Marja-Leena Stenström

The views of employers on internships as a means of learning from work experience in higher education

This article examines internships as part of the apprenticeship model of learning adopted in higher education. We focus on employers’ views on internships, which have hitherto received only limited attention. Our study explores employers’ experiences in organizing internships, and their collaboration with one University of Applied Sciences, through data from social and health care employers (n=165), collected via a questionnaire. We conclude that if internships are to be improved as a means of learning from work experience, issues that employers want to raise within the collaborative framework require attention. These themes include relations with students, curriculum issues and the organization of the collaboration. A problem related to underestimating employer views on developing internships is that the resource-intensive nature of collaborative relations is silenced. As a result, targets for developing partnerships are left unrecognized, with adverse effects on the quality management and strategic planning of higher education institutions.

Finnish Vocational Education and Training in Comparison: Strengths and Weaknesses.

The study investigates how the Finnish model of providing initial vo- cational education and training (IVET) has succeeded in terms of enhancing educational progress and employability. A relatively high level of participation in IVET makes the Finnish model distinctive from those of three other Nordic countries: Denmark, Norway and Sweden. All four Nordic countries have well- organised labour markets and universal types of welfare states. Priority is given to goals related to equal opportunities and social inclusion. At the same time, these countries have different models of IVET. While the study compares the Finnish model of organising IVET to those of other Nordic countries, it also examines the German and UK models, which represent differing societal approaches to IVET. The differences in the outcomes of the IVET systems are described and analysed through reviewing secondary data provided by Eurydice and Eurostat, along with country reports produced in a Nordic comparative project, Nord-VET.

Building workplace learning with polytechnics in Finland: multiple goals and cooperation in enhancing connectivity

This article examines the goals of employers when they organise work placements for students. It explores how far, in cooperating with polytechnics, employers adhere to a connective model of students’ work experiences within their organisations. The paper makes use of a quantitative study based on employers’ responses to a questionnaire (n = 269). The study identifies four groups of employers: employers who emphasise the employment perspective, cooperative developers, employers with multiple goals and employers concerned with the development of their own work. The differences in employer profiles are discussed with respect to development of curricula and the higher education system. The paper raises questions concerning how curriculum development at various institutional levels may develop, depending on whether the emphasis is on work-based learning or on work-related learning.

Higher Education Graduates’ Employment and the Uncertainty of Working Life

The aim of this chapter is to examine how the uncertainty and instability of working life is reflected in Finnish polytechnic graduates’ employment. The present study investigates the fields of business and engineering by comparing two graduate cohorts. The societal context in which new graduates enter working life is that of an increasing precariousness in the labour market, which affects higher education graduates as well as the general population. Nowadays, a higher education qualification is not necessarily a guaranteed path to a high income and high social status as it used to be. Insecurity and uncertainty in society and working life can be considered as general features of late modern (postmodern) society. Using questionnaires, data have been collected pertaining to polytechnic graduates (Business and Administration, in 2003: n = 625, in 2005: n = 508; Technology and Transport, in 2003: n = 638, in 2005: n = 542). The findings show that polytechnic graduates have been successful in obtaining employment. Their transition into the world of work was quite smooth. The great majority of these graduates were in paid work and had regular employment. However, from the first graduate cohort to the later one, there is a perceptible weakening in graduates’ employment success; for example, the proportion of those who did not have adequate employment increased.