Finland on Education Part Deux

I had an opportunity to listen to a presentation about higher education in Finland led by the president of the technical university in Tampere. Education here (like the states only more pronounced) is split up in three main groups. Universities are either technical (engineering, science), liberal (humanities, arts), or general studies that combine both (CSU for example). The presentation from the technical university yielded some interesting observations. First, 20% of all graduates from the higher education system in Finland are engineers. This is insanely high! Almost all of them continue through masters level education in a more specific field (until most recently stopping at the bachelor level wasn´t even an option). Another interesting observation is the amount of women in the engineering program. I believe the dean reported it was 60% or higher. This is a total flip flop from the states where women are reported to have deficient math and science skills due to the different ways in which they learn vs. their male counter parts. You would think with all these smarts running around innovation would be a mainstay. You would be mostly right in this thinking, but let´s continue.....

Upon close examination you discover that there are so many engineers and technically skilled people running around that they can´t all possibly find work for which they are qualified. Many have to settle for jobs in which they are over qualified. This leads to some social issues and resentment against the system. It also limits upward potential of those that are employed at a qualified level as there are more than enough canidates that could replace them, thus keeping salaries relatively low (simple supply/demand).

What does all this mean? It means there are opportunities abound to build out "the team" and outsource some smarts.....Congratulations Finland, you´re on "the team".