International competences – user-driven and user-centric views

In addition, regular meetings and workshops with representatives of government bodies, state organizations, leaders of international educational programs and other specialists are held at the regional and local levels. However, unfortunately, two main beneficiaries are often forgotten: (1) foreign specialists themselves – in the role of students or simply unemployed foreigners looking for work, as well as (2) representatives of enterprises ready to take the former on a paid internship, temporary or permanent work.  

Moreover, the lion’s share of workshops and meetings are held exclusively in Finnish, immediately eliminating foreign specialists who do not speak Finnish well from the pool of possible participants. 

As strange as it may seem, the best examples of solving the issues of internationalization of city programs or commercial products in the education market, began with the choice of English as the main working language. That is, the so-called routine, including regular weekly meetings, event planning, micro-trainings, exhibitions, seminars and other interventions would take place exclusively in English. 

On one hand, one can claim that each country has a national state language that must be known. In Finland, these are Finnish, Swedish and Sami. However, English is the most common and recognized language for international communication. It is important to understand this not only from the point of view of local Finnish projects for the integration of foreign labour and educational forces, but also from the position of the international attractiveness of Finland as a magnet for foreign human capital.  

Tourists mainly know Finland as a country of four seasons, the northern resorts of Lapland and the multifaceted vibrant capital of Helsinki. However, in the international work and study competition, Finland still loses significantly to its Scandinavian neighbours. In interviews and conversations with foreign students at Xamk, they repeatedly expressed opinions regarding low knowledge about Finland and Finnish educational in particular and, more importantly, Finnish work realities before coming to Finland as possible reasons for failures in the Finnish labour market. There is little truly user-driven information about Finnish realities, written in a way understandable for foreign specialists. On the contrary, quite much information is available in the user-centric way including official study portal, work and tourist information.  

Global Talent – Finnish Future.

One illustrative example of a user-centric approach can be given. A group of international students with quite rich international work experience, but with no or little knowledge of Finnish, are invited as a course or internship assignment to co-organize a local business event – one of the largest in the city, where hundreds of local businesses and leaders from various fields will be. It would seem to be an ideal place for networking and international integration. Throughout the planning period, international students are invited along with Finnish local co-organizers to routine meetings, with English used as a unifying factor. 

Unfortunately for these international students, the event itself is held exclusively in Finnish, even without English subtitles or English summaries during the presentations of Finnish business experts. All communication during breaks and case discussions (questions from the stage) are also only in Finnish. As a result, these international student co-organizers barely lose their chance to network, and important guests mostly avoid them due to “foreign language” inquiries. However, at the same time, calls for the development of the international labour market and the importance of foreign specialists in the future of the region are repeatedly heard from the stage as well as in the media. This is just a case of a failed integration.  

On the contrary, the user-driven approach is about breaking stereotypes and overcoming biases, thinking outside the box in the literal sense. When a team of Finnish specialists, who perform international or local work traditionally in Finnish and in a homogeneous composition, includes a foreign young expert without the necessary Finnish language competencies, the routine changes and initial tensions in communication and even psychological resistance to updating the mindset arise. Small talk over coffee in English, mutual adoption of Finnish and foreign communication traditions, the introduction of a truly foreign opinion into the group in a commonly understood English language and on this basis new principles of work lead eventually to the formation of more correct decisions, a more subtle empathic reaction to the problems of foreigners in Finland, and the organization really becomes a learning organization. 

The success of international and regional projects often stems from good practices individually and in teams. Individual stories of international students and young international professionals are a key link in spreading the reputation of truly meaningful and positive actions. We often forget the role of international students as ambassadors of Finnish international culture. It is even possible to form a motto: “Global talent – Finnish Future.”