Categorizing Students in Higher Education in Finland – Which Cultural Groups are Visible in Research in the 21st Century?

Author(s):

Pia NissiläPäivikki Jääskelä

Conference:

ECER 2010

Network:

22. Research in Higher Education

Format:

Paper

Session Information

22 SES 07 A, Inequality and Diversity in Higher Education Settings

Paper Session

Time:

2010-08-26

15:30-17:00

Room:

M.B. SALI 14, Päärakennus / Main Building

Chair:

Jani Petri Ursin

Contribution

According to Meek and Suwanwela (2006),there is an increasing interest for global governance concerning human rights and collective social responsibility in higher education. In European Union this means political endorsement of equitable accessto higher education, as well as student-centered and empowering teaching methods (The Bologna Process 2020). Our theoretical starting point is that one aspect of empowerment is making different cultural groups of students more visible in different arenas: educational practices, political discussion as well as in research (Sue & Sue 2002; Nelson-Jones 2002).

Method

We have conducted, as a part of a qualitative meta-analysis, systematic search and thematic analysis (see Tight 2003) of Finnish research (n=314) concerning studying, learning, pedagogy and guidance in HE in 2000-2008. In addition, we have systematically examined themes of students’ theses (n=925) within the same subjects and period of time. The aim of this sub-study is to find out how cultural diversity of students is visible in themes of research and students’ theses in Finland. Research questions are: How are social categories of race, gender, class, age, ability and sexual orientation included in themes of research publications and students’ theses? What other categories of cultural diversity are included in research publications and students’ theses? Are there differences between categorizations made by researchers and students? The study is a part of an ESF-project “Development of guidance and working life skills in higher education 2008-2011”.

Expected Outcomes

Preliminary results showed that Finnish researchers categorized students in higher education in their research themes mainly by scientific discipline or main subject and age. In the students’ theses there was a broader variation of visible cultural diversity: Students included in their themes of theses also categorizations of gender and ability, family relations, as well as current occupation of students. The study suggests that there are several cultural groups which are significant to students but not to researchers. From the viewpoint of cultural diversity it is therefore relevant to ask what kind of variety or intersection of cultural groups should be included in research in higher education.

References

Meek, V. L. & Suwanwela, C. (Eds). 2006. Higher Education, Research, and Knowledge in the Asia-Pacific Region. Gordonsville, VA, USA: Palgrave Macmillan. Nelson-Jones, R. 2002. Diverse goals for multicultural counselling and therapy. Counselling Psychology Quarterly 15 (2), 133-143. Sue, D.W. & Sue, D. 2002. Counseling the Culturally Diverse: Theory and Practice. Fourth edition. New York: Wiley. The Bologna Process 2020 - The European Higher Education Area in the new decade. 2009. Communiqué of the Conference of European Ministers Responsible for Higher Education,Leuven and Louvain-la-Neuve, 28-29 April 2009. Tight, M. 2003. Researching higher education. Birkshire, UK: The society for research into higher education and Open University Press.

Author Information

Pia Nissilä

University of Jyväskylä

Teacher Education

University of Jyväskylä

Päivikki Jääskelä

University of Jyväskylä, Finland

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