The COSMO project begins a series of fireside chats
“Fireside chats” originally described the radio addresses by Franklin D. Roosevelt to the American public between 1933 and 1944. In the COSMO project, fireside chats are brief podcasts discussing various viewpoints to current and future working life. You can listen to the chats here.
The fireside chats podcast series is an output of the Finnish Work Environment Fund financed COSMO project concentrating on Finnish returnees with international experience. The chats are linked to global mobility, international talent, and feelings of inclusion in Finnish working life – particularly from the viewpoint of returnees.
–Despite their immense cross-cultural skills and experience, many returnees find job seeking in Finland difficult. This project aims to increase dialogue between returnees and employers in order to facilitate recognizing and using international talent in Finnish companies, says Professor Eriikka Paavilainen-Mäntymäki, the principal investigator of the project.
The first fireside chat featuring Professor Maria Elo from the University of Southern Denmark is already published. In this chat, Maria and Eriikka discuss diaspora and women migrant entrepreneurs, digging deeper into what makes women returnees different from the accustomed expatriates and sojourners.
–Women are very good in adapting to even challenging circumstances. For them, returning is a family decision, but it is an easier decision if you already come from the same country. The possibility of having a good return process is way more complicated, if you want to bring a family member, who is not from the country of origin. This is a big impediment for many women returnees, says Maria.
The fireside chats that follow will focus on personal experiences of returning to Finland after a successful international career, the principle of inclusion at the workplace, and talent management in modern companies.
The COSMO project explores cosmopolitan life, identity, and work. The project includes an Academy of Finland funded consortium (#348531/2022) led by Professor Niina Nummela from the International Business faculty at the University of Turku, and a Finnish Work Environment Fund funded project (#220142) led by Professor Eriikka Paavilainen-Mäntymäki from the International Business faculty at the University of Turku. Find out more here.