Internationalisation have recently featured in discussions and initiatives related to various fields of higher education. Educational leaders, institutions and national policy-makers, but also international actors, such as the European Union and UNESCO, have promoted the internationalisation of higher education. Increasing emphasis on…

International indicators show that Finland has one of the most educated citizenries in the world, provides educational opportunities in an egalitarian manner, and makes efficient use of resources. But at the beginning of the 1990s, education in Finland was nothing special in international terms. The performance of Finnish students on international…

This paper concerns the declining role of the welfare state in supporting young adults. The literature on new social risks concentrates on the incapacity of institutions to respond to a new social situation, and has so far largely neglected the capacity of alternative systems or institutions to fill the vacuum created. The focus in the paper is on…

UNESCO established the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities (GNLC) to encourage the development of learning cities. By providing technical support, capacity development, and a platform where members can share ideas on policies and best practice, this international exchange network helps urban communities create thriving learning cities. The…

Schools everywhere vary little with regard to the subjects they teach, the classrooms where students learn, and the students' opinions about school. They do differ significantly in one area, however: the way they address the inequalities and diversity their students bring to school. For the small, agrarian, and relatively poor nation of Finland,…

Education plays an essential role in preparing the children of immigrants for participation in the labour market and society. Giving these children opportunities to fully develop their potential is vital for future economic growth and social cohesion in OECD countries. But migrant students in most OECD countries tend to have lower education…

Mathematical knowledge has developed from human activities through thousands of years and is bound to the world and cultures that men and women experience. One can say that mathematics is rooted in humans' everyday life, an environment where people reach agreement regarding principles in mathematics. Through interaction with worldly phenomena and…

Research shows that professional learning can have a powerful effect on teacher skills and knowledge, and on how well students learn. To be effective, however, professional learning for teachers needs to be conducted in the ways that it is in many high achieving countries--continuously, collaboratively, and with a focus on teaching specific…

Several recent reports on the status of women in US academic institutions have recommended more generous family policies to encourage and retain more women among academic staffs. Many of the policies suggested are modelled on those that have been in effect in Nordic countries for decades. The status of women among Finnish and Swedish academic…

Youth unemployment is hardly new, but in the 1980s it poses unprecedented problems because economic growth no longer seems to provide the necessary jobs. Youth labor markets are being stripped of entry-level jobs by new technologies, changes in the global division of labor, and the upgrading of occupational structures. This paper describes…

This issue serves as a package of information for foreigners about Finnish science and culture and about international cooperation in these fields. It contains a speech on security and cooperation in Europe and articles on the university in an international world, the Academy of Finland, information activity in cultural studies, and activities of…

Described and discussed are comparative employment policies and programs for people with intellectual and other disabilities in Australia, Finland, and Sweden. The dominant economic and social policies of many Western countries are such that they continue to place considerable pressure on the development and maintenance of employment programs for…

This paper provides an overview of teaching as a gendered profession in Finland, focusing on recent research on teachers and their professional development. Currently, women are better educated than men in Finland, but they still do not achieve employment positions and salaries equal to those of men. Though there tend to be more female than male…

This report, one of a series of country studies on higher education and employment particularly in continuing professional education, looks at recent developments in Finland. An opening section reviews the structure of continuing education in Finland where most continuing education is arranged by private employers with universities. The paper…

The national contributions contained in this paper and on the Eurydice website formed the basis for the comparative study on the integration at school of immigrant children in Europe. Each contribution has exactly the same structure with four main sections entitled as follows: (1) National definitions and demographic context of immigration; (2)…