ABSTRACT
Education has played a very significant role in the implementation of the strategy of the information society in Finland. A degree in engineering is highly rated in social terms in Finland. This chapter discusses the contemporary evolution in the status of graduate engineers in Finland, their education, and their position in society and in the labour market. It analyses the interaction between the Finnish policy on engineering education and the labour market and the way in which the policy has been used historically by policy makers as a means of 'solving' or responding to the demand exerted by the labour market. The Finnish example indicates the great importance of flexibility within the educational institutions and within the whole educational system under the conditions generated by the new knowledge-based economy. The success of the Finnish information technology sector is characterised as the result of a national project involving industry, the universities, the R&D institutes, the education sector, and state agencies.
