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This master’s thesis aimed to identify and analyse the most relevant job resources that support and promote workplace well-being in knowledge work, focusing on the social and organisational aspects as well as their functional prerequisites. Previous studies have shown that job resources help cope with work goals, alleviate job demands and mental and psychological stress, as well as encourage growth and development. This thesis is based on a resource-centred approach by approaching workplace well-being from the view of positive psychology – seeing that workplace well-being forms in the interplay of social and organisational practices as well as the job itself, which the individual interprets from their own perspective. The study utilises the Job Demands Resources Model (JD-R) as well as Perceived Organisational Support Theory. The research material was collected through a semi-structured thematic interview of eight knowledge workers. The interviewees worked as architects, designers, engineers and in HR. The analysis of the interviews was conducted through a theoretically guided content analysis. The most essential social aspects supporting the interviewees’ workplace well-being were organisational culture and work atmosphere as well as workplace communication. The most essential organisational resources were autonomy and perceived organisational support. The most important perquisites for these resources were general attitude, allocated time resources and work community skills. The organisational and social aspects are best able to support the workers’ well-being when the individual’s, work community’s and organisation’s attitudes, action and allocated time meet. The results are in line with previous research and support the JD-R model and Perceived Organisational Support Theory.

Previous studies indicate that a background in elite sports is seen as a positive experience in recruitment. However, concurrently many elite athletes feel that finding the first job after a sports career is both challenging and time-consuming. Studies addressing generic skills have shown that skills especially valued in work-life in today`s society are good co-operative skills, goal orientation, persistence, and commitment. Studies made in the field of elite sports show that these skills are found and highlighted precisely among employees who have an elite sports background. The purpose of this study is to examine recruiters’ viewpoints on how they find a job applicant’s experience in elite sports and what type of generic skills they associate with elite athletes. Moreover, the purpose is to clarify how recruiters feel that their own background influences their perspective as recruiters. There were eight recruitment consultants from an international company in the recruitment industry participating in the study. The study used qualitative research method and the data was collected using semi-structured theme interviews and analysed using a theory-based content analysis. The analysis was guided by the data as well as the hypothesis formed based on Mustonen (2016) whereby a sports background of a recruiter is felt to have an influence when recruiting elite athletes. Theoretical background was also conducted by previous research on present-day generic skills and elite athletes’ transition from sports into working life. Recruiters who are former athletes felt that they understand the demands and sacrifices of elite sports and value the skills gained through sports. Recruiters that did not have a sports background comprehended elite sports more often as a hobby or as an experience similar to collective activities, whereas recruiters with sports background saw elite sports as work experience. The recruiters had rather similar views on elite athletes’ generic skills, which highlighted good interpersonal skills, co-operative skills, commitment, and goal orientation, as in the earlier research. The study showed that elite sports experience is seen in varying ways depending on the recruiter, and it articulated the importance of the ability of job applicants with elite sports background to verbalize their generic skills during a recruitment process.

Objectives: Rapid and continuing changes in working life puts great pressure on universities to ensure that their students be provided with the tools and capabilities needed for encountering the growing challenges in the field of work. Today, generic skills are considered increasingly important in order to succeed in working life. According to previous studies, generic skills as well as self-regulatory skills play an important role in learning overall. The aim of this present study is to investigate the Faculty of Arts students' experiences of how university studies have supported them in the development of generic skills and self-regulatory skills. The study will also examine various of background variables (age, gender, previous studies, stage of the current studies, employment) for connection to the skills. In addition, the study examines a possible connection for self-regulation skills and development of generic skills. Methods: The research was quantitative and a questionnaire was used to investigate the skills of both Bachelor's and Master's degree students. In total there were 245 participants from the Faculty of Arts. T-tests and One-way ANOVAs were conducted to explore the possible connection between background variables and development of generic skills and self-regulatory skills. Regression analysis was carried out to investigate the connection between self-regulation skills, previous studies and the development of generic skills. Results and conclusions: The results imply that students' generic skills are developed during their studies. Previous studies and the stage of current studies were connected for the development of generic skills. Master's students experienced their skills more advanced than Bachelor's students. Students also assessed their self-regulation skills relatively high. Previous studies and self- regulation skills were connected with the development of generic skills, but the connection must be explored further in future studies.

The aim of this study was to find out experiences of day care and school workers about collaboration with families during the process of making a mandatory report to child welfare. Workers in day care and school are obligated to report to child welfare if they start having concerns about a child's or his/her family's wellbeing. Along with the changes in legislation preventive services and earlier help for families are being emphasized. As a result the amount of mandatory reports to child welfare from the services close to child such as day care and school have increased. Collaboration with the family is often part of the process of making the mandatory report. Despite of that there is still very little we know about it. The purpose of this study was to examine, how families react to the concern and discussion about a mandatory report introduced by day care or school workers and also what is the workers' professional role in the collaboration with parents during that process. The data of this study is part of the data of Lastensuojelun kehittämis- ja tutkimushanke (LaskeTut 2013–2015) about the process of mandatory reporting. The data consists of 11 focus group interviews carried out in maternity and child welfare clinic, early childhood education, school, and specialized medical care. The data was collected during the spring of 2015. For this study two interviews from the workers of early childhood education and two interviews from the workers of school were chosen for the analysis. In total 13 cases about the process of mandatory reporting were introduced by the interviewees. The data was analyzed with mean content analysis. The results of this study showed that discussing about concerns and mandatory report is an emotional situation for families. The reactions of families changed depending on the cases, but four styles of reactions were found that could be distinguished from each other. They did not rule each other out but one style was always emphasized in the situations. In some cases families reacted positively and were understanding about the concern and a proposition of mandatory report. In those cases the discussions about the concerns were constructive and the concern became shared regardless of which one the worker or the parent first mentioned it. Parents who had difficulties on accepting the concern or the proposition of a mandatory report introduced by worker showed negative reaction. Those parents also showed anger and aggressive behavior towards workers. In some cases the reaction of parents changed suddenly from negative to positive or vice versa. Different views between parents and workers, parents diminishing the concern or ending the collaboration showed denial of the concern. In those cases parents did not see the reason for mandatory report. Workers' professional responsibility on collaboration with family during the process of mandatory reporting emerged from workers' experiences in addition to families' reactions. These responsibilities create the basis for collaboration with family. Workers felt they have a responsibility of thinking the child's best in all situations even if it would complicate the collaboration with parents. Bringing up the concerns was also considered part of their professional obligation. In addition workers of school discussed and listened the child's version of the concern and the situation of the family. Workers also tried to support parents in their challenging life situations by giving advices. Collaboration with family during the process of mandatory reporting evoked strong feelings in workers. However workers were aware of their own position and responsibility of controlling their personal feelings and keeping their actions professional. Based on the results of this study collaboration between family and workers from day care and school during the process of mandatory reporting includes some challenges and requires personal and professional views to meet.

Objectives. Parents of preschool children need to consider several questions concerning the children’s use of digital media. Should they limit the screen time strictly or act more freely according to the situation? The existing research on the topic is varied and mostly concerns school aged children and adolescents. The aim of the study was to find out whether parents of preschoolers consider themselves get enough support and information to help in decision making concerning digital media use. Research questions were: What kind of experiences do parents of preschoolers have of their children’s digital media use? What kind of support do parents wish to have and what kinds of wishes do they have? Methodology. The research material was attained through interviewing five parents of preschool children concerning their experiences of children’s digital media use. The material was analyzed through content analysis. Results and conclusions. The parents identified several positive and negative effects that digital media use has on children. They had diverse, well-functioning procedures when it comes to screen time, restrictions and rules. Both the parents applying strict restrictions and the ones who restrict only a little did implement principles of dialogical parenthood. Parents expressed a need to get much more material and support for preschoolers’ media education than they do at present. They wished to get more support both from child welfare clinics and from daycare. Parents of preschoolers could be supported in media education through available material and support at child welfare clinics and at daycare. The effects of this kind of support on the everyday life of families and parents’ experiences of media education could be further researched for example through intervention or case study.

This master's thesis examines Religious and Worldview Education in Finland. The aim of the research is to explore the thoughts of guardians of secondary school students in the capital region regarding the teaching of religious and worldview subjects. The study investigates the opinions of guardians in the capital region on the organization of religious and worldview education in schools. Additionally, the research delves into the views of guardians on the nature of religious and worldview education in schools. The purpose of this study is to consider the perspectives of guardians in the development of religious and worldview education. The research data is part of the project Näkökulmia osittain yhdistettyyn katsomusopetukseen ja katsomusdialogikasvatukseen oppilaiden ja huoltajien kokemana implemented in collaboration with a secondary school in the capital region. The data for this study consisted of survey responses collected from guardians through Wilma messages during the winter of 2022–2023. The survey was sent to the guardians of 400 students in the school, with 83 respondents. The research was conducted as a quantitative study, and the data was analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics 28 software. The research results indicate that most guardians are willing to modify the current religious and worldview education. Most guardians perceived religious and worldview education as important in a diverse world, emphasizing the need for inclusive instruction covering various religions and beliefs. Most guardians considered religious and worldview education to be broadening, providing knowledge to understand society. and teaching insight into the role and significance of religions and other belief systems in society. Based on the research findings, it can be concluded that most guardians would be willing to change the current arrangement of religious and worldview education to meet the needs of a changing and pluralistic society.

The purpose of this master's thesis was to examine the identity of the Swedish Finns from the perspective of food and food culture. The Swedish Finns are the largest minority group in Sweden. During last years it has been noticed that the Finnish language and the culture do not transmit to the new generations as they used to do. The Swedish Finns and their identity is being discussed in the theoretical section as well as the general human cultural background and the ability of an immigrant to adapt to a new culture. Another important research approach is the food culture and the food preferences. The research also discusses the change in the immigrant's food culture when a person moves to a new country and cultural environment. The research was qualitative by nature and the research data was gathered by using an electronic questionnaire. The questionnaire had mainly open-ended questions. A snowball sampling was helpful. The questionnaire was also shared with a closed Swedish Finns' Facebook group with more than 2000 members on it. There were 39 responses from people with a Finnish background who had lived different lengths of time in Sweden. The data was analysed by using a content analysis with themes and classifications. The Swedish Finns are a heterogeneous group. The common factor for the ones taking part in the research was their Finnish background. For the most of them the Finnish roots and food meant memories from childhood. These memories might have been connected with certain kind of food such as rye bread and Karelian pie or smells like the baking day at the grandmother's home. The Swedish Finns felt that seasonal food such as Christmas food and particularly Christmas casseroles were highly important. These memories were significant and they wanted to be passed on to their own children. The ones answering the questionnaires had a lot of knowledge and skill in the Finnish food and the food culture. They also wanted to maintain the Finnish food culture and teach it to their children.

In Finland the fungus Cortinarius purpureus is less known as a source of natural dyes than its relatives of the group Cortinarius semisanguineus coll. The aim of this study was to find out the range of colours we can get from the fungus Cortinarius purpureus compared to the colours from C. semisanguineus coll. Their colour fastness was also tested and compared. The fungi used in this research were collected and identified in autumn 2014. Wool cloth (Wetterhoff) and sock yarn (Novita Nalle) were dyed using the whole mushrooms and the caps and the stipes separately. Alum, iron and synthetic tannins were used as mordants. Tannins were tested as premordants and as simultaneous mordants. Unmordanted samples were used for comparison. Dyeing, colour analysis using CIELAB and washing tests were made in spring 2015 at the University of Helsinki. Light fastness was tested in the Tampere university of technology. As a result we noticed that both C. purpureus and C. semisanguineus gave a fairly similar range of colours; orange-red with alum, grayish-brown with iron and reddish-brown with tannins. Both fungi gave yellow shades when only the stipes were used and more reddish colours when only the caps were used. When iron was used as a mordant C. purpureus gave more bueish shades and the amount of blue increased when only the caps were used. C. semisanguineus on the other hand had more yellow colorants in it's stipes than C. purpureus. The colour fastness was moderate in both fungi. However we didn't try vinergar in the rinse water, which is said to improve colour fastness. In this research there was no difference between these fungi in colour fastness.

At the time of writing this thesis, in spring and fall 2018, the field of early childhood education in Finland is characterized by turbulence, dissatisfaction and disagreements between the early childhood professionals. Issues such as large child groups, lack of personnel, high rates of sick leave and turnover intentions have been reported in recent national projects as well as in media. The problematic situation is mainly a result of the extensive reform that the Finnish early childhood education has undergone in the last five years, and that has resulted in significant changes on most levels within the field. With this as foundation, and with the Job-Demands Resources model (JD-R) as point of departure, this thesis aimed to investigate how engaged daycare employees in Finland are, to explore the variables related to engagement as well as to analyze if the level of engagement had an impact on the employees’ turnover intentions. Engagement was studied in relation to six variables: workload, emotional demands, work autonomy, relations to colleagues and the supervisor as well as sense of coherence. This thesis was a pilot study in the research project Enjoy your work!, conducted at the Faculty of Educational Sciences at the University of Helsinki. Data was collected in May 2018 with an electronic survey that was sent to the trade unions Talentia, SuPer and the Kindergarten Teachers Union in Finland (LTOL), and then forwarded to a total of N = 3635 daycare employees. In this study, N = 545 of the responses were analyzed. The material was processed and analyzed with the statistical program SPSS. The results showed that the Finnish daycare employees are highly engaged in their work but that a large percentage still had intentions of leaving their job. Four variables explained the engagement: work overload, emotional demands, work autonomy and sense of coherence. The level of engagement differed significantly between those who intended to leave and those who intended to stay, so that those who intended to stay reported higher levels of engagement. However, all employees were highly engaged in their work, even those who intended to leave.

Objectives Insect food has been marketed as an ecological and ethical alternative to meat with vegetarians as the main target group. Recent studies have shown that several factors affect how people approach the use of insects for human nutrition. Consumers who value ecological, natural and taste aspects in food tend to be more open-minded towards edible in-sects. In this study, I aimed to examine the motives behind food choices and analyse the opinions of vegetarians and vegans towards insect-based nutrition and how their attitudes differ from those of omnivores. The effects of being knowledgeable about insect food was al-so considered. The target group of this study was ecologically and ethically conscious individuals. Methods. The data was collected by structured questionnaire which was shared via social media and University of Helsinki student organisations’ e-mail lists. The sample of this study consisted of 355 consumers’ answers of which 296 were women, 35 men, 13 other gender and 11 who preferred not to answer. Most of the respondents were undergraduate students and highly educated. The data was analyzed by using IBM SPSS Statistics 25 -software. Quantitative data analyses were carried out using crosstabs, explorative factor analysis and Kruskal-Wallis -test. Results and conclusions. The results of this study indicated that the most important motives behind food choices in all diet groups were environmental effects and necessity of meat consumption, food hedonism and sustainable values. Majority of respondents had critical attitudes toward meat consumption. Omnivores’ attitudes towards insect food tended to be more positive while vegans’ opinions on the topic were in general negative. Vegetarians opinions didn’t align with either of the extremes but were slightly closer to those of omnivores. The results also showed that respondents with good or moderate knowledge about insect food had more positive attitudes towards it than those with poor knowledge. The majority of respondents followed discussion on edible insects but only less than half were interested in consuming insect food. In conclusion, the results of this study indicate that insect food was primarily intriguing to omnivores and vegetarians. Those interested on the topic hoped that insect food was introduced to consumers via various courses. They would prefer to try edible insects in restaurants and cafeterias rather than eat them at home.