Welcome to Kuopio, Finland, and our Master’s Degree Programme in International Business and Sales Management.

Business professionals who understand the phases of internationalization and the essence of modern sales work are needed in increasing numbers in international organizations and sales units. The combination of International Business and Sales Management is unique and provides an in-depth understanding of the global business environment and approaches to doing business and sales across borders.

– Our atmosphere is very international – we have students from all over the world, and the professors come from many different countries such as New Zealand, the US, Germany, the UK and Finland, says Professor of International Business Mika Gabrielsson. 

Internationally distinguished academics bring knowledge of current developments in business, and companies provide real life case projects to ensure that your education is also practical. A variety of teaching methods guarantees an interesting, challenging and motivating learning environment.

“Students are simply swept up by companies after they graduate”

Our unique program puts you on the path to becoming a valuable leader and sales professional. The competence gained opens up numerous career opportunities as an international business expert, consultant, sales manager and marketing generalist at national and global levels. Additionally, it provides tools to operate successfully in an academic field.

– Students are simply swept up by companies after they graduate. There are many good career opportunities, and as a valuable professional one can also expect good earning opportunities, Gabrielsson continues. 

The best education system in the world

Finland’s education system is regarded as one of the best in the world. For the nation’s own citizens, even higher education is free, but foreign students’ tuition fees are significantly less than those paid in other countries.

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According to the Deloitte Human Capital Trends Report, leadership is the second most important concern for organizations. But a Bersin by Deloitte study of millennial leaders found that 30 percent of respondents did not feel ready to be in their leadership roles.

Savvy business owners are responding to that sentiment with programs designed to give employees the skills needed to grow in their roles and eventually take leadership positions. According to Forbes, U.S. spending on corporate training has grown to over $70 billion annually, including initiatives like on-site and industry-specific training, undergrad and MBA tuition reimbursement, and financing for certificate and degree programs.

The biggest benefits of investing in these types of employee training and development include:

1. Attract high-quality employees

Employee training and development is a sought-after benefit for many talented job seekers, so offering these programs makes your business more attractive to high-caliber prospects.

2. Increased job satisfaction levels

When employees feel challenged and confident in their work, it increases engagement and productivity, which helps make your business run more efficiently.

3. Keeps skills competitive

Having employees stay current on industry trends and innovations helps your business better react and adapt to changes, giving you a competitive edge in the marketplace.

4. Better retention rates

The cost of replacing an employee far outweighs the cost of continuing training, so keeping employees satisfied through corporate development lowers turnover and, as a result, spending.

5. Internal promotion opportunities

Promoting employees from within helps you identify who’s really management material, and results in leaders who are already familiar with the business and its culture, and can hit the ground running in their new role from the start.  

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The skills to get there

When considering the skills that helped him move forward, Brown first credits networking. “Building trusted relationships has served me well throughout my career. Investing in people and culture have also been top priorities for me.” Along with the social aspects, Brown also emphasizes flexibility. “Mobility helped to advance my career significantly. Being willing to move for new opportunities enabled me to broaden my experience quickly,” he said. Over the course of ten years, Brown lived and worked in four cities, “all of which provided me with unique learning experiences on culture, talent and markets that I use in my current role today. Taking risks and going places where proven ad-models did not exist is also key.”

By merging creativity and business, Brown has focused on problem solving and learning from coworkers. “Empowering [my team] to solve complex challenges with me has always served me well.”

Up next

While the digital world is constantly evolving, Brown finds fascination in the chaos.  “How content is being created, distributed and consumed is changing so fast that it is truly exciting to see what is coming next.” 

The post How Lee Brown Became the Chief Revenue Officer of Buzzfeed appeared first on Education and Career News.

Recent research from STEMconnector (State of STEM: Defining the Landscape to Determine High-Impact Pathways) seeks to shed some light on this issue, presenting a detailed examination of the forces and factors underlying the STEM talent gap and providing a roadmap for investment across sectors.

Report author Erin White presents a confluence of five gaps which create our current workforce challenges. These gaps include fundamental skills development, postsecondary credentialing, geography, demographics and belief. Young people need to be given ample opportunity to develop the fundamental skills necessary for today’s workforce. They need additional guidance and support to navigate complex pathways toward earning the credentials that will get them jobs. More can be done to create opportunity in areas of high population but little economic growth, or in areas of booming economic growth, to bring opportunities to the local populations. Despite decades of investment trying to attract and retain more women and people of color in STEM careers, the needle isn’t moving. And finally, if we don’t create a culture where young people believe in themselves to pursue and succeed in STEM careers, they won’t. We need to do better.

Investing across each of these gaps will help us to ensure that we don’t lose talent like Kyle, Angie and Melissa along the pathways to future careers. Long-term investment and cross-sector partnership and collaboration will help us to ensure a diverse and robust STEM workforce.  

Ashley Szofer, Senior Director of Communications & Partnerships, STEMconnector, us.editorial@mediaplanet.com

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1. Technology is everywhere

Children attending K-12 were born into a digital world. Some say that computer literacy is as foundational as reading, writing and math. Teaching code not only prepares students for STEM careers, but gives them a better understanding of machines they will interact with the rest of their lives.

2. Programming exercises multiple areas of the brain

A 2014 study found that when people work with source-code, five brain regions are activated related to language processing, working memory and attention. While more research is needed, this indicates early computational thinking can mold multiple regions of the brain.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

3. Diversity in STEM begins in PreK-6

In a study conducted by Bayer, more than 77% of female and underrepresented minority chemists said gender and race disparity in STEM is caused by lack of encouragement to pursue STEM at an early age. By targeting basic STEM skills like coding, schools can facilitate early interest in STEM careers.

4. The world needs computer scientists

While 71 percent of all new jobs in STEM are in computing according to Code.org, only eight percent of STEM graduates studied computer science. Today’s students could fill those gaps in the job market more easily if they learn coding at an early age.

5. Coding is creative

More than just a science, coding enables self-expression. When developing code, students impact the world around them while fostering problem-solving skills. Engagement soars when they see real-world connections to lessons they’re learning.

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Kiki Prottsman

Author, Educator

How does learning to program at a younger age set children up for the future?

Programming is hard. It’s challenging, unyielding, and sometimes irritating. Even so, after fighting with a particularly difficult piece of code and adapting to the feedback from error after error, something clicks. You learn. You solve a problem and feel the glory of success that only comes from persistence in the face of adversity. That joy, that fire, reminds you that you are triumphant and capable of overcoming obstacles in many different shapes if you are just willing to tackle them from different angles and pay attention to the signs sent to you by failure. You learn the value of failure itself. You learn that no matter how many times you are wrong, you still have the opportunity to be right. You learn that your mind is malleable and that your understanding of the world around you can be shaped and reshaped by every dead-end that you hit. Best of all, you are reminded of this dozens of times each day as you arrange and rearrange a limited number of instructions to create an unlimited number of applications, utilities, games, models, or simulations.  

Whether or not a student ends up in a job that requires programming, the act of learning to program will prepare them to learn from their environment. It will prepare them to learn from failure and to learn without explicitly being taught, which is the key to becoming an innovator so that they can shape their world instead of merely living in it.

What do you hope to see for the future of k-12 education in the digital age?

In many places, education is divided into silos.  Each subject is taught at its distinct moment and in a specific context, making it hard to recognize authentic occasions for combining knowledge to solve problems outside of school. My hope is that digital tools will provide the opportunity to blend ideas into learning adventures that are meaningful to students and are more easily translated into real life skills.

What do you think are the greatest benefits of integrating technology education in the classroom?

Students learn different subjects at different rates and expecting each of them to move in lockstep with their classmates because their birthdays fall within the same year is uncomfortably arbitrary. Then, presuming that teachers should be able to differentiate curriculum appropriately for each of their students is unfair and impractical. Technology is uniquely situated to solve this problem, being that it is quite good at stashing away a vast amount of information and only presenting us with what is needed at that time. I believe that good platforms can help further individualize education by challenging those who are excelling while encouraging those who are falling behind.

At the moment, it’s hard to imagine such options being successful since the majority of the cutting edge educational software is designed by engineers and philanthropists, rather than by educators themselves. This leads to a market saturated with options, and no way for teachers to separate promises from results. Technology can help here. With the right platform to curate options, reviews and results, the world of k-12 education would be able to confidently adopt products that are worth the investment, helping to prevent tech recoil from expensive experiments that don’t turn out to be effective. Of course, there are always activity-based coding books, too—like the ones I have written for DK Publishing—which are full of fun exercises with step-by-step guidance, making them the perfect introductory tools for kids (and their parents and teachers) to build vital skills in computer programming.

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Equitable paths toward high-level math and science courses

Early access to foundational math and science, such as Algebra I and Biology, gives students greater opportunities to excel in advanced high school courses.

Well-trained and supported STEM teachers​​​​​​​

Studies show that students have greater success when they are taught by teachers who are well-trained in their STEM fields and are well supported with classroom and lab resources.

Community demand and support

Policies, funding and other supports are critical to ensure high-quality STEM education reaches all students.

“Recent federal data show that half of American high schools don’t offer advanced math courses and more than 60 percent of high schools with large populations of African American or Latino students lack advanced math,” said Melissa Moritz, NMSI’s vice president for strategic initiatives. “These gaps deny students critical skills and knowledge, and we are committed to correcting that.”

Organizations like these and others focus on STEM because those skills and knowledge dominate a growing majority of jobs and heavily influence others.

“STEM knowledge and skills allow us to tackle the world’s biggest challenges – from climate change to hunger,” said Talia Milgrom-Elcott, executive director of 100Kin10. “Children in every community should have the opportunity to develop those skills. For that to happen, we need excellent and well-supported STEM teachers in every school.”

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Tell us a bit more about your nonprofit, The Mars Generation.

The idea for The Mars Generation was born when I was 15. I had been asked by Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano to be his Earth Liaison during his 6-month stay on the International Space Station, to share his experiences living and working in space with people here, especially young people and women. Upon seeing the incredible success this work had, I decided I wanted to continue it after Luca’s return to Earth. In 2015 I launched The Mars Generation, and in a little over 2 years, we have amassed a social media following of over 1 million people, sent 36 students in poverty to Space Camp on full paid scholarships, and have over 1,500 Student Space Ambassadors globally.

Our nation’s workforce is in desperate need of STEM talent. What advice would you give our next generation of innovators?

One of the biggest problems we have with recruiting young women and minorities into STEM fields is that they often don’t feel supported — and even more than that, they often feel unwelcome in STEM careers. Be loud and be proud about your dreams. The first step in making a goal come true is believing in yourself — no one else can do that for you. Talk about your dreams and goals. Once you start being vocal about what it is you plan to do in the future, other people can help you.

What advice would you give parents and educators who strive to improve STEM learning opportunities?

Be creative! Creativity is key in creating innovative STEM education opportunities. Many students learn through different means, and by including multiple techniques in a lesson or activity you can reach more students. Also look for organizations around you who are already doing what you want to do. Is there a local CAP chapter that could come in and talk about flying or lead an activity about flying?

The post Astronaut Abby Encourages STEM Dreams for Girls & Minorities appeared first on Education and Career News.

Collaborations and initiatives

This unique experience, called Girls and Mentors Soaring Together, was the result of a partnership between the Museum of Flight and TechREACH, an afterschool program focused on increasing student participation in STEM. The partners secured mini-grant funding from the National Girls Collaborative Project (NGCP) to make this event possible.

Numerous programs and initiatives have focused on increasing gender equity in STEM fields, but many of these programs and their staff are isolated from others doing similar work. That prevents them from benefitting from the sharing of resources or exemplary practices as is necessary to make large-scale impact. By making collaboration a priority – in the spirit of collective impact – girl-serving STEM organizations, K-12 and higher education, professional organizations and industry can unite around one common goal: providing more effective opportunities for girls in STEM. By creating partnerships with others that serve girls and women in STEM, organizations can generate and carry out creative solutions and strategies that maximize the benefit beyond what one project or organization could accomplish alone.

Flying together

“It was an amazing experience for all girls and women. I wished that such a forum had existed for me when I was 10 years old,” said Tracey Masterson, a Girl Scout leader at the event. “The presenters provided such vast insights into the world of Aerospace. But the most important message for our girls was clearly stated as persevere, follow your dreams and always move forward towards your joy.” The power of collaboration is significant and lasting. Girls from this experience have continued on and championed the spirit of collaboration they saw modeled for them that day. Together, we can show all girls they can, indeed, fly.

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“The majority of families prefer that their daughter becomes a teacher because it’s a respected, well-paying job in the community where women only work with other women,” explains Forough, an Afghan refugee who lived in Iran before returning to her home country.  

But the determined young woman overcame those roadblocks to receive her bachelor’s degree in computer science from Herat University in Afghanistan, followed by a master’s in Information Technology from the Technical University of Berlin in Germany.

Pushing the boundaries of inspiration

In January 2015, Forough founded a nonprofit dedicated to empowering girls to pursue science, technology, engineering, and math called Code to Inspire (CTI). “I always wanted to give back to my community and be an advocate for women’s education and equal access to resources,” Forough says. Later that year she opened the first coding school for girls in Afghanistan. The school sought out to educate Afghan women with in-demand programming skills, empower them to contribute their skills to their communities, and inspire them to strive for financial and social independence.

“Our goal is to graduate every student and help all of them find employment while creating a strong community where our students learn important skills,” she says. “Our graduates stay in close contact with the organization, sharing their stories and professional experiences with current and potential students.”

A bright future on the horizon

The school prepares women for the job market by providing the professional skills they need to succeed, including teaching them to navigate freelance platforms, develop a social media presence, write resumes, compile portfolios, and work in a professional setting.

Forough’s school also offers a job-driven curriculum consisting of web development, mobile application development, gaming, graphics, and design. “This gives our students access to the millions of available jobs on the online global marketplace,” Forough explains. “Our goal is to prepare CTI students to be competitive in the job market and hold their own economically.”

Today, CTI serves 80 female students ranging in age from 14 to 25 in Herat, Afghanistan. The school operates in a war zone where literacy rates are 38 percent across the entire population, and less than 20 percent among women.

Forough is proud to be able to provide a safe and secure learning environment that includes modern computers and internet access for students, with in-person professional mentors available every day. 

“As one of our high school students recently told us, ‘I feel more powerful from the very first day I started writing code,’” says Forough, who urges girls to not allow their gender or ethnic background to hold them back. “Knowledge is power, and technology is the tool for this empowerment.”

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