Joining forces to attract and retain foreign talents 2013 Metropolis, Workshop September 2013, Tampere

 Yulia Shumilova and Yuzhuo Cai, University of Tampere  “Attracting and retaining foreign talents—The role of higher education”  Irma Garam, CIMO  "Integrating international students into Finnish society: what higher education institutions could and should do"  Nina Mustikkamäki, University of Tampere  “Towards inclusive use of intellectual capital. Innovation communities integrating foreign human capital to the Finnish innovation activities.” Speakers and presentations

Attracting and retaining foreign talents—The role of higher education 2013 Metropolis, Work Shop 46, 12 September 2013, Tampere Yuzhuo Cai, Professor Yulia Shumilova, Researcher Higher Education Group, School of Management University of Tampere

 Ageing population, labor shortages … but foreign talent is not only about that. It brings new ways of thinkng, innovations, new networks and links to new markets  If we want to attract and retain foreign talent, we need to research the field Our focus:  International graduates – as an available pool of talent, that is quite integrated already. (+their education was subsidized by tax-payers money, it would be shame to lose them) and  The role of HEIs (recognising the role of other stakeholders) Our research on international graduates’ employment situ. in Finland

 Valoa study (2012): survey of recent International graduates ( ) from 15 Finnish Higher education Institutions (HEIs) respondents  One of the findings: Finland is quite attractive, for studies, work and living (especially after getting to know it better) Valoa study

 Free of charge education, (might change soon)  Possibility to study in English,  A chance to improve one’s employability  A chance to explore a foreign country  Reputation of HEIs Top five reasons to choose Finland as a study destination 6

 Around 78% (!) of intl. graduates stay in Finland at least for 1-2 years after graduation, but what happens in 5 years?  70% of the respondents were employed at the time of survey, but was it “decent work”?  a quarter of them were overqualified for their positions, some mentioned “having to work as cleaners”, and only half of them employed permanently Situation after graduation

 Finnish HEIs are not very strong in alumni relations, especially in dealing with intl. graduates: no database  The university career services were least used as compared to other channels of looking for a job (only 3% used them)  However in 23% of cases internships (that are part of the curriculum), teachers’ connections or thesis work conducted in company – helped to get a job Major outcomes related to the role of HEIs in enhancing intl. grad. employability

Obstacles to finding a job for international graduates in Finland 9

 Higher education policies and universities can paly a more important role in attracting and retaining global talents.  However, such role has been less acknowledged/ explored by both policy makers and academic researchers.  The competition for global talents is not merely a concern of business, industry and governments, but rather starts at higher education institutions.  Universities are not just about preparing students for the future needs in the labour market, but also transforming the structures of future labour market and bring in new values to the society. Our observations and arguments

 Who are the stakeholders for attracting talents and how to coordinate between a variety of actors and projects?  Should we focus on attracting or cultivating (loyal) talents, especially in Finland?  How universities can go beyond their focus on employability? input?  Should universities catch up the society or change the society?  Are we seeking solutions in two decoupled levels, namely policy level and institutional level?  Does a useful framework exist for comprehensive understanding the issues in the field? Questions related to research gaps

 Examining the issue by using the insights of organisational theory  universities are cybernetic systems, which are characterised by a continuous cycle of input, internal transformation, output and feedback (Birnbaum, 1988; Hölttä, 1995; Scott, 2003).  Institutional entrepreneurs, institutional theory. A potential perspective

Cai, Y. (2013). Graduate employability: A conceptual framework for understanding employers’ perceptions. Higher Education, 65(4), Cai, Yuzhuo 2012: Understanding employers’ perceptions of international graduates: An investigation of the employment prospects of Finnish-educated Chinese graduates in Finnish companies operating in China. Tampere: Tampere University Press. Shumilova Yulia, Cai Yuzhuo, Pekkola Elias Employability of International Graduates Educated in Finnish Higher Education Institutions. Valoa project, Univeristy of Helsinki.Employability of International Graduates Educated in Finnish Higher Education Institutions Cai, Y. (2012). International graduates from Finland: Do they satisfy the needs of Finnish employers abroad? Journal of Research in International Education, 11(1), Shumilova, J., & Cai, Y. (2012, September ). Factors affecting employability of international graduates: International experiences and the case of Finland. Paper presented at the 2nd DEHEMS International Conference: Employability of Graduates & Higher Education Management Systems, Ljubljana, Slovenia. Recent studies (on international graduate employability) by HEG