READINESS OF FINNISH COMPANIES TO INTEGRATE FOREIGN STUDENTS - Case Study of Keski-Pohjanmaan Kirjapaino Oyj
Saka, Hakeem (2010)
Saka, Hakeem
Keski-Pohjanmaan ammattikorkeakoulu
2010
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2010090712899
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2010090712899
Tiivistelmä
Integration has been a popular discourse among foreign students. The difficulty experienced among international degree students studying in Finland to find internship places and full time employment has been a point in focus. Foreign students are often confined to look outside Finland for employment opportunities having received world-class education. Moreso, there has been a forecast of labour shortage in Finland due to the fact that post World War II baby boomers would be retiring in a few years to come and one way of closing up the vacuum that would be created by the exit of older workers is to attract and retain foreign students in Finland. The question on how ready Finnish companies are to attract and retain foreign students was yet to be researched and this necessitated the choice of the research topic. The thesis focused on the readiness of Finnish companies to attract and retain these diverse pools of foreign students using a Finnish company as a case study. The case study company was Keski-Pohjanmaan Kirjapino Oyj which specializes in printing and electronic media. The company has subsidiaries and business operations in Finland and Estonia.
Extensive literature review of the concept of integration was carried out. The dimension of diversity which is closely related with the topic was introduced as well as the social aspects of integration. The thesis also dived into benefits of integration and also looked at problems which might constitute barriers to integration of foreign students. Survey, questionnaires and interviews were used in the research. The results emanating from the research showed that Keski-Pohjanmaan Kirjapaino Oyj is a proponent of integration of foreign students but more still needs to be done in terms of internship and full-time employment of foreign students. This is only one company out of the numerous indigenous Finnish companies and therefore, more studies need to be carried out on other Finnish companies.
Extensive literature review of the concept of integration was carried out. The dimension of diversity which is closely related with the topic was introduced as well as the social aspects of integration. The thesis also dived into benefits of integration and also looked at problems which might constitute barriers to integration of foreign students. Survey, questionnaires and interviews were used in the research. The results emanating from the research showed that Keski-Pohjanmaan Kirjapaino Oyj is a proponent of integration of foreign students but more still needs to be done in terms of internship and full-time employment of foreign students. This is only one company out of the numerous indigenous Finnish companies and therefore, more studies need to be carried out on other Finnish companies.