Finnish language skills as the main factor affecting employability of international students and graduates

Abstract

The number of international students in Finnish educational institutions has been continuously increasing. Finnish educational system aims to turn international students and graduates into a potential workforce that can return the investments for their education to the Finnish society after completing their studies. In fact, after graduation from educational facilities in Finland, many well-educated immigrants struggle in finding jobs that suit their education because most of the workplaces require fluent Finnish language skills. Foreign job seekers are not satisfied with their employment situations, because they usually have to agree to low-skilled required and low-paid jobs due to the absence of fluent Finnish language skills.

This research is an empirical work that focuses on the experiences of international students and graduates in acquiring work positions that are suitable to their degree. The level of Finish language skills is considered as the main factor of successful employment of international students and graduates. The objectives of this research aimed to investigate current study and employment situation of international students and graduates, to reveal the obstacles that occur during the job searching period in Finland, and to prove that Finnish language skills become the biggest obstacle in successful employment in Finland.

This research is conducted with the use of qualitative method that was presented with a structured interview with international students and graduates of Finnish educational institutions, as well as quantitative method that was presented with an anonymous survey that was modified with means of Webropol tool and published on social media channels.

The results of this study indicate that international students and graduates face difficulties in finding suitable jobs on the Finnish labour market because of low Finnish language skills. The final products of the research become the recommendaions to future international Finnish language learners and recommendations to Finnish educational institutions in improving Finnish language teaching. The findings of the research could be beneficial for international students and graduates of Finnish educational institutions, educational facilities that can help in improving immigrants’ skills and competencies for their future successful employment, and for Finnish companies that could create comfortable conditions for foreign labour force already on the jobs’ entry-level.