Development Cooperation Competence from the Perspective of Finnish Expatriates

Abstract

The Thesis contributes to the ongoing discussions on professionalization in third sector in general and in development non-governmental organizations (NGDOs) in particular. This Thesis investigates what this professionalization means in terms of development cooperation competence, and explores the perspective of Finnish expatriates working in developing countries.

The Thesis reviews literature professions, professionalization in development cooperation, and builds a theoretical framework on competence based on the research on competence in educational sciences.

The empirical research material includes writings (both in books and online platforms, published by expatriate authors. The qualitative content analysis of the research material is conducted with an analytical framework developed based on the theoretical discussion on competence. As a result, four thematic areas of development cooperation competence are identified: 1) individual capabilities and skills; 2) expatriate worker’ adaptation to work and everyday life in a foreign country; 3) importance of the work community, cooperation skills and social skills in the workplace; and 4) settling into a professional role.

The findings show how competence in development cooperation is formed in relation to the culture and context, and how the experience of working in a developing country environment is essential to the development of contextual competence in development cooperation. In competence literature, competence is usually seen as being a characteristic of an individual. However, the findings of this Thesis align with the increasing research literature that emphasizes the social, the communal and the interactive nature of professional growth and the formation of expertise. This thesis repeatedly brings up the contextual competence of development cooperation and the social, communal and interactive nature of its formation. Based on the findings, it is argued that there should be sufficient job training opportunities for Finnish people training for development cooperation tasks, to facilitate the professional development and accumulation of work experience in the developing country. In addition, there should be sufficiently early career opportunities for newly graduated development workers as junior specialists in developing countries and/or Finland. It is particularly important to increase the amount of training of this type and approach at the different levels of education. In addition, in already existing programmes, it is necessary to further develop the curriculum, and to include content to prepare future development experts to better face the requirements and the less pleasant aspects of their work on grass-roots level in developing countries.

The Thesis contributes to the ongoing discussions on professionalization in third sector in general and in development non-governmental organizations (NGDOs) in particular. This Thesis investigates what this professionalization means in terms of development cooperation competence, and explores the perspective of Finnish expatriates working in developing countries.

The Thesis reviews literature professions, professionalization in development cooperation, and builds a theoretical framework on competence based on the research on competence in educational sciences.

The empirical research material includes writings (both in books and online platforms, published by expatriate authors. The qualitative content analysis of the research material is conducted with an analytical framework developed based on the theoretical discussion on competence. As a result, four thematic areas of development cooperation competence are identified: 1) individual capabilities and skills; 2) expatriate worker’ adaptation to work and everyday life in a foreign country; 3) importance of the work community, cooperation skills and social skills in the workplace; and 4) settling into a professional role.

The findings show how competence in development cooperation is formed in relation to the culture and context, and how the experience of working in a developing country environment is essential to the development of contextual competence in development cooperation. In competence literature, competence is usually seen as being a characteristic of an individual. However, the findings of this Thesis align with the increasing research literature that emphasizes the social, the communal and the interactive nature of professional growth and the formation of expertise. This thesis repeatedly brings up the contextual competence of development cooperation and the social, communal and interactive nature of its formation. Based on the findings, it is argued that there should be sufficient job training opportunities for Finnish people training for development cooperation tasks, to facilitate the professional development and accumulation of work experience in the developing country. In addition, there should be sufficiently early career opportunities for newly graduated development workers as junior specialists in developing countries and/or Finland. It is particularly important to increase the amount of training of this type and approach at the different levels of education. In addition, in already existing programmes, it is necessary to further develop the curriculum, and to include content to prepare future development experts to better face the requirements and the less pleasant aspects of their work on grass-roots level in developing countries.