{"id":16506,"date":"2026-05-28T11:27:06","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T09:27:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/taiyo.fi\/?p=16506"},"modified":"2026-05-28T11:27:33","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T09:27:33","slug":"blog-diversity-comes-with-social-responsibility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/taiyo.fi\/en\/2026\/05\/28\/blog-diversity-comes-with-social-responsibility\/","title":{"rendered":"Blog: Diversity comes with social responsibility"},"content":{"rendered":"

TaiYo\u2019s\u00a0vice chairs and board\u00a0members\u00a0Sof\u00eda\u00a0and Baraka \u2013 both students from outside of EU and EEA countries \u2013\u00a0have\u00a0written a blog post\u00a0raising awareness\u00a0about the challenges international students face.<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Over the last few months, one of the\u00a0challenges\u00a0within\u00a0all\u00a0universities in Finland is\u00a0the current situation of international students. It is\u00a0becoming more difficult to access education if coming from abroad and particularly from outside EU\u00a0and EEA.\u00a0What is concerning is that this increased difficulty is through\u00a0filters that\u00a0seem to be\u00a0more focused on\u00a0leaving out\u00a0people because of their economic and\u00a0ethnical\u00a0background, than skills,\u00a0experience\u00a0or motivation.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For an international student, studying abroad means making a big investment.\u00a0Uniarts\u00a0is a well-known institution:\u00a0many of us dreamt of studying in one of the three academies and we believe that coming here is worth the effort.\u00a0The\u00a0cost of living\u00a0is\u00a0often significantly higher\u00a0here\u00a0than in our home\u00a0countries\u00a0and students from outside\u00a0EU\/EEA\u00a0additionally\u00a0have to\u00a0pay tuition fees.\u00a0The\u00a0possibility of applying for\u00a0a 50%\u00a0tuition fee waiver\u00a0was offered for\u00a0the last\u00a0time to\u00a0incoming students in 2025, being one of the last\u00a0economic\u00a0support available in which\u00a0many\u00a0still\u00a0depend on\u00a0for\u00a0the continuation of their studies. Due to the current employment situation in Finland, relying on part-time work is not always a realistic\u00a0option.\u00a0What\u00a0we\u2019re\u00a0coping with is a system where financial uncertainty\u00a0threatens\u00a0the completion\u00a0of studies, and\u00a0constant\u00a0stress\u00a0has also\u00a0an effect on students’ well-being.\u00a0Additionally, everyday life presents several challenges.\u00a0Accessing healthcare can be particularly difficult, and many students still have to deal with paperwork for various administrative processes months after arrival.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With this, we\u00a0aim to bring awareness\u00a0about\u00a0the mental health state of international students when\u00a0navigating financial pressure, uncertainty, demanding academic schedules, difficulties when learning the language, the challenges of adapting to\u00a0a new environment, and how sustainable\u00a0all of\u00a0this is in the long term.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Some programs at\u00a0Uniarts\u00a0are specifically\u00a0meant to bring\u00a0in\u00a0international students and they are taught in English.\u00a0At the same time, we come to a university that has diversity,\u00a0equality\u00a0and equity in its core values, presenting itself as a welcoming space and supportive environment. The current\u00a0Finnish\u00a0government\u2019s decisions will\u00a0limit access to international talent from outside Europe,\u00a0<\/span>making arts education accessible only to a privileged minority.\u00a0This will\u00a0result in<\/span>\u00a0the loss of the cultural richness we currently have; we have many examples in\u00a0all the projects that students have outside the classrooms, and\u00a0how much\u00a0these have added to the cultural life in the city and in Finland. But\u00a0we\u00a0also\u00a0want to highlight that\u00a0diversity should not be seen\u00a0and valued\u00a0only as an\u00a0asset,\u00a0but\u00a0it comes with the social\u00a0responsibility\u00a0of\u00a0truly\u00a0supporting\u00a0and\u00a0caring\u00a0for the people who embody it.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We are aware that in the current political and economic situation, local students\u2019 stability has also been threatened. We believe that it is necessary to be mindful of each other instead of living in different worlds and truly build a support network. It is important to remember that every student at\u00a0Uniarts\u00a0has gone through a careful admissions process. Everyone who has been accepted brings value to the community,\u00a0has the ability and\u00a0skills,\u00a0and\u00a0has\u00a0earned their place here.\u00a0Something that is also worth bringing to the conversation is that when a student is\u00a0under financial pressure, it is often other students who are also struggling who are the first ones to offer support from their own limited resources. While solidarity at the grassroots level is powerful and necessary, this dynamic should not be the default solution to structural problems. Support should not rely on those who are already disadvantaged but be strengthened by the institutions that bring us together.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This support could be shown\u00a0with concrete actions like\u00a0with\u00a0building strategies for integration in the first month after orientation through courses and student activities in which students can participate\u00a0without interfering with the regular schedule,\u00a0as well as\u00a0a structured recruitment support for\u00a0field-relevant\u00a0internships during studies\u00a0and after graduation\u00a0that\u00a0can also help with the concerns about future opportunities.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While\u00a0TaiYo\u00a0is committed to supporting our international student community, we recognize that true change requires solidarity across the entire Finnish higher education and cultural sectors. We call on other student unions, faculty members, university leadership, and cultural institutions to join us in advocating for a system that values international artistic talent not just in rhetoric but in policy. The challenges we face are not unique to\u00a0Uniarts; they are systemic across Finnish universities. We are aware from\u00a0The Finnish Transparency Register<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/i>that there is advocacy being done for international students, and we look forward to knowing more about it,\u00a0and communicating it to the students. Collective action, shared resources, and unified advocacy can amplify our voices far more effectively than isolated efforts. We invite our colleagues across the sector to share their experiences and join us in demanding that Finland’s commitment to equality, education, and the arts extends fully to those who have traveled here to contribute to these values.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Victoria Sofia Gasca,
\n<\/strong>Vice Chair, TaiYo Board 2026<\/em>
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Baraka Issabu,
\n<\/strong>Vice Chair, TaiYo Board 2026<\/em>
\n<\/strong><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

TaiYo\u2019s\u00a0vice chairs and board\u00a0members\u00a0Sof\u00eda\u00a0and Baraka \u2013 both students from outside of EU and EEA countries \u2013\u00a0have\u00a0written a blog post\u00a0raising awareness\u00a0about the challenges […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":16509,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16506","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-taiyo"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/taiyo.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/kv-blogi_visut.png?fit=1600%2C900&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2w00X-4ie","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/taiyo.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16506","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/taiyo.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/taiyo.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taiyo.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taiyo.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16506"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/taiyo.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16506\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16510,"href":"https:\/\/taiyo.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16506\/revisions\/16510"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taiyo.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16509"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/taiyo.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16506"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taiyo.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16506"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taiyo.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16506"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}