Finland - Jyvaskyla Region - Final Self-Evaluation Report.pdf

FIRM / ORGANIZATIONTEACHER /SUPERVISORSTUDENTFigure 5.3 Work-based learning system based on interaction between the actors involvedThe graduation theses of students from the region’s HEIs is done in cooperation with firms, with otherregional organizations being of equal importance to work-based learning; they should not be seen as separatecomponents but as connected parts which support each others. In some faculties and schools, the importanceof graduation theses in promoting regional contribution is very high and well organized with regional actors,whereas in the other units, the theses done for regional purposes have lesser importance and they lacksystematic coordination. Naturally, it should be taken into account that, in certain cases, the themes orscientific contribution of theses might be more interesting at nationally and/or internationally than regionally.Moreover, due to the small size of the Jyväskylä region, it is not possible to fully absorb the output of HEIsin terms of graduation theses.Internationalization is a key factor in regional development and its importance is increasingly emphasized inthe globalizing world. The international orientation of the HEIs in the Jyväskylä region is strong. In 2004,the number of exchange students aiming at attaining a degree at the Jyväskylä Polytechnic was 129 and 262at the University of Jyväskylä (Tables 1 and 2 in Appendix 8). International students can be seen as apotential labour force, promoters of the internationalization of firms and other regional actors, and asambassadors for the locality, sending positive messages back to investors and facilitating future tradingrelations. The potential of these students has been recognized in the Jyväskylä region, as of yet it has notbeen effectively profited on. It is important to consider the ways in which the regional stakeholders,particularly the companies, could benefit more from the international activities of HEIs (e.g. exchangestudent programmes), and how the interaction between HEIs and the regional stakeholders could becomemore effective in this respect. The quality of internationalization is also one of the core issues. It is essentialthat the roles of the different regional actors are defined from the point of view of internationalization, so thatthe common steps and ways of internationalization can be worked out, and so that the regional resources canbe channelled to specific activities. An effective mechanism to approach the international students could beorganized in cooperation between the HEIs and regional actors. It is particularly essential to bring thestudents and firms together and support their mutual learning processes.Entrepreneurship in learning programsA well-known contribution of higher education institutions to their regional labour markets comes throughencouraging graduate entrepreneurship. The commercialization of technology, based on HEIs’ activities, hasbecome a prominent issue in the policy making arena. The spinning-out of inventions into separatecompanies represents a potentially important but not fully exploited option. Entrepreneurship initiated by theHEIs’ students can be based on new technological or social innovations, or the supply of knowledgeintensive business services in which expertise has an important role. The latter business type is an increasingfield in the Jyväskylä region and it can be extended to also cover the production of wellness services and thedevelopment of public administration.However, the students of HEIs are typically not very keen to set up a firm and act as an entrepreneur. Thefindings in the Jyväskylä region support this national view (Appendix 12). Less than one percent of thegraduates from the University of Jyväskylä start their own business immediately after their graduation. Thisis slightly below the national average level among university graduates. The statistics taken from thePolytechnic graduates indicate that the entrepreneurial activity increases when the observation period is69