This qualitative study examined the athletic retirement processes of Finnish female elite distance runners retrospectively, and was loosely based on the theoretical-conceptual background of sport career transition models (Stambulova, 2003; Taylor & Ogilvie, 1994). The participants were Finnish female distance runners who have competed at the national level, or at the international level as members of the Finnish national track and field team. In Finland, the athletic retirement process has not been studied extensively, especially among distance runners. A total of nine former female runners who had retired 10 years prior and no less than one year ago participated in the study. The qualitative data were collected by conducting semi-structured interviews in Finland, using an interview guide constructed by Kadlcik and Flemr (2008) as a model. Seven of the interviews were performed face-to-face, one via Skype, and one via telephone. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and a total of seven themes with 25 subthemes emerged from the data. The themes that emerged included: (1) avenues to become a distance runner, (2) meaning of running, (3) pre-retirement conditions, (4) retirement, (5) factors affecting quality of retirement, (6) major effects of retirement, and (7) current life. Several reasons for sport career termination were identified, loss of motivation being the most prevalent. Most athletes did not have a plan for how to deal with retirement, although studying and other interests played an important role when methods of adaptation were discussed. As in previous studies conducted in other countries, the former Finnish athletes experienced significant changes in many aspects of their lives, including social, psychological and health. Overall, the participants reported a challenging, but not overwhelming athletic career retirement process, with two out of nine participants stating that the transition was somewhat difficult. Recommendations for researchers and practitioners are also discussed. / Kinesiology

In the midst of the Finnish NATO process Turkey was discussed in the Finnish news more than before. This was due to Turkey withholding Finland’s NATO membership for almost a year. This study investigates the framing of Turkey in the editorials of Helsingin Sanomat (HS), the largest and most influential newspaper in Finland to understand whether the NATO membership process affected the framing. A frame analysis is constructed over three periods: before Finnish NATO application, during the accession process, and after the membership was ratified. The emerging frames are compared in a diachronic comparison. The analysis is guided by Entman’s (1993) framing model and his four framing functions to understand how the editorials define problems, diagnose causes, make moral judgements, and suggest remedies.  This study finds that the HS editorials’ framing of Turkey focuses on the president of the country and is negative throughout the periods. No radical changes in framing were found over the periods, but all throughout Erdoğan’s politics were seen as senseless, undemocratic, and oppressive. The frames develop towards harsher direction over the periods, and the Finnish alignment with Turkey through NATO can be considered to play a part in this framing.

Denna uppsats syftar till att forska kring styrningen över skolan i Sverige respektive Finland. Detta avseende om styrningen skiljer sig mellan länderna och i sådant fall på vilket sätt, samt se om det finns något samband mellan styrning och likvärdig utbildning. Styrning över skolan handlar om vem som bestämmer över de olika delarna, och hur skolverksamhet organiseras. Detta ämne uppmärksammades genom att Finland sedan många år legat i topp, bland PISAS undersökningar om elevernas prestationer och landets likvärdighet mellan skolorna. Uppsatsen genomförs därför utifrån en kvalitativ idé- och idealtypsanalys, utifrån relevanta nationella styrdokument om svensk respektive finsk styrning över skolan. Detta med stöd från teorin om fyra styrdoktriner och direkt – indirekt styrning, som förklarar hur styrning går till. Studiens resultat visar på att bägge länder präglas av flera styrdoktriner, däribland mål- och resultatstyrning med övergripande formulerade mål och riktlinjer om skolan, nätverkstyrning där samverkan mellan aktörer och kommuner underlättar för samhällets delaktighet samt brukarstyrning där medborgare får inflytande på olika sätt. Däremot skiljer sig graden av enighet med styrdoktrinerna mellan länderna och hur långt länderna dragit gränsen för inflytande.

This paper compares political dynamics in Sweden and societal outcomes inFinland with regard to the implementation of Universal Basic Income (UBI).While Sweden still largely remains in theoretical discussion, Finland hascarried out practical experimentation, and the results are shifting. Theevidence suggests that the recent Finnish UBI experiment resulted in mixedfindings: it neither improved nor hurt employment, but increased the wellbeing of participants in terms of mental health and feelings of financialsecurity. The debate in Sweden is quite the opposite, with politicalpolarization and a caution stemming from the worry about economicfeasibility. This paper thus brings out the different cultural, economic, andsocial contexts that could harbor the acceptance and possible impact of UBIin the two Nordic countries.

The starting point of this study is understanding religion as a mediatized and contested social phenomenon. The study aims to analyze how the Church of Jesus Christ Latter-Day Saints (LDS Church or the Mormons) is perceived by the Finnish people in the documentary film The Mission – Lähetyssaarnaajat (2022). Furthermore, the study intends to explain how and why certain types of religion can come to be seen and framed as problematic, respectively acceptable, in contemporary Finnish society. The methods that are employed to answer the research questions are qualitative content analysis and frame analysis. While the mediatization of religion is used as a theoretical backdrop in the study, the results are analyzed further with Hjelm’s (2014) idea of religion as a problem or utility, the concept of culturalized religion (Astor & Mayrl, 2020) and prior research. The final results of the study indicate that the LDS Church continues to be framed and perceived as an alien and potentially problematic denomination in Finland. That is due to the considered heretic and anti-scientific character of Mormon thought and the perception of the LDS Church as a restrictive denomination. The acceptable Finnish religion in the material is based, instead, on a cultural form of Lutheranism that prioritizes scientific reasoning and emphasizes individual well-being.

Wood can be added to streams to create microhabitats that provide macroinvertebrates with an opportunity for re-colonization by making the stream more heterogeneous. I examined colonization on wood substrate by macroinvertebrates in semi-natural streams in northern Finland during a three month period. Each of the streams was divided in three sections A, B and C, half of which were provided with wood. The focus has been on whether the density of macroinvertebrates changes with time, along an upstream-downstream direction in the streams, or in streams with two wood sections if macroinvertebrates will colonize the first section with wood that they come in contact with (upstream section) or if they continue downstream to the second section with wood. Wood from Salix sp. was placed in nine of the 18 enclosures during mid-June. Samples of wood were removed from the streams on three different occasions from August to October 2014. A total of 32 taxa were identified from the wood and assigned to functional feeding groups: shredders, scrapers, active filter feeders, passive filter feeders, collectors, miners, piercers and predators. The results showed that collectors, miners and piercers increased in density during the month of October and the abundance of scrapers was higher in the upstream location than in the downstream location. Total number of macroinvertebrates, collectors, passive filter feeders and predators had a higher colonization on the first substrate they came into contact with. / Ved i homogena vattendrag skapar mikrohabitat och ger evertebrater en möjlighet att återkolonisera vattendraget genom att göra vattendraget mer heterogent. Jag har undersökt makroevertebraters kolonisation på ved i semi-naturliga bäckar under en tre månaders-period i norra Finland. Bäckarna var uppdelade i tre sektioner upp-, mellan- och nedströms respektive A, B och C. Av 18 sektioner var nio ved försedda. Jag har fokuserat på om tätheten av evertebrater och diversiteten förändras med tiden, längs bäckarna dvs. uppströms – nedströms, och om makroevertebrater kommer kolonisera den första vedförsedda sektionen de kommer i kontakt med eller fortsätta till den efterföljande vedförsedda sektionen. Ved från Salix sp. placerades i nio inhägnader i mitten på juni. Prov på ved togs vid tre olika tidpunkter under studieperioden från Augusti till Oktober 2014. En totala av 32 taxa identifierades från veden och grupperades i funktionella födogrupper: Sönderdelare, skrapare, aktiva filtrerare, passiva filtrerare, samlare, växtgrävare, växtsugare och predatorer. Resultatet visade att samlare, växtgrävare och växtsugare ökade i täthet under oktober månad samt att skapare föredrog ett uppströmsläge framför de andra två möjligheterna. Totala antalet evertebrater, samlare, passiva filtrerare och predatorer koloniserade det första substratet de kom i kontakt med i större utsträckning än de andra födogrupperna.

COMMON ENDS OR COMMON MEANS? The Cold War is over and Sweden and Finland are starting to deal with the new security enviroment that has emerged. Grand Strategy in both countries is changing to meet the new Europe and surroundings. Both Sweden and Finland consider the risk of a direct attack in the near future to be highly unlikely and this has effects on the respective countries grand strategy. A broadened approach to security is applied and the military instrument is no longer the primary concern in the strategy. Both Sweden and Finland become members of the European Union in 1995 but neither is a member of NATO, the countries both consider themselves as military non-aligned, the only two countries with a coastline to the Baltic Sea with that stance. This makes for a logic choice to cooperate for the common security and a cooperation is formed to cover security policies to be relevant in peace, crisis and war. Even though the countries are existing in and interpret the new security enviroment in similar ways they approach the challanges in differing ways. This creates the differences that we identify and describe in this thesis. The purpose of this thesis is to identify and describe the differences between Sweden's and Finland's grand strategy, how this difference has changed from 1996 to 2018 and if these differences can have consequences for the cooperation between the two countries, mainly military and at the highest strategic level. The thesis is focused on the elements of the grand strategy that involves the armed forces of the respective countries. This comparative text analysis compares political policy documents within the grand strategy field from both Sweden and Finland. We will compare the period from 1996-2018. The comparison will be made by examining three occasions in the period, year 1996, Year 2004 and year 2018. The documents used have relevance against these years and are analyzed by applying Jacob Westberg's model; ends, means, ways and environment. The differences and the consequences that are the conclusions of this thesis are that cooperation are not always formed because it is the best possible option but sometimest the only possible options. Sweden and Finland's history differ in some parts and this has affected the respective country's security strategies. Finland has a history of coping for itself and has thus a national focus with focus on a stable national defense while Sweden has a history without war in modern times and a constant glance at military international engagement and the political benefits that can be achieved on the international scene.

The changing landscape of demographics, technology, and diversity in the learning environment is challenging schools around the world to rethink their approaches to the implementation of high-quality teaching practices. Classroom practices are becoming more complex because educators have to ensure that their students are well-equipped with 21st century skills (e.g., Darling-Hammond, 2010; Dede, 2010; Griffin, McGaw, & Care, 2012). Educators, curriculum developers, and school administrators need to be more than experts in pedagogy. They are now required to keep up with current ideas, innovative instructional practices, and the results of a variety of educational reform efforts. Believing that teachers’ beliefs are the most important psychological construct with regard to instructional practices (Pajares, 1992) and that teachers’ beliefs are related to their choice of classroom practices and, ultimately, the students’ performance (Bybee, Taylor, Gardner, Van Scotter, Powell, Westbrook, & Landes, 2006; Staub & Stern, 2002), the author of this study utilizes the international data set of the Teaching and Learning International Study (TALIS) 2013 to examine the associations between teachers’ constructivist beliefs, their self-efficacy beliefs, professional activities, and the school principals’ instructional leadership as related to lower secondary school teachers and principals in South Korea, Finland, and Mexico. These three countries represent the high and low performers in the global index of cognitive skills and educational attainment (Pearson, 2014). An account of their educational practices will provide some insights for stakeholders in school systems across nations. Nevertheless, it is important to understand that each country has unique teaching and learning conditions, and that conclusions reached in relation to such conditions do not apply across nations. A series of hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) studies were performed for the present work to provide evidence-based information with practical implications to school administrators and educational policymakers regarding the development and implementation of leadership programs and teacher professional development. Additionally, an understanding of how the constructivist beliefs associate with the level of self-efficacy and professional activities will assist curriculum developers in higher educational institutions in the development of quality teacher preparation programs for the future teaching workforce.

Abstract In my thesis, I have studied Tampere as a Swedish language island from a sociolinguistic perspective with Bernard Spolsky’s approach to language sociology as the theoretical framework. By language policy I mean language planning efforts and various forms of both conscious and unconscious linguistic practices which become visible as practices in everyday life on different levels of society. Of all the approximately twenty Swedish clubs, associations and institutions in Tampere, I have focused on two important spaces, namely the institutions Svenska samskolan i Tammerfors (the Swedish school) and Tammerfors svenska församling (the Swedish congregation). The aim of the study is to find out what kinds of practices, processes and choices are negotiated in these language island communities. I examine the communities both on an institutional and an individual level. My goal is to describe the kind of a language policy the institutions and individuals create and apply in their daily activities. The study is descriptive and aims to illustrate the sociocultural reality of the Swedish language on both the macro and micro levels in a Finnish-speaking majority context. In the study, I have applied triangulation on the levels of both method and material. I have used various types of data such as questionnaires, field notes, documents, written works, webpages and thematic interviews due to the varying types of the institutions and focus groups. The different materials studied required the application of both quantitative and qualitative methods of analysis. In the case of open questions and thematic interviews I have applied content analysis, leading to a process of abstraction. The results of the study show that the Swedish institutions Svenska samskolan i Tammerfors and Tammerfors svenska församling have over the course of time gone through a change in language policy. This has led to the application of varied linguistic practices in everyday life. Characteristic for the language policy in the Swedish school in the 2010s is language awareness and openness. Characteristic for both institutions studied is interaction between language maintenance efforts and continuous accommodation between Swedish and Finnish in various communicative practices. / Tiivistelmä Väitöskirjassani olen tutkinut Tamperetta ruotsalaisena kielisaarekkeena kielisosiologisesta perspektiivistä käyttämällä teoreettisena viitekehyksenä Bernard Spolskyn kolmea kielipoliittista komponenttia. Kielipolitiikalla tarkoitan tietoisia kielen suunnitteluun liittyviä panostuksia sekä erilaisia tietoisia ja tiedostamattomia kielellisiä toimintoja, jotka näyttäytyvät erilaisina arjen käytäntöinä yhteiskunnan eri tasoilla. Runsaasta kahdestakymmenestä ruotsinkielisestä kerhosta, yhdistyksestä ja instituutiosta olen tarkastellut kahta merkittävää ruotsinkielistä tilaa, nimittäin Tampereen ruotsalaista koulua (Svenska samskolan i Tammerfors) ja Tampereen ruotsalaista seurakuntaa (Tammerfors svenska församling). Tutkimuksen tarkoituksena on selvittää, millaisia kielellisiä käytänteitä, prosesseja ja valintoja näissä kielisaarekeyhteisöissä muodostuu. Tarkastelen yhteisöjä instituution ja yksilön tasolla. Kiinnostukseni kohteena on se, millaista kielipolitiikkaa sekä instituutiot että yksilöt luovat ja soveltavat päivittäisessä toiminnassaan. Tutkimus on deskriptiivinen ja sen tarkoituksena on kuvailla ruotsinkielistä sosiokulttuurista todellisuutta makro- ja mikrotasolla suomenkielisessä enemmistökontekstissa. Olen soveltanut tutkimuksessa sekä menetelmä- että aineistotriangulaatiota. Tutkimuskohteiden erilaisuudesta johtuen olen käyttänyt tutkimusaineistoina kyselylomakkeita, kenttämuistiinpanoja, asiakirjoja, kirjallisia teoksia, verkkosivuja ja teemahaastatteluja. Aineistot edellyttivät sekä kvantitatiivisten että kvalitatiivisten analyysimenetelmien käyttöä. Avoimiin kysymyksiin sekä teemahaastatteluihin olen soveltanut sisällönanalyysiä ja abstrahointia. Tutkimustulokset osoittavat, että ruotsalaiset instituutiot Svenska samskolan i Tammerfors ja Tammerfors svenska församling ovat kielipolitiikan näkökulmasta tarkasteltuina muuttuneet aikojen saatossa. Tämä on johtanut vaihteleviin kielellisiin käytänteihin, joita arjessa sovelletaan. Kielitietoisuus ja avoimuus ovat ominaisia piirteitä Svenska samskolanin kielipolitiikalle 2010-luvulla. Tunnusomaista molemmille instituutioille on vuorovaikutus, joka vallitsee yhtäältä kielen säilyttämiseen liittyvien panostusten ja toisaalta erilaisissa viestinnällisissä tilanteissa tapahtuvan ruotsin ja suomen kielen akkommodaation välillä. / Abstrakt I denna avhandling har jag granskat Tammerfors som svensk språkö i ett språksociologiskt perspektiv enligt Bernard Spolskys tre komponenter av språkpolicy som teoretisk referensram. Med språkpolicy avser jag medvetna språkplaneringsinsatser och olika former av både medvetna och omedvetna språkliga handlingar som avtecknas som praktiker i vardagen på olika nivåer i samhället. Av de ett drygt tjugotal svenska klubbar, föreningar och institutioner har jag lagt fokus på två betydande svenska rum, nämligen institutionerna Svenska samskolan i Tammerfors och Tammerfors svenska församling. Mitt syfte är att utreda vad som är kännetecknande för de språkliga praktiker, processer och val som konstrueras i dessa språkögemenskaper. Dels studerar jag gemenskaperna som institutioner och dels individerna. Jag är intresserad av hurdan språkpolicy institutionerna och individerna skapar och tillämpar i sin dagliga verksamhet. Forskningen är deskriptiv och syftar således till att beskriva den sociokulturella verkligheten gällande svenska språket på makro- och mikronivå i en finskspråkig majoritetskontext. I undersökningen har jag tillämpat både metod- och materialtriangulering. På grund av institutionernas och fokusgruppernas olika karaktär har jag använt mig av olika delmaterial som frågeformulär, fältanteckningar, handlingar, skriftliga verk, webbsidor och temaintervjuer. Det varierande materialet gav upphov till tillämpning av både kvantitativa och kvalitativa analysmetoder. På de öppna frågorna har jag tillämpat innehållsanalys som jag också använt i analysen av temaintervjuerna där jag tillämpat abstrahering. Undersökningsresultaten visar att de svenska institutionerna, Svenska samskolan i Tammerfors och Tammerfors svenska församling har förändrats genom tiderna i fråga om språkpolicy som lett till varierande språkliga praktiker som tillämpas i verksamheten. Svenska samskolans språkpolicy på 2010-talet präglas av språkmedvetenhet och öppenhet. Kännetecknande för båda institutionerna är ett samspel mellan å ena sidan språkbevarande insatser och å andra sidan ackommodation mellan finska och svenska i olika kommunikativa praktiker.

Declining union memberships are a fact in both Sweden and Finland. At the same time, the autonomous labour market parties and the high membership rates are the most significant factors for the two countries compared to Europe and the rest of the world. These two factors have in turn been developed and strengthened since the beginning of the twentieth century. By autonomous labour market parties I refer to the fact that the labour market parties themselves through collective bargaining are agreeing on the labour market conditions, without interference from the government. This paper is therefore taking it's stance in the question of what happens with the autonomous labour market parties when the membership rates are in decline.   With this in mind, this paper describes the judicial development, the collective agreement and labour market structures, the legal consequences of collective agreements and the opportunities of industrial and sympathy action in both Sweden and Finland. The two countries' systems of labour law have caught some negative attention, hence two of the most discussed cases of recent years are given some attention as well.   The collective judicial conditions are very similar in both Sweden and Finland regarding the labour market main actors' collaboration, the collective agreement structures and legal consequences and the opportunities of industrial and sympathy action. The Finnish regulations regarding industrial action are somewhat more unconstrained compared to the Swedish ones. The Swedish opportunities of sympathy action are on the other hand more intricate and contain more exceptions. The Finnish union density is almost as high as in Sweden, although the Finnish employees are more willing to use industrial action. The labour market structures are relatively similar between the countries and so are the effects of the legislation and traditions surrounding them. The differences are found in the larger gender pay gaps present in Finland. While the differences are also present in Sweden, they are smaller. The similarities are found in the effects of the labour market structures and the labour market main actors' collaboration. Both are contributing to strengthening the present conditions. / Gemensamt för Sverige och Finland är att medlemstalen i de fackliga organisationerna minskar. Samtidigt är det den fackliga autonomin och den höga anslutningsgraden som i jämförelse med Europa och resten av världen är utmärkande för de båda länderna. Dessa två faktorer har i de båda länderna utvecklats och befästs sedan början av 1900-talet. Den fackliga autonomin bygger på att de centrala parterna utan inblandning från staten själva kommer överens om arbetsmarknadens villkor. Uppsatsen utgår därför från den övergripande frågan om vad som händer med den fackliga autonomin när medlemstalen minskar.   Med detta i åtanke redogör uppsatsen för Sveriges och Finlands rättsliga utveckling, deras kollektivavtals- och arbetsmarknadsstrukturer, kollektivavtalens bindningsmekanism och rättsverkningar samt möjligheten till strids- och sympatiåtgärder. De båda ländernas arbetsrättsliga system har heller inte undgått kritik, varför två av de mest omtalade rättsfallen på senare tid också ges en redogörelse.   Sveriges och Finlands kollektiva arbetsrättsliga system är mycket lika, både avseende de centrala parternas samrådsförfaranden, kollektivavtalens bindningsmekanism, rättsverkningar och arbetskonfliktsreglering. Den finska regleringen kring stridsåtgärder är dock något friare, medan den svenska innehåller fler intrikata undantag. De finska arbetstagarna är medlemmar i fackliga organisationer i nästan lika hög grad som de svenska. De finska arbetstagarna är dock betydligt mer benägna att ta till arbetsstrid. Arbetsmarknadsstrukturerna i Sverige och Finland är relativt lika och likaså effekterna av dem. Skillnaden ligger i de stora löneskillnader mellan män och kvinnor som föreligger i Finland. Även i Sverige förekommer det skillnader, om än något mindre. Effekterna, som är liknande i de båda länderna, består i att befintliga särfördelningar av löne- och anställningsvillkor befästs genom rådande arbetsrättsliga reglering och huvudavtalsparternas samrådsförfaranden. / Yhteistä Ruotsin ja Suomen ammattiliitoille on jäsenmäärän supistuminen. Samanaikaisesti ammattiliittojen itsenäisyys ja korkea järjestäytymisaste ovat ominaisia molemmille maille verrattuna Eurooppaan ja muuhun maailmaan. Nämä kaksi tekijää ovat molemmissa maissa kehittyneet ja vahvistuneet 1900-luvun alusta alkaen.   Ammattiyhdistysten itsenäisyys rakentuu sille että keskeiset osapuolet ilman valtiovallan sekaantumista sopivat itse työmarkkinoiden ehdoista. Opinnäytteen lähtökohta on mitä tapahtuu ammattiyhdistysten itsenäisyydelle jäsenmäärän supistuessa.   Opinnäyte selvittää Ruotsin ja Suomen yhteiskuntien oikeudellista kehitystä, työehtosopimus- ja työmarkkinarakennetta, työehtosopimusten sitomismekanismia ja oikeudellisia vaikutuksia sekä mahdollisuuksia työtaistelu- ja myötätuntotoimenpiteisiin. Molempien maiden työoikeudellinen järjestelmä ei ole välttynyt arvostelulta, josta syystä aineisto sisältää selostuksen kahdesta viime aikojen puhutuimmasta oikeustapauksesta.   Ruotsin ja Suomen työoikeudellinen järjestelmä on hyvin samankaltainen sekä keskeisten osapuolten kuulemismenettelyn, työehtosopimusten sitomismekanismin, oikeudellisten vaikutusten että työtaistelujen säätelyn osalta. Suomalainen työtaistelusäätely on jonkunverran vapaampi, ruotsalainen sisältää useita monimutkaisia poikkeuksia. Suomalaiset työntekijät ovat ammattiliitojen jäseniä melkein yhtä usein kuin ruotsalaiset. Suomalaiset työntekijät ovat kuitenkin paljon useammin mukana työtaisteluissa Työmarkkinoiden rakenne Ruotsissa ja Suomessa ovat suhteellisen samanlaisia kuten myös niiden vaikutukset. Erot ovat Suomen suurissa palkkaeroissa miesten ja naisten kesken. Myös Ruotsissa on eroja, joskin pienempiä. Vaikutukset jotka ovat samanlaisia molemmissa maissa, koostuvat vallitsevan jaon palkka- ja palkkaamisehtojen vahvistamisesta vallitsevasta työoikeudellisesta sääntelystä ja pääsopijaosapuolten kuulemismenettelystä.