Study title

International Students in Finnish Universities 2007

Dataset ID Number

FSD2354

Persistent identifier

urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD2354

Data Type

Quantitative

Authors

• Niemelä, Anna (Student Research Foundation (Otus))

Abstract

The objective of the survey was to find out how the international students in Finnish universities experience their level of integration in the academic community and Finnish society, and to examine the factors influencing the integration. The survey included six sections with the following themes: background information; immigration to Finland; academic integration; social integration; subsistence, accommodation, employment and health; and future plans.

In view of immigration to Finland, the respondents were asked whether university studies were their primary reason for moving to Finland. Depending on the answer, the importance of various factors on pursuing a degree in Finland was charted. They were also asked whether they had visited Finland before and if they had, the reason for the potential visit was queried. The respondents were presented with a list of various institutions (tax authorities, the Social Insurance Institution of Finland, etc.) and asked to assess how easy it was to interact and co-operate with them. They were also asked to evaluate the importance of different factors in selecting the university to study in, and the importance of various sources of information about possibilities to study in Finland. The quality and amount of information was also canvassed.

In the next section (academic integration), the respondents were asked about the satisfaction with the progress of their studies and the possible reasons for not progressing as planned. Satisfaction with study-related issues and services provided by the student union was also charted. The most important sources of guidance, help and support in study-related questions were investigated, as well as participation in tutoring and reasons for possible absence. The respondents were also asked to indicate whether they had felt they had been excluded within the academic community because of their foreign background.

Regarding social integration, the respondents' participation in social activities or events organised by student organisations was charted, as well as reasons for participation or non-participation. They were asked to name the social groups which they were in contact with most actively. In addition, the respondents' satisfaction with the amount of their social contacts was charted. They were also asked to indicate whether they had felt they had been excluded elsewhere than within the academic community because of their foreign background.

In order to chart the respondents' subsistence, the most important sources of funding, monthly net income, and satisfaction with disposable income were queried. Further questions charted the type of accommodation, the sources of information about housing the respondents had used, and possible difficulties in finding suitable accommodation. The respondents were asked about working in Finland and to estimate their strengths and weaknesses in the Finnish labour market. In addition, use of various health services was charted. Finally, the respondents' future plans were probed. They were for instance asked to indicate whether they were going to stay in Finland and to evaluate the quality of Finnish higher education.

Background variables included the respondent's age, gender, marital status, scientific discipline, and previous tertiary studies. In addition, the language of R's study programme, skills in Finnish and Swedish, and primary means of learning Finnish were charted.

Keywords

discrimination; educational guidance; employment; foreigners; health services; housing; information retrieval; job hunting; living abroad; social integration; social systems; standard of living; undergraduates

Topic Classification

• Social sciences (Fields of Science Classification)
• Higher and further education (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Minorities (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Social behaviour and attitudes (CESSDA Topic Classification)

Series

Individual datasets

Distributor

Finnish Social Science Data Archive

Access

The dataset is (B) available for research, teaching and study.

Data Collector

• Niemelä, Anna (Student Research Foundation)

Data Producers

• Ministry of Education

Time Period Covered

2007

Collection Dates

2007-10

Nation

Finland

Geographical Coverage

Finland

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Individual

Universe

Degree students in Finnish universities who started their studies in 1997-2006 and were present in spring 2007 with a non-Finnish citizenship and with a native language other than Finnish (excluding Students who had not obtained any credits during the past three years)

Time Method

Cross-section

Sampling Procedure

Total universe/Complete enumeration

The students in the target group were gathered from the university student registers. The sample size was 2,441, out of which 952 returned the questionnaire. Thus, the response rate was 39%.

Collection Mode

Self-administered questionnaire: E-mail

Research Instrument

Structured questionnaire

Response Rate

39

Data File Language

Downloaded data package may contain different language versions of the same files.

The data files of this dataset are available in the following languages: English.

FSD translates quantitative data into English on request, free of charge. More information on ordering data translation.

Number of Cases and Variables

292 variables and 961 cases.

Data Version

1.0

Related Datasets

FSD1269 Foreign Students in Finland's Higher Education Institutions 2002

Completeness of Data and Restrictions

Variables denoting university and native language have been removed from the data. Variables denoting age, nationality, main subject, and previous place of study have been recoded.

Weighting

There are no weight variables in the data.

Citation Requirement

The data and its creators shall be cited in all publications and presentations for which the data have been used. The bibliographic citation may be in the form suggested by the archive or in the form required by the publication.

Bibliographical Citation

Niemelä, Anna (Student Research Foundation (Otus)): International Students in Finnish Universities 2007 [dataset]. Version 1.0 (2009-06-09). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD2354

Deposit Requirement

Notify FSD of all publications where you have used the data by sending the citation information to user-services.fsd@tuni.fi.

Disclaimer

The original data creators and the archive bear no responsibility for any results or interpretations arising from the reuse of the data.

Related Materials

Niemelä, Anna (2008). Kansainväliset tutkinto-opiskelijat Suomen yliopistoissa. Helsinki: Suomen ylioppilaskuntien liitto. SYL-julkaisu 3/2008.

Related Publications

Niemelä, Anna (2008). Kansainväliset tutkinto-opiskelijat Suomen yliopistoissa. Helsinki: Suomen ylioppilaskuntien liitto. SYL-julkaisu 3/2008.

Korhonen, Vesa (2013). International Degree Students' Integration into Finnish Higher Education and Labor Market. Journal of Finnish Studies 17 (1 & 2), 126-153.

Pajunen, Pauliina (2016) Vieraalla maalla. Kansainvälisten työntekijöiden haasteet työyhteisöön sovittautumisessa Helsingin yliopiston matemaattis-luonnontieteellisessä tiedekunnassa. Pro gradu -tutkielma. Kasvatustieteiden ja psykologian osasto, Itä-Suomen yliopisto.