The level of education is high in Helsinki
The average level of education is higher in the Helsinki Region than in Finland as a whole. 68 per cent of adults in Helsinki have an additional education acquired after the age of 15. Younger age groups are higher educated, and among them women more so than men. Compared with other urban populations in Europe, Helsinki residents more often have a tertiary education and less often a secondary one.

Vocational education employs well in the Helsinki Region
In the Helsinki Metropolitan Area, those having achieved a vocational or polytechnic degree find a job more easily than in Finland as a whole. Elsewhere in Finland, however, university graduates find a job slightly more easily. In 2004, some 73 per cent of those having completed a vocational training one year earlier in Helsinki had found a job. The corresponding figures for the Helsinki Metropolitan Area were 81 per cent among polytechnics graduates and 59 per cent among university graduates.

Among graduates from all levels and branches, unemployment was less common in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area than the rest of Finland. Also, graduates from all levels continued their studies more often than their peers do in the rest of Finland.

By 2004, some 70 per cent of those in Helsinki who had completed a secondary vocational education in the early 2000s had found a job in Uusimaa (the province where Helsinki lies). A job in the Helsinki Region had been found by 82 per cent of those having graduated from a polytechnic in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area at the same time, and by 80 per cent of those having graduated then from a university in the area. The majority of those having graduated in the early 2000s have found a job within the business sector. The proportion of business employees decreases the higher the education of the graduate is. Working in the public sector increase the higher education is. Starting a company of your own is most common among people with a vocational secondary education and among university graduates.

Positions for new students have increased especially in vocational training
In 1998-2006, the number of positions for new students in the Helsinki Region increased by 11 per cent in polytechnics, vocational and general secondary education, with a notable increase particularly at vocational schools. New student positions have decreased only in a field of social sciences, business and administration and in a field of technology and transport. By 2030, the number of under 19 year olds is expected to decrease in Helsinki but increase in the rest of the Helsinki Region. In 1995-2003, the number of jobs in the Helsinki Region grew by 28 per cent. In relative terms, the increase was greatest among people with a tertiary education. While the number of jobs requiring a compulsory general education has remained unchanged in the Helsinki Region, it has decreased in the rest of Finland. Within 15 years from now, 26 per cent of the Helsinki Region’s present workforce will have retired. The greatest proportion of retiring people will be found among people with a researcher level education and among people with a compulsory basic education only.

37% of university students are in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area
In 2004, almost 64,000 people studied at universities in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area, i.e. 37 per cent of all university students in Finland. Over the past ten years, the number of university students in the region has grown by 24 per cent. In 2003, more than one-quarter of 20-29 year olds in Helsinki studied at a university. In the nearest few years, the number of foreign students has grown rapidly, and the Helsinki Metropolitan Area has over half of all foreign university students in Finland.

Whilst in 1999-2004, the number of university degrees taken decreased by 0.2 per cent in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area, it increased by 9 per cent outside the region. In the Helsinki Metropolitan Area, doctoral degrees have increased the most, but this was still less than in the rest of Finland, on average.

Timo Äikäs & Sanna Ranto (toim.)
Koulutus ja työelämään sijoittuminen Helsingissä
OPPIEN OSAAJAKSI
Helsingin kaupungin tietokeskus. Verkkojulkaisuja 2006:24.

Timo Äikäs & Sanna Ranto (edit)
Education and recruitment for working life in Helsinki
City of Helsinki Urban Facts. Web Publications 2006:24.
Finnish publication with an English summary.

City of Helsinki Urban Facts
PO BOX 5520
00099 City of Helsinki
Finland
http://www.hel2.fi/tietokeskus
Mr. Timo Äikäs (Researcher)

Ms. Sanna Ranto (Project researcher)

02/05/2006

research

Urban Policy > Social inclusion & integration > Education

Higher education, Secondary education