Employment for International Students after Graduation from Universities of Applied Sciences in Tourism and Hospitality Degree Programmes in Finland: Expectations and Obstacles
La, Giang; Nobel, Mohammad (2014)
La, Giang
Nobel, Mohammad
Saimaan ammattikorkeakoulu
2014
All rights reserved
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2014060211275
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2014060211275
Tiivistelmä
The purpose of this thesis is to examine the expectations that international stu-dents graduating (or going to graduate in a short period of time) from Universi-ties of Applied Sciences in Tourism and Hospitality degree programmes hold about their employment and the obstacles they face when entering the industry of Tourism and Hospitality in Finland.
In theoretical part, the main idea was to define some concepts and issues relat-ed to this thesis work, including: employment, tourism, hospitality, University of Applied Sciences system and theories of expectations and obstacle factors. The background studies of Finnish tourism labour market situation and international students in Finland were also retrieved.
Multiple research methods were applied, including both quantitative and qualitative researches. Quantitative data were obtained through a survey with 30 responses and were analysed by IBM SPSS Statistics software. Qualitative data were collected with 6 semi-structure interviews.
In short, the results of the study show firstly that international students graduat-ing from universities of applied sciences in Finland hold mostly positive expectations about their employment after graduation, including high salary, good working condition and working in their own professional field. However, it is stated also that their expectation of getting job easily is not high. Secondly, the biggest obstacles these international students have to face in entering tourism and hospitality industries in Finland after graduation is their Finnish language skills. The lack of other languages skills, experiences, recommendation and high competition are also difficulties. Last but not at least, it is recommended that universities of applied sciences should provide more support and have more connections with organizations and companies offering jobs after graduation for international students.
Further researches could replicate this study in other groups of students or fo-cus more on employers´ perspectives in employing international students.
In theoretical part, the main idea was to define some concepts and issues relat-ed to this thesis work, including: employment, tourism, hospitality, University of Applied Sciences system and theories of expectations and obstacle factors. The background studies of Finnish tourism labour market situation and international students in Finland were also retrieved.
Multiple research methods were applied, including both quantitative and qualitative researches. Quantitative data were obtained through a survey with 30 responses and were analysed by IBM SPSS Statistics software. Qualitative data were collected with 6 semi-structure interviews.
In short, the results of the study show firstly that international students graduat-ing from universities of applied sciences in Finland hold mostly positive expectations about their employment after graduation, including high salary, good working condition and working in their own professional field. However, it is stated also that their expectation of getting job easily is not high. Secondly, the biggest obstacles these international students have to face in entering tourism and hospitality industries in Finland after graduation is their Finnish language skills. The lack of other languages skills, experiences, recommendation and high competition are also difficulties. Last but not at least, it is recommended that universities of applied sciences should provide more support and have more connections with organizations and companies offering jobs after graduation for international students.
Further researches could replicate this study in other groups of students or fo-cus more on employers´ perspectives in employing international students.