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This study examines the experiences of student engagement among university students from non-academic family backgrounds using Vesa Korhonen’s model of student engagement. The ”massification” of higher education and the increasing number of university students in Finland over the last few years, has created a more heterogeneous population of university students and especially the number of students from non-academic background in higher education has increased. The recent concern for the extension of studying time has increased interest in student engagement research. This research focuses on the student engagement of these students from non-academic backgrounds. In the student engagement model used in this study, engagement is thought to be comprised of the proceeding participation in social communities, artistry of academic learning and feelings of belonging. The data for the study was collected with semi-structured interviews in University of Helsinki. A total of eight university students were interviewed, three studying general and adult education, two studying psychology, two studying to become teachers and one student of social-psychology. The data was analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. The research suggests that university students from non-academic backgrounds often experience uncertainty towards their academic skills and often experience feelings of not belonging not only within the university but also within their families. The attempted harmonization of the academic world of university and the family world seemed to create some conflicting feelings. However, some of the students felt that their background was more of an asset or incentive in their university studies.

International research on student teachers' induction into the working life has showed that work exhaustion and feelings of confusion are common amongst the young professionals, who have been working in the field for five years or less. In Finland, there has been a lack of qualified Kindergarten teachers for a long time. This study aimed to find out what appeals Kindergarten teacher students to work in the profession and what makes students hesitate working in the profession. There were three research problems: (1) Which factors are linked with students' desire to work as a Kindergarten teacher? (2) Which factors are linked with students' hesitation to work as a Kindergarten teacher? (3) How do the students describe the socialisation into the profession and how is that affected to the work engagement? This study was conducted as a qualitative survey. The data used in this study was part of University of Helsinki study Koulutuksesta valmistuminen ja työssä pysyminen lastentarhanopettajan työuralla. The data included four open-ended questions (n = 350), which were answered by 166 third year students from the University of Helsinki Kindergarten Teacher Education. The data was analyzed using Content Analysis. The results of the study brought out that the students' desire to work as kindergarten teachers is mainly linked with love for children and early childhood education. The motivation to develop as a professional seemed to link with the desire to continue to the profession as well. The help of senior teachers and well adopted teaching practices seemed to strengthen the socialisation into the profession. Students' feeling that the society doesn't appreciate the profession was strongly linked with feelings of hesitation, as well as the weak resources in the Daycare Centres. The students also felt that by clarifying the job descriptions between the Kindergarten teachers and the practical nurses, the profession would seem more appealing. The results of this study can be used to promote the Kindergarten teachers induction into the working life.

Students' self-regulation, self-efficacy beliefs and psychological flexibility were examined in this research. The participants were 250 students from the Faculty of Arts at the University of Helsinki. Research data were collected in autumn 2013 through a questionnaire developed at the Helsinki University Centre for Research and Development of Higher Education (YTY). Factor analysis was used to explore the validity of the scales measuring self-regulation, self-efficacy beliefs and psychological flexibility. The first research question concerning the correlations between self-regulation, self-efficacy beliefs and psychological flexibility were analysed by Pearson's correlation coefficient. This was followed by K-Means Cluster Analysis to form student profiles comprising of self-regulation, self-efficacy beliefs and psychological flexibility (research question 2). After formation of student profiles Oneway ANOVA was used to analyse whether the student profiles differ from each other in terms of study success, age and sex (research question 3). According to the results all correlations between self-regulation, self-efficacy beliefs and psychological flexibility were statistically significant. Especially between self-efficacy beliefs and psychological flexibility a strong correlation (r2 = .30) was found. Four student profiles were identified and they were named as unsure (n = 41), self-confident easygoing (n = 95), self-confident distressed (n = 51) and self-confident efficient (n = 63) students. A statistically significant difference in study success was found between unsure (M = 3.22) and self-confident efficient (M = 3.91) students. With regard to age there was a statistically significant difference between self-confident easygoing (M = 25.6) and self-confident efficient (M = 29.9) students. Student profiles didn't differ with regard to sex. The results imply that self-regulation, self-efficacy beliefs and psychological flexibility have a great significance for students' coping and well-being in their studies. Therefore it is important to increase understanding of the interplay between self-regulation, self-efficacy beliefs and psychological flexibility to find means to support students' coping under the economically challenging circumstances facing Finnish higher education.

Objectives. At the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, a large part of teaching in higher education institutions was transferred to distance learning, which affected the lives of students in many ways. The aim of this study was to examine what kind of challenges Finnish university students experienced in their studies during the Covid-19 pandemic and distance learning in the fall of 2020. The connections of the perceived challenges to gender and to the start date of studies were also examined. This study aimed to form a deeper understanding of what kind of demands the Covid-19 pandemic caused for university students. Based on the demands, it was discussed what kind of resources students would need to support their studies and well-being. In this study the study demands-resources model was used as theoretical framework. Methods. The research data was gathered as a part of the research of the educational psychology research unit of the Faculty of Education, University of Helsinki. The sample consisted of university students (N=1264) aged 18–58, of whom 81% were women. The measures of the study were based on an open question regarding the challenges experienced by students in their studies. The data was analyzed by classifying the challenges appearing in the answers using qualitative methods. The connections of the perceived challenges to gender and to the start date of studies were also examined using cross-tabulation. The significance of the observed differences was tested with the χ² test. Results and conclusions. Thirteen different categories of challenges were identified from the data, which described different physical, social, emotional and cognitive challenges experienced by the students. The most common challenges reported by students were related to high workload, time management and organizational skills, as well as lack of social interaction and loneliness. The results showed differences in the perceived challenges according to the start date of the studies. The results also suggested gender differences, but these differences were not statistically significant. Based on the results, students would need social support which the university could provide, for example by enabling social integration, especially at the beginning of studies. In addition, students would need support for developing time management and organizational skills, as well as physical support, for example in the form of providing facilities suitable for studying.

Previous studies have shown that cognitive strategies and approaches to learning can be considered as central factors affecting studying. Although the role of different aspects in learning has been emphasised in previous studies, those aspects have mostly been studied separately. Therefore, it is important to examine the interaction between cognitive-motivational aspects of learning, exhaustion and conscientiousness. Based on previous studies, it has been indicated that cognitive strategies and approaches to learning are related to each other. In addition, the studies have shown that cognitive strategies are directly related to the well-being of students. Previous studies have also indicated that social strategies reflect cognitive strategies. The aim of this study was to explore what kind of cognitive-motivational profiles can be formed for students and how do these profiles differ from each other in exhaustion and conscientiousness. Previous studies concerning exhaustion have almost solely focused on work context although preliminary studies have shown that exhaustion also widely exists among students. For now there has been only few studies regarding conscientiousness at the university context. The first study results have shown that cognitive-motivational factors are related to conscientiousness. The data were collected during late fall 2012, spring 2013 and fall 2013 by using a questionnaire. The participants (n=203) were first-year students of bioscience, dentistry, mathematics and medicine at the University of Helsinki. A person-oriented approach was used in the analysis. K-Means clustering was used for clustering students into cognitive-motivational profiles based on the combinations of cognitive and attributional strategies and approaches to learning. One-way ANOVAs were conducted to explore group differences in exhaustion and conscientiousness. Three student groups with different profiles were identified. The results show that students with different cognitive-motivational profiles varied in terms of exhaustion and conscientiousness. Students, who showed task-avoidance and a surface approach to learning also showed the highest levels of exhaustion and the lowest levels of conscientiousness. Students, who showed the highest levels of optimistic strategy and optimism in social situations, displayed the lowest levels of exhaustion and the highest levels of conscientiousness. Students, who showed a deep approach to learning, displayed the average exhaustion and conscientiousness. The results imply that by recognising cognitive-motivational profiles of university students it is possible to identify students who need more support at the beginning of university studying. In order to develop teaching and learning environment the way that it supports students and the development of beneficial cognitive strategies and approaches to learning, there should be conducted more comprehensive and profound research regarding the nature and development of different aspects in learning and their relation to students' well-being.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a large impact on higher education students’ life and studying. Due to the pandemic students had to move into distance learning and this might have had a significant impact on students’ psychological basic needs and study engagement. The aim of this study is to examine differences between students’ gender, age and the stage of studies in psychological basic needs and study engagement. This study also examines the impact of psychological basic needs on study engagement. Earlier research indicates that gender, age, and the period of studies have an impact on psychological basic needs and study engagement and psychological basic needs are positively connected to study engagement. Data of this study has been collected in the autumn of 2020 and it is a part of the research carried out by Educational Sciences’ of University of Helsinki’s research unit. The data was collected anonymously from students from various faculties using an online form. The data included 1476 participants of which 1202 were women (81,4%) and 236 were men (16,0%). Age of the participants varied between 18 and 44. In this study the study engagement was measured by the version of school engagement scale originally developed by Salmela-Aro and Upadyaya (2012) and the psychological basic needs were measured in the framework of the self-determination theory. Gender, age and period of studies were used as background variables. The results of this study indicated that over 25 years old students showed higher study engagement, autonomy and competence than under 25 years old students during distance learning. Men showed a little more autonomy than women and first year students showed more both study engagement and all psychological basic needs than students in the later stage of studies. The results also indicated that psychological basic needs positively predict study engagement. The results of this study help to understand the importance of impact of psychological basic needs on study engagement. In the future it would be useful to think how the student’s psychological basic needs could be supported and maintained during distance learning.

Prolongation of studies is a particular challenge in generic humanities studies. Supporting the development of organised studying skills is important, as the challenges faced in studies effect the study progress and the well-being of students. Organised studying skills are related to study progress, faster completion of studies, and coping with the challenges of academic studies. University students face challenges in the form of procrastination and stress, among other things. Good organised studying skills gives students the tools they need to cope with these challenges by managing their own behaviour, time and environment. The topic is topical due to the current pandemic, due to which university studies have become distance learning. Studying requires students to have the ability to organize their own studies, and studying can be challenging with weak organised studying skills. More research is needed on the intervention courses that support organised studying skills in the university context. The aim of the study was, firstly, to find out how first-year university students assess their own organised studying skills, their tendency to procrastinate, and stress prior and after the online intervention, and secondly, students' views on the effects of an online intervention on above issues. The data of this study consist of questionnaires (n = 18) conducted at the beginning and the end of the intervention, as well as preliminary assignments and learning reports (n = 22). The research material was obtained from The Centre for University Teaching and Learning (HYPE). The material was collected in the spring of 2019 from an online intervention course that supports organised studying and time management skills. The material was analysed quantitatively and qualitatively. The change after the intervention was observed by repeated measures t-test and students' views were observed with theory-guided content analysis. Students who participated in the online intervention course rated their own organised studying skills as weak and the procrastination they experienced as high in the beginning of the course. After the course, students reported that their organised studying skills increased, and procrastination as well as stress decreased. During the course, students’ awareness increased, and they learned a variety of ways to manage time, procrastination, and stress. The results provide an indication that students experience challenges in their studies and that it is possible to support students’ organised studying skills through online intervention.

Objectives. The study focused on exploring the different work life orientations adopted by the master students upon their graduation. Also the change in the students' orientations within the first few years in the working life was analyzed. While earlier research has focused more on labour markets' and higher education institutes' perspectives, this study is highlighting the perspective of an individual and the changes that occur within the orientations adapted by the participants after making the transition into the work life. This study utilizes Tomlinson's (2007) and Penttilä's (2009) model of students' work life orientations. The following research questions were addressed: 1) what kinds of work life orientations do the graduate students have towards the end of their studies? 2) How has the work life orientations changed within the first few years spent in the working life? 3) How is the different work life orientations connected to occupational health in the current position? Methods. The study was carried out by using longitudinal multimethod approach. The data were collected with questionnaires and interviews. The questionaire data was collected by Pyhältö & Löfström during the 2012 – 2013 academic year. The follow up data was collected by phone interviews in the fall of 2014. The study subjects had participated in the Helsinki University's group mentoring program in the academic year 2012 – 2013. The participants had different majors, and they were from different faculty's. Directed content analysis was utilized in the data analyzing process. Results. The results showed that the majority of university students' had adopted positive orientation towards work life transitions, and perceived themselves as active academic agents. Also association between negative orientation towards work life transitions, and reduced levels of academic agency was detected. Within the first few years after work life transitions, students' work life orientations had changed typically towards more positive orientation. The different work life orientations were not connected to the experienced occupational health in terms of work stress. Instead, the levels of work related stress were connected to how satisfied a person was for their career progress. The results imply that the higher education institutes should put more emphasis on ways to facilitate students' identity as academic experts already during their university studies.

Objectives: Overweight is a common health problem in children, adolescents and adults. Its effects on somatic well-being are well known, but the knowledge of its relationship with mental health is contradictory. The connections are likely to be stronger in studies that have studied adolescents who are receiving treatment to obesity. It is important to study what kinds of risk factors there are for psychiatric symptoms and substance use in adolescence and early adulthood. This master's thesis studies whether overweight and obesity are in connection with psychiatric symptoms and substance use in adolescents and young adults who have received treatment to obesity in childhood. Methods: This study is a part of Elintavat ja luusto nuorilla (ELLU) research project. The patient group consisted of adolescents and young adults who have received treatment to severe or morbid obesity in childhood. The control group consisted of normal weight adolescents and young adults of a similar age. The study involved 42 14-19-year-old adolescents (22 patients, 20 controls) and 62 17-24-year-old young adults (27 patients, 35 controls). Information about psychiatric symptoms and substance use was collected using the Youth Self-Report (YSR) and the Adult Self-Report (ASR) assessment forms. The data was analyzed using covariance analysis, linear regression analysis and logistic regression analysis. Results and conclusions: The overweight and obese adolescents had more total problems, internalizing problems, somatic problems, attention problems and social problems. Gender was significant in social problems: overweight and obese girls had more social problems than normal weight girls, but among boys there were not differences between the groups. In young adults overweight and obesity were not in connection with psychiatric symptoms. Gender had no importance in this connection. The overweight and obese young adults had 3.77-fold increased risk of smoking compared to normal weight young adults. Overweight and obesity are thus connected to psychiatric symptoms in adolescence and tobacco smoking in early adulthood. Conclusions about causality cannot be drawn based on this study. Information about overweight's and obesity's connections with mental health and substance use may help in treatment planning. It may as well increase the desire to draw attention to overweight children and adolescents early enough.

Despite the Finnish schooling system, which leans on the idea of equal educational opportunities, various studies have found that education is inherited. One of the best explanatory causes for this is thought to be the inheriting of cultural capitals, which is a central part of Bourdieu’s research in the field of social class. Additionally, former studies have found that cram schools inequalize students applying to universities based on their financial capitals. Regardless of the tendency to inherit education, some students whose parents are not highly educated still manage to apply and get in the university studies. In this thesis these students are called cross-generational educational risers. The objective of this thesis is to examine the reasons and background factors which encourage the cross-generational educational risers to apply to the university studies by a mixed method research strategy. These factors have been first studied via an internet survey conducted in four faculties of the University of Helsinki: educational sciences, social sciences, law and medicine. These influences to the applying process are studied using general statistics. The survey reached a total of 186 answers of which 29 were from cross-generational educational risers. Additionally, after the survey the case of one cross-generational educational riser from the faculty of law is studied and even further attention is payed to how these factors have been of influence in his case. This part of the thesis is executed through a semi-structured interview and the results are then analyzed using the phenomenological analysis. Differing from former studies in the field of inheriting education studies, this thesis detaches further away from the research tradition of social class studies and links closer to the research tradition of inheriting education. According to the survey, the greatest positive influences were found to be parents and different teachers. The lowest grade was given to the school counselor which was the only influencer to receive a grade below neutral. Of all the students from the faculties of law and medicine who answered, close to 90 % had attended a cram school before their university studies. The person interviewed, whose answers were in line with the results of the survey, also pointed out that his good grades throughout the school years and his coaches in sports were of great influence. The results of the school counselor are somewhat alarming and researchers should pay more attention to the role of the school counselor in the future.