Immigrants’ educational background

The Ministry of Education and Culture in Finland published an OECD comparison called

“Women and Immigrants Benefit From Education Less Than Others” in 2018. It

demonstrated that in Finland, even if women or foreign-born adults have the same level of qualification and education as the native-born adults, they earn considerably less. Parents;

educational attainment, gender, immigrant background, and the country of birth also affects a person’s educational and employment path. This annual indicator is used to compare

education systems. This publication examines the educational level, enrollment in education, costs, student mobility, provision of education, decision-making, and the tasks and terms of employment of teachers in the 34 OECD member countries and several partner countries.

It states that compared to all the OECD countries, Finland is investing the second largest amount of public money and the least private money in education (0.1%). The second largest amount of public money in relation to the GNP is invested in education in Finland (5.6%), which is surpassed only by Norway, with 6.3%. If a child is in a more vulnerable position, it decreases his/her participation in early childhood education and care. In addition, in most of the countries, mother’s educational background and the family's income level also affects children’s participation in early childhood education and care. Even if the family background plays a part in Finland as well, it is still less on average than across OECD countries. Finnish women present the highest percentage rate of tertiary-level education among the population belonging to the age group of persons 25 to 54 years old living in Finland in 2014 (Picture 8).

The same study presents the connection between parents' educational attainment and the individual's educational path. If children’s parents have low educational attainments (regarded as an indicator of a low socio-economic status), they do not join early childhood education as often. It is also probable that they will not graduate from upper secondary education and continue to tertiary education, compared to children who have at least one tertiary-educated parent. Finland differs from the other countries is this perspective: even if parents have not completed upper secondary education, 35% of persons between 25 and 64 will graduate from

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tertiary education. In the OECD, the average is 20%. Only Canada, New Zealand, and Russia surpass Finland when this indicator is used.

“The proportion of new students with an immigrant background was lower in tertiary education than their proportion in the whole population. While 6% of 18 to 24-year-olds in Finland had an immigrant background, they represented only 3% of new students in tertiary education. Of the population of the same age, 22% had an immigrant background in Sweden, 15% in Norway and 9% in Estonia and they represented 18% of new students in Sweden, 10% in Norway and 5% in Estonia.”

(OECD Comparison, 2018)

Picture 8. Educational structure of population aged 25 to 54 with foreign and Finnish backgrounds living in Finland by gender in 2014, % (excl. education unknown) (UTH survey, Statistics Finland)

Women earn on average 26% less than men in OECD countries. More than ten years in a row, the difference in the earnings between women and men has decreased, and at the moment Finland is quite near the OECD average (74%) with 77%. In Finland the

employment rate among tertiary-educated women is also lower than that of men in OECD

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countries. Foreign-born holders of a tertiary-level qualification earned 24% less than native-born persons. Among those with lower educational attainment, the differences in earnings were smaller. Even though women may study more and work even more hours than men, it does not necessarily affect their salary to the same degree.

Immigrants’ educational backgrounds can also affect their children’s educational choices and targets. “The equality of the Finnish education system is largely extended to the children of immigrants.” (Kilpi 2010). When all other relevant factors are controlled, ethnic minority disadvantages are rather small or even nonexistent when speaking about education.

Immigrant children’s parents’ low status in the labor market hinders children’s school achievements. Kilpis’s study found that the main problem with the integration of ethnic minorities in Finland is the labor market situation, not the education system. Discrimination may be experienced because of an ethnic minority background even if person is fully educated in Finland and proficient in the Finnish language.

Based on the study, positive integration attitudes help immigrants’ children to succeed in the Finnish education system. Children of immigrants are seen to have high ambitions regarding their own education. Immigrant children who have low school achievements and have a high probability of dropping out of education still face enormous barriers in their integration. This thesis highlights the importance of being able to disaggregate more specific groups according to ethnic origin in the future when planning supportive actions.

“Ethnic minority disadvantages are rather small or nonexistent after other relevant factors have been controlled for, and children of immigrants show a great deal of educational resilience and mobility in terms of their high continuation rates to general upper secondary schools.” (Kilpi 2010)

Kalalahti, Varjo and Jahnukainen (2017) presented that young immigrants may not always be able to recognize their own skills or reconcile their high professional ambitions with the educational paths that would lead to them. “The proportion in each ethnic minority group continuing to general schools is at least as great as amongst the majority” writes Kilpi (2010).

Still, when speaking about higher proportions finishing education at the end of their

compulsory education, most of the ethnic groups lag behind compared to native-born persons.

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