Managing International Education in Finland: A Case Study of the University of Vaasa.
Nwokorie, Ethelbert Chinedu (2009)
2009
Kuvaus
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Tiivistelmä
Finland joined the EU in 1995; their entrant into the EU opened an avenue for internationalization in many areas of life. In 1999, it was among the 29 European countries that signed the “Bologna Declaration” which aimed at creating a European Higher Education Area (EHEA) based on international cooperation and academic exchange that is attractive to European students and staff as well as students and staff from other parts of the world. The endorsement of this declaration by Finland opened the Finnish education system to look beyond Finland for students in its universities and other institutions of higher learning. This study is aimed at understanding how this internationalization of education in Finland is being managed in the University of Vaasa, and how the university has succeeded in achieving the goals of the EHEA, in the course of international education.
Problems like locating literatures that directly treated this topic, pressure to complete the program within the shortest possible time, and time constraint were among the problems encountered by the researcher, having made up my mind to conclude this program within the shortest possible time.
This work is built on the environmental theory of organization. The environmental school believes that the environment provides a set of forces that influence the actions of organizations that function within it. Also, the Bologna process which is an European reform process aimed at creating European Higher Education Area (EHEA) based on international cooperation and academic exchange that is attractive to European Union students and staff and students and staff from other parts of the world. These two structures have provided this work with the framework on which it stands.
The researcher observed that universities in Finland does not enjoy full autonomy from the ministry of education which is the controlling body, and cannot admit more than the number of international students allowed them by the Ministry. Also, Finnish institutions of learning are almost totally dependent on the government for funding. The University of Vaasa has only five Master’s degree programs done in English, and that internationalization of Master’s degree programs in the University is a recent development. University of Vaasa does not offer any B.Sc. program in English, and the limited number of Master’s programs in English limits the choice of both Finnish and international students who want to study in English language in the University of Vaasa. The university intends to introduce tuition fee for non EU and EEA students in the nearest future.
It is interesting to note that since the introduction of international education in the University, the number of international students studying in the University has been growing every year, and there has been a geometrical increase in the number of international applicants who intend to come to study in the University of Vaasa.
Problems like locating literatures that directly treated this topic, pressure to complete the program within the shortest possible time, and time constraint were among the problems encountered by the researcher, having made up my mind to conclude this program within the shortest possible time.
This work is built on the environmental theory of organization. The environmental school believes that the environment provides a set of forces that influence the actions of organizations that function within it. Also, the Bologna process which is an European reform process aimed at creating European Higher Education Area (EHEA) based on international cooperation and academic exchange that is attractive to European Union students and staff and students and staff from other parts of the world. These two structures have provided this work with the framework on which it stands.
The researcher observed that universities in Finland does not enjoy full autonomy from the ministry of education which is the controlling body, and cannot admit more than the number of international students allowed them by the Ministry. Also, Finnish institutions of learning are almost totally dependent on the government for funding. The University of Vaasa has only five Master’s degree programs done in English, and that internationalization of Master’s degree programs in the University is a recent development. University of Vaasa does not offer any B.Sc. program in English, and the limited number of Master’s programs in English limits the choice of both Finnish and international students who want to study in English language in the University of Vaasa. The university intends to introduce tuition fee for non EU and EEA students in the nearest future.
It is interesting to note that since the introduction of international education in the University, the number of international students studying in the University has been growing every year, and there has been a geometrical increase in the number of international applicants who intend to come to study in the University of Vaasa.