention is paid to factors affecting the level of funding for Chinese universities, such as belonging to the elite group of universities, geographical location, and the range of educational programs implemented. Based on a sample of 29 leading universities, it is shown that the diversity of funding sources is an indicator of success: as a rule, the best universities have a higher share of income from entrepreneurial activities. At the same time, the volume of the university budget only 50 % determines advancement in rankings. The second reason for success is the “symbolic capital” obtained by universities from participation in the 211 / 985 / “Double First Class” projects, which allows them to achieve significant competitive advantages. Sources of information for analysis included: data from the Ministry of Education of China, web-sites of leading Chinese universities, publications available in the open access network of the Chinese internet, as well as scientific articles published in Russian and leading world publications.

Navigating Geoeducational Dilemmas: Singapore as a Migration Hub for Students from China

In a post-pandemic world of escalating tensions between China and the West, increasing numbers of students from China are eschewing Western destinations for places in Asia, including Singapore. For these migrants, this Chinese-majority city-state has emerged as an important geoeducational hub between China and the West. A portmanteau of geopolitics and education, the term geoeducational refers to the reciprocal effects of both. Employing an anthropological approach, this article theorizes the geoeducational as a crucial subdomain of the geosocial—a concept proposed by geographers to analyze how social subjects and spaces are influenced by and impact geopolitics and geoeconomics. Using ethnographic interviews and observations, I argue that Singapore's emergent junctional position helps Chinese student migrants navigate their geoeducational dilemmas. These dilemmas are conditioned by rising US-China superpower competition amid economic stagnation in China and growing xenophobia in the West. Under these conditions, many students see Singapore as a safe liminal place from which they can pursue security, flexibility, freedom, cultural belonging, and family togetherness—by "springboarding" to the West, returning to China, or remaining in Singapore. This article contributes to the mobilities turn in education studies and enhances understanding of multiple migration—migration characterized by multiple changes in destination—by analyzing the interplay between domestic and transnational movements. The geoeducational lens it develops is useful for illuminating international student mobilities cross-culturally and comparatively as well as investigating their systematic interrelationships, including implications for demographic change, brain drain and gain, university financing and rankings, and hypercompetition in a time of eroding meritocracy.

Financial Challenges Facing Higher Education and Ways to Address Them from the Perspective of Academic Leaders in Palestinian Universities (An-Najah National University Case Study)

The study aimed to identify the financial challenges facing higher education in Palestinian universities from the perspective of academic leaders at An-Najah National University. To achieve the objectives of the study, the researcher employed the descriptive-analytical method and used a questionnaire as the study tool for data collection. The study population consisted of all academic leaders at An-Najah University, totaling 750 individuals, with the study being applied to a random sample of 200 academic leaders. The results of the study indicated that the financial challenges facing higher education in Palestinian universities, from the perspective of academic leaders at An-Najah National University, were perceived as highly significant. Additionally, the study showed no statistically significant differences at the significance level (α≥0.05) regarding the financial challenges facing higher education in Palestinian universities based on the variables of gender, academic rank, and years of experience. The results also revealed that the solutions to address these financial challenges were perceived as highly effective, with no statistically significant differences at the significance level (α≥0.05) in the perceived solutions based on the variables of gender, academic rank, and years of experience. The study recommended the need for increased government support for universities from the state. What distinguishes this study is the vitality and importance of the topic in academic and educational work, as it addresses an issue related to university funding—an issue that cannot be overlooked in university policies, educational planning, and budget preparation. Without addressing it, university operations are likely to fail. Therefore, the researchers sought to shed light on the financial challenges faced by universities in Palestine.

다층적 거버넌스 모델을 적용한 한국의 RISE 체계 분석

This study aims to contribute to the successful establishment of the RISE system in South Korea by applying a multi-level governance model to its analysis and deriving key policy implications. Recent shifts in the policy landscape—prompted by increased decentralization, greater civil society participation, the erosion of state authority, the emergence of diverse private institutions, and the advent of New Public Management—have necessitated a transition from traditional, vertically hierarchical approaches to new governance forms characterized by horizontal collaboration and networks. South Korea’s higher education system is currently transitioning from a centralized, top-down model to one of cooperative governance between local governments and universities. The RISE system is designed to devolve university funding authority to local governments, enabling the development of university support plans aligned with regional development goals, and fostering an ecosystem that promotes local talent development, employment, entrepreneurship, and regional retention. In this context, universities must align their educational and research activities with the economic and social needs of their regions, while local governments are expected to strengthen their administrative and financial support roles. This study employs a multi-level governance framework, synthesized from existing governance research, which encompasses governance levels, inter-governmental interactions, policy decision-making and implementation mechanisms, conflict and cooperation dynamics, as well as performance measurement and evaluation. Through this lens, the RISE system is analyzed to optimize policy coordination and resource allocation within regional contexts, thereby driving innovation in higher education. Ultimately, by fostering broader stakeholder engagement and reinforcing accountability and transparency through multi-level governance, the successful entrenchment of the RISE system can be anticipated.

Student teachers’ conceptual understanding of biodiversity loss in a multiple-source learning environment

Environmental content is becoming increasingly important in schools, but teachers may have difficulty grasping accurate knowledge. This study investigated how student teachers construct a conceptual understanding of biodiversity loss in an online environment. Sixty-five first-semester primary student teachers at a Finnish university were given the task of writing a synthesis of text from online sources to prepare for a primary school science lesson. The learning environment included texts that were relevant, irrelevant, and fake. A content analysis of their syntheses showed that they generally managed to define the phenomenon and adequately explain its causes and implications. However, they struggled to find different perspectives and write a coherent synthesis, as they used irrelevant and fake content instead of integrating text from multiple relevant sources. These findings indicate a need to develop teacher education to support student teachers in recognising the validity of sources on environmental issues and synthesising them into a coherent whole.

Labor-Replacing Automation and Finance

We examine the effects of adoption of labor-replacing automation technology on corporate financing. Empirically, using Chinese firm-level panel data on deployment of industrial robots as an example of such automation, we find that robot adoption increases leverage and reduces cost of debt. We hypothesize that the underlying reason is that being a substitute for labor, automation provides a hedge against fluctuations in labor costs. A model based on this hedging argument delivers additional testable predictions concerning determinants of the relation between automation and corporate financing. These relations are borne out in the data, providing support for the proposed mechanism. Our evidence is inconsistent with alternative channels behind the observed relations. This paper was accepted by Victoria Ivashina, finance. Funding: X. Cheng acknowledges support from the Humanities and Social Science Foundation of the Ministry of Education in China [Grant 23YJC840004] and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities of China [Grant 2722023BQ052]. E. Lyandres acknowledges support from the Coller Foundation and the Henry Crown Institute for Business Research in Israel. K. Zhou acknowledges support from the Major Project of the National Social Science Foundation of China [Grant 20&ZD103], the Key Project of the National Natural Science Foundation of China [Grant 72432005], and the Excellent Young Team Project of the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province of China [Grant 2023B1515040001]. T. Zhou acknowledges support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China [Grant 72003206]. Supplemental Material: The online appendix and data files are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2022.02658 .

Decisions Making in Information Security Investments: Impact of System Vulnerability and Investment Timing on Resource-Sharing Platforms

This study distinguishes enterprises into high- and low-type categories based on enterprise value and cost efficiency, examining their strategic behaviors in three investment timing games: move simultaneously, the high-type enterprise moves first, and the low-type enterprise moves first. By comparing the three games, we find that both types of enterprises would always exert more effort in the sequential game than in the simultaneous game, and the later-move advantage makes both types of enterprises prefer to become the follower in the game. We also find that the enhanced cost efficiency advantage or enterprise value gap possessed by the high-type enterprise would widen the effort gap between the two types of enterprises, and enhance the low-type enterprise’s incentive to be the follower. Moreover, the existence of system vulnerability not only causes both types of enterprises to reduce their security effort that generates free-riding behaviors but also can first discourage and then encourage enterprises from moving in advance. We further propose a liability-based mechanism to tackle the free-riding problem. We reveal an exact optimal liability coefficient, whether in the simultaneous or sequential game and find that the high-type enterprise should undertake more compensation when its dominant position becomes more obvious and the low-type enterprise could therefore undertake decreased liability. Last, we extend the model to multiple enterprises and show that the results are robust. Funding: This work was supported by the Shanghai Science and Technology Development Foundation [Grant 24692107700]; the Humanities and Social Science Fund of Ministry of Education of China [Grant 23YJA630100]; Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities; DHU Distinguished Young Professor Program; and the Shanghai Social Science Foundation [Grant 2022ZGL009]. Supplemental Material: The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/deca.2024.0190 .

Evaluate learner satisfaction with the quality of training services of the University of Finance - Marketing

The objective of this research is to investigate how learner satisfaction is affected by aspects of service quality. Quantitative and qualitative research methods are used in this study. Accordingly, with a qualitative method, the study conducted in-depth interviews with 20 experts in the field of higher education to evaluate the completeness and validity of the scale. Using the quantitative method, the study conducted a survey with 1,405 learners at the University of Finance and Marketing (UFM) for the purpose of evaluating the reliability of the scale and, at the same time, being used to test the research model and proposed research hypotheses. The findings of the study indicate that learner satisfaction is influenced by eight independent components. Specifically, the most important component is image, which is followed by reliability, training programs, facilities, assurance, empathy, responsiveness, and lecturers. The research findings lead the authors to suggest that the UFM should concentrate on enhancing the university's reputation so that students feel proud of them; they should also follow through on their initial promises to students; evaluate and enhance their curricula to bring them closer to international standards, make them appropriate for students, and satisfy societal demands; To better serve students, upgrade the facilities.