Migration constitutes an increasingly significant phenomenon in the Western world, and the reasons behind people’s choice to leave their native land are multiple. Most migrants depart from their country of origin to secure a better life for themselves and their offspring; aiming to do so, many of them rely on education. Given how Finland represents an attractive option for foreign students, who form a conspicuous part of its immigrant population (Maury, 2017), it is important to evaluate what shapes their identity and sense of belonging.

This paper contributes to the field of educational research by focusing on young adult and adult students who are from non-EU countries, particularly the ones who are reskilling, upskilling or in courses aimed for them to enter the labour market. My interest lies in how their experiences may contribute to the development of their sense of belonging. Aiming to provide an in-depth view of individuals' narratives, the fieldwork was carried out in adult vocational schools by means of mixed methods combining ethnographic observations and semi-structured interviews.

The article aims to answer the following questions:

• What are the factors that contribute to young adult and adult migrant non-EU students’ sense of belonging in Finland?
• What barriers might they encounter and how does this affect their plans?

Previous research focusing on migrants’ experiences through the Finnish educational system show how these may be hindered by racialisation and genderisation (Kurki, 2019; Kurki et al., 2019). ‘Immigrantisation’ and ‘immigrant-ness’ combined with other social dimensions such as race, gender and class position them in a disadvantaged place within the power discourse, defining their subjectivities and their future perspectives.

Drawing on Foucault’s subjectification theories (1982) and Sara Ahmed’s feminist and postcolonial work on ‘Embodied Otherness’ (2000), I argue that temporality combined with racialisation may affect the development of young adult and adult students’ identity and sense of belonging.

This paper addresses a relevant research agenda in adult education studies and aims to contribute to discussions within the field of migration and adult education. Given that its focus is on human experiences, I collected the data by means of mixed methods combining ethnographic observations and semi-structured interviews through which I aim to give a fair representation of the participants' experiences. The fieldwork for this article is ongoing: students and staff have been invited to take part after approaching adult education providers in southern Finland. I have observed different groups, on a regular basis and at different times of the academic year, during lessons as well as students' meetings with teachers and staff. In particular, I have been interested in their interaction with colleagues and educators, as well as career or future plans sessions, whether in 1 to 1 or group discussions. Through ethnographic observations, I have been able to relate to the young people and adults involved in the study from a privileged perspective. Furthermore, I have been able to acquire a rich set of data which draws upon a first-hand experience of the participants' world. I have also interviewed students from a variety of countries of origin as well as teachers and other members of staff. Semi-structured interviews have given the participants an opportunity to give an account of their experiences. They have also been a chance for them to represent their social world, as well as their perception of themselves in relation to other social actors. The analysis of the participants' accounts will delve into the complexity of their identity, providing a valuable insight in relation to their gender, class and ethnic dimension. The data has been coded and analysed using a thematic approach.

My findings confirm how experiences of racialisation and temporality may hinder non-EU migrant students' sense of belonging.

Ahmed, Sara (2000). Strange Encounters: Embodied Other in Post-Coloniality. London: Routledge. Coffey, A. (1999), The Ethnographic Self: fieldwork and the representation of identity. London: Sage Publications. Foucault, M. (1982). The Subject and Power. Critical Inquiry, 8(4), 777–795. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1343197 Kurki, T. (2019). Immigrant-ness as (mis)fortune? Immigrantisation through Integration Policies and Practices in Education. Academic Dissertation, University of Helsinki. Kurki, T., Brunila, K. and Lahelma, E., (2019). Constituting Immigrant Care Workers Through Gendering and Racialising Practices in Education. Nordic Journal of Migration Research, 9(3), pp.329–345. DOI: http://doi.org/10.2478/njmr-2019-0009 Maury, O. (2017). ‘Student-Migrant-Workers: Temporal Aspects of Precarious Work and Life in Finland.’ Nordic Journal of Migration Research, 7(4), pp.224-232 Maury, O. (2021). Punctuated Lives: Student-Migrant-Workers Encounters with the Temporal Border Regime. Academic Dissertation, University of Helsinki.