DIGITALENHANCING THE EMPLOYABILITY OF HIGHLY EDUCATED IMMIGRANTS IN COLLABORATION WITH A HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTION AND LOCAL EMPLOYMENT SERVICES
Metropolia University of Applied Sciences (FINLAND)
About this paper:
Appears in: ICERI2022 Proceedings
Publication year: 2022
Pages: 1336-1341
ISBN: 978-84-09-45476-1
ISSN: 2340-1095
doi: 10.21125/iceri.2022.0357
Publication year: 2022
Pages: 1336-1341
ISBN: 978-84-09-45476-1
ISSN: 2340-1095
doi: 10.21125/iceri.2022.0357
Conference name: 15th annual International Conference of Education, Research and Innovation
Dates: 7-9 November, 2022
Location: Seville, Spain
Dates: 7-9 November, 2022
Location: Seville, Spain
Abstract:
There is an increasing competition for talents in the global job market. The Finnish government and businesses are inventing new solutions and increasing marketing in order to attract international talents to Finland and to find resolutions to a shortage of highly skilled workforce. At the same time, many highly educated immigrants who have moved to Finland for non-labour reasons have difficulties to get an access to Finnish labour market or to find a position that responds their educational and career background.This paper discusses a model developed and lessons learned during the Developing Competence Centre Functions for Highly Educated Immigrants in the Helsinki Region Project (Oske project), 2020-2022. The project aims to enhance the employability of highly educated immigrants living in the Helsinki metropolitan area by means of career coaching, competence recognition, and supplementary higher education studies.
The key elements of the project are a comparison of foreign higher education degrees to a Finnish equivalent, an examination of suitability of degrees to the Finnish labour market, an assessment of professional development needs, a possibility to supplementary higher education studies and Finnish language studies, and professional networking. The supplementary studies are offered in five educational fields: automation business, business administration, ICT, nursing, and real estate and construction. The content of the studies varies in length and in intensiveness depending on the field of study and individual development needs.
The project brings forth models and practices how higher education institutions can, on their part, support and enhance the recognition of competence and employability of highly educated immigrants. The project is implemented by Metropolia University of Applied Sciences and carried out in cooperation with local employment services in the Helsinki metropolitan area. The project is funded by the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture.