Building careers abroad: Employability perceptions and capital formation of international graduates in Finland

Abstract

International graduate employability is a highly discussed topic as more people become internationally educated. Theoretically, the employability perspective of international graduates remains relatively unexplored. To answer calls for additional international graduate employability research and to extend Bourdieu’s theory of capital, capital building and employability of international graduates is studied through the Finnish context using the research question: “How is capital being formed throughout the duration of international graduates’ host country degrees and how does this impact employability in Finland?” This empirical context is of interest because in Finland, there is a need for international graduates to continue working in the country after graduation. Therefore, there is a theoretical and empirical need to understand how international graduates build capital throughout their degrees to aid in their employability.

Using 8 semi-structured interviews, the interaction between employability and capital building is studied. Three perceptions of employability in Finland are identified, including a lack of trust in the job market, network-driven hiring, and underemployability. Findings also show that cultural and social capital are the main types of capital built by international graduates. To build capital, international graduates use four different mechanisms – cultural integration, building a network, developing job-related competencies, and exerting intentional efforts – throughout the duration of their degrees. As a result of these findings, a new framework detailing international graduate capital building and perceptions of employability in Finland is proposed, and practical implications are discussed to share insights for solutions regarding international graduate employability in Finland.