An update on HIWE project’s results, spring 2024
HIWE in brief
High-skilled internationals: bottom-up insights into policy innovation for work and entrepreneurship in Finland (HIWE) is a two-year Business Finland funded research project implemented by the University of Eastern Finland and the University of Turku between 2022 and 2024.
In the project, we listen to internationals’ experiences of Finland. We look at how the Finnish policies and the service ecosystem respond to the challenges they have experienced. Lastly, we propose policy recommendations for solving work and entrepreneurship related challenges, as well as innovate novel ways for making internationals’ voice heard better in policy- and decision-making. Read more about the project’s aims here.
In this newsletter, we give you a quick update on the project’s results so far.
Results of policy analysis surprised us
To find out how existing public policies respond to the challenges of international talents in Finland, we carried out an extensive analysis of national policy documents. The results were partly unexpected and raised many questions about the effectiveness of the current integration policies around highly skilled internationals.
Check out our video of main results of the analysis:
Read more about the analysis here and the full analysis document here.
Read our blog post on the policy analysis here.
Co-creating solutions to internationals’ recruitment, inclusive workplaces and impactful services
In recent years, lots of services have been developed to support the integration of highly skilled internationals into the Finnish labour market. Still, problems with the recruitment of internationals and the inclusivity (or exclusivity) of workplaces seem to abound.
To address this dilemma, we brought together a diverse group of stakeholders, including international talents and representatives from the public sector, companies, and universities, to co-create solutions for better recruitment, more impactful services and more inclusive workplaces. Read about the three co-creation processes and their results in our blog posts – more posts are coming up!
- Recruitment of international talent: Enhancing internationals’ recruitment – but how?
- Inclusive workplace: Towards inclusive workplaces
- Impactful services: “Together we are more”
One result of the co-creation processes was the creation of a joint LinkedIn group by one of the participants. You are very welcome to join the HIWE Friends group to continue sharing experiences, thoughts and good practices!
Visibility of the project
We’re actively presenting our research at national and international academic conferences. Check out the full list of presentations here.
We communicate about the project and disseminate its results on our webpage, LinkedIn and X. Follow also our blog, where we share insights on HIWE’s results and other topical issues related to highly skilled internationals.
What we are doing next
Next, we take up the suggestions for better recruitment, workplace inclusivity and related services co-created by the stakeholders and develop them into policy recommendations for public authorities, service providers and other relevant actors. The process of drawing the recommendations will be open for public comment and participation. Stay tuned for more information on this opportunity in late spring of 2024!
We are also busy with preparing academic publications. We are currently writing about internationals’ experiences of belonging and wellbeing and about engaging in multi-stakeholder collaboration with internationals and other parties.
SAVE THE DATE: HIWE project’s Open Forum Event, 12.9.2024, Helsinki & online: discussing our results and policy recommendations.
The next newsletter will be released in autumn 2024.