Hanken’s new Dean of Education Minna Martikainen: International students an immense potential

”Finland does not sufficiently utilise the potential that international students constitute”, says Minna Martikainen, Professor of Accounting, who is Hanken’s new Dean of Education as of 1 August 2015.

According to Martikainen, during their studies in Finland the majority of the international students wish that they could stay and work in Finland after graduating. However, one year after their graduation, only close to half of them are still in Finland, and this worries Dean Martikainen.

Martikainen believes that we in Finland benefit far too little from the possibility to combine the cultural background of the international students with their know-how for the benefit of Finnish companies on the global market.

“Finland of the future can’t develop if we stay inside our bubble and only dwell on domestic affairs. Instead we must strive for success by mirroring our own expertise against the world market, by educating international experts in cooperation with the corporate sector, and through this continuously renew ourselves and our strengths”, asserts Martikainen.

According to Martikainen, the key to our success lays in our education system that is of the highest international standard and the international elements already incorporated within it, and in profiting from this to a higher extent for the benefit of our Finnish companies.