Is academia inclusive? Non-Finnish employees’ experiences of inclusion and belongingness in a Finnish university.

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Volume Title

School of Business | Master's thesis

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Date

2024

Department

Johtamisen laitos

Major/Subject

Mcode

Degree programme

mib

Language

en

Pages

122+2

Series

Abstract

Employee diversity, equality, and inclusion (DEI) issues have been put more into a pedestal during the resent years in different organizations. There has been a lot of research done about employees’ experiences and organizational practicalities about DEI. On this note, maybe one of the greatest challenges of inclusion is forming an inclusive organizational culture for every employee to be able to experience deeper level inclusion in the work community while being uniquely themselves. Inclusion means that the employee experiences belongingness, and simultaneously feel like their uniqueness is valued both in formal and informal situations, and that they are taken part of the group within social and practical levels. Some of the previous studies related to diversity and inclusion in the context of higher educational institutions have examined the phenomenon of inclusion within employees’ experiences. Yet, there is a need to examine more these topics in intersectional manner. Thus, in this study inclusion is the main focus and is examined through gender and ethnicity. Therefore, this qualitative single case study explores the subjective experiences about inclusion of non-Finnish teaching and research personnel in a Finnish university and Finland. Data was collected through nine semi-structured interviews. The abductive research approach was used, as theoretical research, data collection and analysis were conducted concurrently. The first research question, how do non-Finnish employees experience inclusion in University X, was formed to understand employees’ experiences through narratives and stories. Secondly, the second research question, which matters could enhance the experience of inclusion and belongingness, gave the interviewees an opportunity to voice their developmental suggestions and what they think could or should be improved to increase inclusion based on their experiences. The results of the study bring forth how inclusion is lived through both professional as well as individual levels, and how the intersectional background factors such as ethnicity and gender affect simultaneously, but ultimately how these experiences are made under social constructs and practices of the academia. Many of the interviewees describe having very positive experiences about inclusion in this Finnish university. Nevertheless, one of the most mentioned matters is the lack of forming deeper social relations especially with Finnish people. While most of the employees have rather positive experiences about inclusion in this university, others discuss about finding it difficult to be uniquely themselves and be truly included.

Description

Thesis advisor

Huopalainen, Astrid

Keywords

inclusion, ethnicity, language minority, gender equality, academia

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Permanent link to this item

https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:aalto-202408185472

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[gradu] Kauppakorkeakoulu / BIZ