The Potential of Social Media to Enhance Cultural Adaptation: A Study on Iranian Student in the Finnish Context

Hosseini, Zahra; Kotilainen, Sirkku; Okkonen, Jussi

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-40690-5_52

Cited by 7 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…This result is in line with the findings of Wang and Sun (2009) and Yang (2018) adopting the Use and Gratification Theory to explain the role of social media among immigrants to deal with their acculturation in the host society. The result of this study demonstrated that communication technology was used for personal communication more than creating a network in institutional settings (Sleeman et al, 2020;Hosseini et al, 2020).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 82%

The Role of Communication as the Drive for Immigration: A Case Study in Finland

Hosseini¹,

Kotilainen²

2021

Education and New Developments 2021

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Recently many studies have remarked migration issues. Thus, in countries such as Finland, having a governmental strategy for increasing the number of migrants, especially educated immigrants or encouraging international students to stay, is highly important. While Finland is recognized as the happiest country, it would be arguable why it is not included in the list of top destination countries for immigration. The literature shows communication is one of the most issues for immigrants and international students, particularly those from Asian countries. Therefore, this study aims to understand how technology-based communication such as the use of social media influences international students' decision to immigrate. Respectively, 23 Iranian tertiary-level students were interviewed as the case of the study. Uses and Gratification theory was employed to investigate the role of media usage among the participants. The findings showed that although there is high desire among the participants to immigrate to Finland, the difficulty and unpopularity of the Finnish language and culture of distance in Finland reduces the motivation to emigrate and made the participants feel being the outsider in the university and society. The use of communication media has facilitated university admissions and communication with family, friends, compatriots and other international students, but has not been able to connect them to Finnish society. While educated immigrants in every country are human resources, the results of this study draw our attention to explore different aspects of communication, identifying motivating factors and reducing frustration among international students for immigration. These results emphasize on the development of strategies and tools for harnessing the potential of media and technology to connect international students as future educated immigrants in the host community.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 82%

The Role of Communication as the Drive for Immigration: A Case Study in Finland

Hosseini¹,

Kotilainen²

2021

Education and New Developments 2021

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“…While a previous study indicated the effect of lecturer to reduce uncertainty and increase intercultural adjustment in international students (Chan et al, 2021), the teaching and relationship of Finnish teachers with students is not satisfactory for Iranian students. In addition, access to information on Finnish university websites does not seem to meet the needs of international students, however none of them causes students concern because of the possibility of asking others (Hosseini et al, 2020). The issue of access to information is found on other Finnish websites else than university websites (Hosseini & Hytonen, 2022).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Academic and Social Challenges Encountered by Iranian Students in Finland: A Phenomenographic Study

Hosseini¹

2022

Education and New Developments 2022 – Volume 2

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"This study aims to examine the experience of international students studying in Finland based on a phenomenographical approach. Due to the nationality of the researcher Iranian students were selected as the research sample and 25 tertiary-level students from various Finnish universities were interviewed through semi-structured interviews. The collected data were assessed and interpreted based on the theory of Anxiety-Uncertainty Management (AUM). The results showed that the Finnish academic system, such as teaching/ learning strategies, assessment methods, and university facilities, reduces participants’ anxiety/uncertainty. The participants noted fundamental differences between characteristics and teaching style of Finnish and Iranian teachers in universities. However, this unexpected situation not only did not make them anxious, but also made them feel more comfortable than when they were studying in Iranian universities. In contrast, Finnish culture, and communication issue associated with language barriers and lack of job opportunities increase participants' anxiety/uncertainty. Many participants did not consider themselves members of Finnish society, and some felt they were strangers. The findings highlighted the important role of communication as an AUM thematic principle and propose a set of axioms to AUM theory that focuses more on the different dimensions of communication in an intercultural context. Given the importance of context in the study of communication issues, further studies are recommended to understand the intercultural issues of students of other nationalities in different contexts."

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“…Analysis of the age structure of the population in Finland shows that the average age of foreign nationals is lower than that of Finnish nationals; an average of 45 vs 36 years (Eurostat 2022). Immigrants, especially the educated, consider their cultural integration and inclusion to be more related to employment in a decent place in the market, rather than having Finnish friends or attending Finnish events to feel part of Finnish society (Hosseini et al, 2020). Although Finland has made great efforts and investments to integrate culture and include immigrants, the unemployment rate in Finland is still higher than that of locals, and migrants' wages, working hours, and shifts vary from locals, the UTH report said.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It reduces the usefulness of content on websites for immigrants in Finland. While the culture of silence and privacy, communication seems a challenge for foreigners in Finland (Hosseini & Sirkku, 2021;Hosseini, 2022), some Finnish websites (such as the university website) have also shown that they do not meet the needs of foreigners (Hosseini et al, 2020). All these together further hinder the cultural inclusion of foreigners.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Pedagogical Approach for Socio-Cultural Inclusion: A Study on Immigrant Entrepreneurs in Finland

Hosseini¹,

Hytönen²

2022

Education and New Developments 2022 – Volume 2

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"According to the United Nations in 2019, the number of migrants worldwide reached 272 million and the wave of migration is expected to increase after the pandemic. As the number of immigrants increases, a strategy for their socio-cultural inclusion becomes essential. Finland is a Nordic country with a limited population that considered culturally, ethnically, and linguistically homogeneous, however, it is gradually changing as the number of immigrants increases. Promoting the integration of migrants and increasing their access to public services, labor market, private sector and opportunities in the host country is included in the strategies of the European Commission. Regarding the importance of entrepreneurship in the cultural inclusion of immigrants, this case study was conducted with an emphasis on the role of information technology in facilitating entrepreneurship for immigrants in Finland. Accordingly, a group interview was conducted to understand the challenges that migrants encounter in obtaining the information that they need. The results showed that immigrant entrepreneurs with different fields and backgrounds had difficulties finding some required information on Finnish websites. Some information or sources of information are known to locals while unknown or inaccessible to immigrants. In addition, participant of the study expected more variety and interaction in content on Finnish websites. This study proposes technological pedagogical content design (TPCD) as a systematic approach to design websites with more attention to multicultural users. TPCD assumes immigrants as learners who need to learn the new knowledge and skills in the host country. It utilizes pedagogical principles to define the needs of immigrants to clarify goals, create and organize content, and design web pages."

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The Potential of Social Media to Enhance Cultural Adaptation: A Study on Iranian Student in the Finnish Context

Cited by 7 publications

References 30 publications

The Role of Communication as the Drive for Immigration: A Case Study in Finland

The Role of Communication as the Drive for Immigration: A Case Study in Finland

Academic and Social Challenges Encountered by Iranian Students in Finland: A Phenomenographic Study

A Pedagogical Approach for Socio-Cultural Inclusion: A Study on Immigrant Entrepreneurs in Finland

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