From teacher to teacher, from political scientist to engineer – SIMHE helps get a foothold in the Finnish labour market
When Fatma Köktan moved to Finland from Türkiye in 2019, she had already spent 13 years teaching physics, biology, chemistry and mathematics to lower secondary school students.
Having recently graduated with a master’s degree in Finland, she is now participating in a work trial at Palokka School in Jyväskylä. This means that, following a bit of a break, she is now back to doing what she loves: teaching chemistry, physics and maths.
The road that she had to take to get here was not exactly simple: her existing degree was equated with a Finnish bachelor's degree, so to qualify as a teacher in Finland, she had to complete a master's degree and ten credits worth of pedagogical studies. The master’s degree programme also required a sufficient proficiency in Finnish.
At first, Köktan learned Finnish in integration training, and later got the opportunity to learn the vocabulary of her field when she became a customer of the SIMHE services of the University of Jyväskylä. SIMHE (Supporting Immigrants in Higher Education in Finland) is a programme run by several Finnish higher education institutions to facilitate the access of highly educated immigrants to higher education and employment.
“I learned more Finnish and gained a better understanding of the Finnish education system, academic environment and application processes,” Köktan says.
"We practised speaking through vlogs, presentations and pair discussions, for example. My reading, listening and writing skills developed a lot as we wrote essays and summaries and listened to a lot of spoken language,” says Köktan.
In addition to participating in the work trial, Köktan teaches Turkish and Turkish cuisine at an adult education centre. She has been applying for teaching jobs, and was already offered one, but the workplace was so far away from her home town of Jyväskylä that she did not want to move, as doing so would have required her children to change schools.
"I would like to find work in my own field. I like teaching and I want to be a teacher again," she says.
Customers are motivated
According to Coordinator Marita Häkkinen from the University of Jyväskylä, the customers of SIMHE services are highly motivated.
"They are also often surprisingly knowledgeable about the studies that they want to apply for, for example."
Typically, customers already have a university degree, and many have worked long careers outside Finland.
"But they face major challenges in not being able to access higher education or needing to supplement their competence. Others have difficulties finding traineeships or jobs," says Häkkinen.
Häkkinen provides customers with in-depth advice on studies and career planning, either remotely or face-to-face.
"Quite often people want to know whether they need an official recognition decision on a previous qualification or degree from the Finnish National Agency for Education or Valvira, for example, in which case we go through the process in preparation," says Häkkinen.
"And many need Finnish language studies to support their employment."
Some SIMHE customers end up becoming students at the University of Jyväskylä, which can result in them becoming so-called Integra customers for Häkkinen, which means that she provides them with guidance in the context of another programme for the preparation of a personal study plan, for example.
Changing careers is also an option
The path of every professional coming to Finland is different, and sometimes a change of career is tempting. This was the case for Faiza Ahmadi from Afghanistan, who had spent five years studying political science and international relations at a university in Türkiye before coming to Finland.
She originally came to Finland as an exchange student, but when it became too dangerous for her to return to her home country, she decided to stay in Finland. She found a job and learned Finnish, and eventually applied for the SIMHE services of Karelia University of Applied Sciences. There she learned more Finnish, and her SIMHE counsellor advised her on practical matters and on available education and training options. Through SIMHE, Ahmadi also gained access to a preparatory programme aimed at helping immigrants access higher education in Finland.
"We practised working in teams, learned how to use Moodle, Excel and Word and studied maths, among other things. The instruction in maths and Finnish language were particularly helpful for me," Ahmadi says.
She is now in her first year of a mechanical engineering programme at Karelia University of Applied Sciences. A social scientist, she wanted to switch to mechanical engineering because she was attracted to learning new things and felt that it would be easier to find a job in engineering.
"I don't speak Finnish very well, so I chose mechanical engineering because the language requirements in this field are not as high," she says.
Ahmadi suspects that she could have gotten into higher education in Finland without SIMHE services, but it would have been difficult.
"Almost impossible, as I didn't really know how the application process works. It is good that SIMHE exists and supports immigrants."
After her studies, Ahmadi would like to get a job in the engineering industry, preferably in Joensuu, but if not, then in Tampere, Espoo or Helsinki.
More language courses needed
SIMHE services helped Ahmadi to obtain B1 level Finnish language proficiency, which was a prerequisite for the preparatory programme. However, studying in Finnish is not always without its problems for her.
"I understand the teachers quite well, but I don't always understand my classmates," she says. "It affects my confidence sometimes, but I've done well enough here."
Sometimes she switches to English with her fellow students, but she tries to speak as much Finnish as possible.
"My big goal is to find a job and be successful in life."
Fatma Köktan also stresses the importance of language learning. She would like there to be more Finnish language courses available, especially advanced ones. Master's degree programmes in Finland often require good language skills in all areas.
"Courses at C1 and C2 level are very difficult to find in Finland," she says.
“These kinds of follow-up courses would be a great help to many highly educated immigrants who want to progress in their studies and careers in Finland."
The SIMHE network supports service providers
Marita Häkkinen stresses the importance of networking for service providers. In Jyväskylä, for example, there is International House Jyväskylä, to whose employment services she can refer her customers.
At the national level, Häkkinen also sits on the Finnish National Agency for Education's SIMHE steering group.
“The SIMHE network has been an excellent source of support for our work, and it also broadens our perspective on national education policy and the administrative branch of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment," says Häkkinen.
She says that networking is crucial right now, considering recent cutbacks to resources for integration services, for example. When higher education institutions and other actors in the sector know each other, it is easier to refer customers to the right place.
"When the network works effectively, it can go some way to tackling dwindling resources as well."
According to Häkkinen, the need for SIMHE services is growing: The numbers of highly educated immigrants coming to Finland have been increasing lately, and it would be good to integrate them into the Finnish world of work. Häkkinen would also like to see awareness of the services spread widely, as anyone could have a colleague or friend who has moved to Finland from abroad and could benefit from SIMHE services.
"Our labour market is in great need of diversity. We have people who have come here from all over the world, and when they are able to find employment in Finland, I think it will also provide us with that much-needed potential for growth, innovation and community wellbeing."
Häkkinen hopes that not only companies, but also the public sector would keep this in mind. Finland has a lot of international talent that should be brought into the workforce in the education and healthcare sectors, for example.
"All possible structures of discrimination should be dismantled."
Text: Esa Salminen