Sauna, sisu, salmiakki, Sole and SAP
University staff in Finland is internationalizing
at fair speed. This is small
surprise, as the current financial
framework encourages Universities to
recruit from abroad. The Finnish Union
of University Professors has criticised the framework
on the grounds that proficiency and expertise
should surpass internationality as the criteria for recruiting
academics.
In 2010, 12 % of the researchers and teachers
in Finnish Universities were of international background.
The following year, the percentage had gone
up to 13 and in the last year, it was already approaching
16. There is considerable variation in the percentage
between Universities: In Åbo Akademi University,
the number reached 21 last year, whereas in the University
of the Arts Helsinki, only 1 % of the teaching
personnel were of international background.
The number of international employees is on the
rise also among those working on funding from the
Academy of Finland. The State of Scientific Research
2012 -report shows that in 2011, 20 % of Academy
Research Fellows were from abroad. Accordingly,
the report states that “especially the recruitment of
post-doctoral researchers and professors in the early
stages of their careers constitutes
an efficient means
of enhancing the international
aspect of the Finnish
Academic organization on
the whole”. The Academy
of Finland‘s interest in
the international factor is
continued in its forthcoming The State of Scientific
Research 2014 -report, where there is a questionnaire
concerning professors. The questionnaire is directed
at the employers and aims to clarify the particular
measures taken in order to make professorships internationally
attractive.
Universities and the ministry have designed a pact for
the enhancement of international recruitment for the period of 2013—2016. The goal of Aalto University
is even more ambitious: by the year 2020, one
third of the professors and post-doctoral researchers
should be of international background. Determining
these objectives constitutes an interesting problem:
What would be the proper proportion of international
personnel in the Finnish Universities? While
waiting for this to crystallize, we might as well turn
our attention to the way international academics are
received in Finland.
The support and guidance offered to the incoming
academics is often insufficient. We should first
focus on very basic matters, such as the location of
the nearest grocery store. The internet connection in
the University quest house is not functioning and the
toilet requires a new light bulb. A flat has to be found,
as well as some kind of employment for the spouse.
How does the taxation work? How to find a school
for the children and general health care for the whole
family? KELA (the Social Insurance Institution of Finland)
usually sends their letters in Finnish. The banks
are reluctant to grant personal online banking and
telecom operators will not offer permanent mobile
contracts.
Scientific research is international and it is easy to become a member of the scientific community.
However, other activities in the Universities require
a lot of orientation: what, for instance, are
the processes of decision making like? What exactly
are the curriculum, work plan and syllabus like;
what are the electronic platforms on which all these
schemes and plans function? What is more, the
teaching culture as a whole may be different. How
to address a student? Why are they not purchasing course books? What exactly are home exams, essays,
course diaries or group work? Am I supposed
to have my office door closed or ajar when supervising
a student?
If there are no assisting personnel around, the
immediate superior is bound to be bombarded with
all these questions. Consequently, the orientation and
guidance processes should be attended to properly.
There should be a joint responsibility and transparency
concerning them. Necessary contacts with incoming
academics should be established before they
actually arrive in Finland. Organizing some kind of
mentoring apparatus could also be a good idea. Nevertheless,
the thing to really begin with would be to
place the information needed in practical daily work
on the internet in English as well.
Many incoming academics want to familiarize themselves
with the Finnish or Swedish language. This is
fine — a certain level of proficiency in the language
of the host country is a prerequisite for an enjoyable
long-term visit. Intensive courses could be offered
as first aid, with more specifically targeted studies
following. Basic knowledge of the culture is also
required, whereas the maintenance and reinforcing
of stereotypical cultural differences could be abandoned.
Too many arriving academics have been fed
the information that we Finns are overtly reserved
and uncommunicative with no ability for engaging in
proper discussion.
Maarit Valo
Chair, The Finnish Union of University Professors
- Painetussa lehdessä sivu 4
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