Browsing by Subject "working life"

Aim. The aim of this study was to examine the experiences of adults on the autism spectrum of being themselves and the factors related to masking in higher education and transitioning to working life. Previous studies have shown that many people on the autism spectrum feel the need to mask their characteristics typical of the autism spectrum. It has been found that masking can have negative effects on the mental health and wellbeing of the person who masks. This study reveals the experiences of adults on the autism spectrum of being themselves and which factors are related to masking. Methods. The data of the study consisted of the interviews collected for the international IMAGE project. The participants were adults on the autism spectrum from Finland (n=7) and the United Kingdom (n=5). The data was analyzed in the phenomenological framework using qualitative, data-driven content analysis. Results and conclusions. The results showed that the diagnosis of autism spectrum was reported mainly for a specific reason, not spontaneously. Experiences of being accepted ranged from positive to negative, and it was particularly challenging to be oneself in extracurricular activities. Three themes emerged in the factors related to masking. First, masking and openness on the other hand were associated with the concern about their consequences: participants considered possible negative consequences on job search, other people and themselves. Another factor related to masking was social environment. Masking increased when the person on the autism spectrum did not know their company, while knowledge about the autism spectrum and friendly attitude reduced it. What is more, one’s own opinion of the autism spectrum was related to masking. A positive attitude towards the autism spectrum reduced the need for masking, while one's own or others' negative experiences of being open about the autism spectrum increased its hiding. In higher education and workplaces, it would be important to reinforce factors that increase the possibility for the people on the autism spectrum to be themselves and not mask if they wish so.

The aim of this research is to identify and compare how Posti (as the employer of an ethnically diverse workforce) and PAU (as the labour union representing a constantly diversifying field) construct new postal workforce diversities. The once respected and fairly well paid civil service offices of postal officers have turned into low-paid, low-skilled, often part-time work, which is failing to attract ethnic-Finn employees. As a result, migrant workers have infiltrated postal warehouse work, daytime mail delivery and especially early morning delivery. The rapid entrance of non-ethnic Finns into the field has forced Posti and PAU to consider, how they wish to approach the growing diversity of their workforce. This research examines these approaches. Articles from Posti’s personnel magazine and PAU’s membership magazine form the empirical basis for this research. Altogether 24 articles, 12 from each magazine, were chosen based on their relevance to the topic of ethnic diversity and migrant workforce. The material was collected from publications that were released between January 2014 and August 2017. Acker’s (2006) theoretical framework of “inequality regimes” in organizations serves as the core theory as well as the methodological tool for this research. The theoretical and methodological concept of frame analysis is also used to further help understand, how Posti and PAU are able to explain and justify existing inequalities in the data. A critical discourse analytical approach is present throughout the research, from the initial reading and coding of the material to the presentation of the results. The critical analysis of the selected material suggests that Posti and PAU approach the growing diversity of postal workforce in very different ways. Posti presents the diversification of the workforce as a necessary and positive change, which will help the company expand the personnel’s skillset and even increase its financial results. Ethnic diversity and increased migrant workforce is discussed in a thoroughly positive light in the personnel magazine of Posti. Migrant workers’ lack of Finnish language skills is the only negativity of the ethnically diverse workforce of Posti, which is brought up in the material. The poor Finnish skills of migrant workers are also stressed in the membership magazine of the union, but the union is also concerned with Posti’s unfair treatment of the migrant workforce. On one hand, PAU stresses the necessity to include migrant workers into the Finnish working life and on the other hand, PAU stresses the possible culture clashes this might generate. The core finding of this research is that the way diversity is approached is closely related to the objectives and aims of the organization in question. Posti very purposefully aims to construct a new cohesive workforce diversity, which focuses on the possibilities of diversity and actively aims to hide existing inequalities. Posti still relies heavily on manual labour to carry out its core services, and therefore, it is in its interest to portray diversity in a positive light. The approach that PAU takes towards diversity in its membership magazine, is far less coherent and purposeful than that of Posti. It shows concern for the potential mistreatment of Posti’s migrant workers but fails to take a stand on the position of migrant workers within the field. This research concludes that PAU is still unsure of its approach towards the new diversities of postal work. On one hand, its mission has always been to protect the terms and conditions of the employees, to which the entrance of migrant workers into the field poses a threat, but on the other hand, one of the key values of the labour movement has always been solidarity. So far, PAU is still trying to fulfil both objectives, which results in inconsistent and limited views of what the diversification of the workforce means for postal work.

The thesis examines how ethnic entrepreneurship is constructed and made sense of in the narrative accounts of nine adult children of small business owners. The issue is examined from four perspectives; first, through the research participants’ narrations of their parents’ routes to entrepreneurs and secondly, through the narratives of the personal experiences of growing up and taking part in the running of the family business. Thirdly, the interviewees’ constructions of their entrepreneurial work experiences are examined in a wider working life context. Fourth, the interviewees’ future visions in terms of work and possible entrepreneurial careers, are examined. The ethnic entrepreneur is examined as a social category and ethnic entrepreneurship as a symbolic space against which the research participants negotiate their own standing. Furthermore, an idea of the nonnormativity of children’s work and how it relates to a concept of a 'proper' childhood is applied. Furthermore, the concept of belonging is applied in examining the interviewees’ negotiations about their positions and their sense of belonging in relation to the ethnic entrepreneur position. The data consists of nine thematic interviews with adult children of immigrant entrepreneurs. In the analysis of the data, a loose narrative framework is applied. The results of the study show that in the past narratives, the ethnic entrepreneur appeared as occupying a vulnerable position and in the majority, the position was constructed as somewhat forced rather than freely chosen. The narratives of past participation in the family firm produced three themes, through which entrepreneurial work was made sense, namely learning skillfulness, helping the parent, and work as a marker of difference. The narratives about the entrepreneurial work in a wider working life context indicated that participation in the family firm was constructed as a temporary phase before heading into an individual educational and occupational career. The family firm and 'other jobs' were contrasted somewhat drastically. Lastly, the future narratives indicated that the interviewees either redefined their possible future entrepreneurial positions or strongly rejected and talked against an entrepreneurial future.

This study examined how work orientation is carried out at the workplace for workers with immigrant background, how immigrants have integrated to the chosen workplaces and how they see their future work related development. Immigration to Finland has expanded during the last decades and many immigrants are of working age, which makes the multicultural issues relevant in working life. Research in Finland has focused on how well immigrants get into the labour market. Studies have also been carried out in multicultural work environments, including nursing, expert and customer service occupations. Studies exploring cultural differences between working cultures have been popular on an international level and in business life, but they have not answered the question how differences of working cultures are visible and influence in the multicultural work environment. Research with a more critical view has been carried out at multicultural workplaces. In this study challenges and good practices, which have developed in work orientation and integration of immigrant workers, are being explored. Fifteen workers with immigrant background and five immediate superiors in two organizations in the metropolitan area were interviewed for the study. Two immediate superiors have immigrant backgrounds. Organizations that employ workers for duties which do not require former education and that already for a longer period of time have employed immigrant workers were chosen for the study. The interviews proceeded according to the semi structured interview guide. Many of the challenges for both work orientation and integration that the organizations, work communities and workers with immigrant backgrounds face turned out be connected to language skills. Moreover in relation to differences in working culture the significance of personality was often stressed. Certain phenomena related to different background and working culture emerged and require accommodation to the Finnish workplaces. To overcome the challenges of language skills and working culture different methods were used for job familiarization and work orientation. Four informants had though moved to Finland as children and did neither face language nor cultural challenges. The study helps to understand how it is to take part in the Finnish working life as an immigrant and how multifaceted the concept immigrant is at the workplace. It also shows that rather than placing the focus on finding cultural differences it would be more beneficial to study what their actual significance is in the multicultural work environment and how the immigrants' language skills develop in the Finnish working life.

Finland has the highest per capita coffee consumption in the world. As one of the national drinks, drinking coffee is considered an essential cultural habit in Finland. Among them, coffee breaks at workspaces are a well-established and important cultural practice. This thesis tries to reveal what is represented to be Finnish about coffee breaks in Finnish working life. First, it analyses the background of the spread of coffee culture among Finnish people. Secondly, it assesses their experiences and opinions of the coffee break in recent years by using Oldenburg’s idea of “the third place” and previous studies about the coffee break. The survey was conducted on 18 Finnish people in the spring of 2021 and autumn of 2022. Moreover, it asked about changes and experiences caused by the corona pandemic. The Finnish coffee break substantially affects health maintenance, work efficiency, and social relationship/community formation. Remarkably, the role of social relationship/community formation is significant because the coffee break has provided cosy spaces for participants and opportunities to socialise since coffee was introduced to Finland. Recently, working life has become more individualised in Finland, as working hours and locations have become more flexible, and remote working has become more common after the corona pandemic. However, the coffee break has overcome such social changes and plays a role like a bond to keep people well connected, and many of them demand such opportunities.