Russia as Destination for International Mobility: Attitudes of Finnish Students and Teaching Staff: Cases Saimaa UAS, Karelia UAS, Kajaani UAS, Lapland UAS

Abstract

The objective of the study was to find out the attitudes of Finnish students and teaching staff towards going on an international exchange to Russia. The idea was to determine if they generally perceive it positively or negatively. It was also important to examine obstacles preventing them from choosing Russia as an exchange destination country and to offer possible means to positively affect the opinions and increase outgoing student and teacher exchange to Russia. The work was commissioned by the BOSS – From Borders to Shared Space project. The data for this study were collected both from primary and secondary sources. Primary research was conducted in a form of semi-structured interviews. Among secondary sources there were books, electronic publications and information from the Internet websites used. Empirical research was done through the survey. Both qualitative and quantitative research methods are applied for this study. As a result of the thesis students’ and teachers’ perception of Russia as exchange destination country was identified. The obstacles hampering international mobility to Russia were determined and the extent of their importance evaluated. Based on theoretical knowledge acquired and the survey results, the investigation is concluded with suggestions on how to positively influence student and teacher attitude and with practical recommendations regarding improvement activities that can be done in universities of applied sciences.