In my home country, Finland, university is free for everyone. In fact, the state gives students literal free money so that they don’t have to take huge amounts of loan during their studies or else work so much that it would impact their studies negatively. I believe this is how it should be in every country. Huge college fees put students in such an unequal position. Those who have rich parents have it easy while those who don’t do not get to attend college at all or are deep in debt for years and years after college. Free university education is a massive step toward equality but unfortunately, it does not guarantee that everyone is equal. In Finland, we often think that anyone at all can enter university and do well there since their wealth does not matter. Turns out it does, just in more subtle ways.
When I first started my studies at the university of Helsinki, I read a study by Mari Käyhkö where she interviewed university students who came from a working class background (I will link the study at the end of the article but it is, unfortunately, only in Finnish). There were many things the students found difficult and strange about studying in university. I found the article extremely interesting because I myself come from a working class background. I am the first one in my family to attend university and both my parents work quite practical and physical jobs, though my mother has over the years risen to a managerial position.
It is my third year in university now and I have definitely noticed some of the same things as the students in Käyhkö’s study. To me, the differences between someone from a working class background and someone from a higher class status have become especially clear through my boyfriend. He is the latest university student in a long, long line of them. His mother has a doctorate and his father has finished his Master’s thesis. His family can also by no means be called poor. It has been very interesting to get to know his relatives and see how differently they see university from my relatives.
The biggest difference between me and my boyfriend, that I believe is due to our different backgrounds, is the way we speak. I’ve had to learn to speak academically, whereas for him it comes very naturally. Academic way of speaking is not just the terms used, though that is a part of it. I remember the first time my boyfriend talked to me about emeritus professors. I had no idea what that meant and to him, that was so weird because he had learned the word already as a kid. Knowing academic terms gives you a clear advantage when you enter university because not only do you feel like you belong there knowing what is talked about, but you are also able to join in on the conversation much more easily.
To me, speaking in an academic way also means being confident. In Käyhkö’s study, many of the students said that their parents appreciated them being quiet. If there was an argument, for example, the parents would often tell the children to shut up because the parents just know better and are right. Many parents with higher education, however, listen to their children and in the case of an argument, try to solve it with diplomacy and using logic. When children are encouraged to engage in constructive and thoughtful discussion, they will do so confidently also later on in life. For a working class student, however, it may be very hard to open their mouth at all out of fear of being criticized.
One very concrete way in which my life as a university student and my boyfriend’s differ is that his parents know what university is like. He can ask them for advice or tell them about all his achievements and they will instantly know what he is talking about and be able to help if needed. My parents do ask me how I’m doing at school but they don’t really understand any university related terms, for example, so it’s sometimes very hard to explain things. I also don’t want to use fancy university terms too much because I don’t want them to feel like they can’t understand me and like I’ve become one of those high-class academics who speak so that no one with a lower education knows what they’re saying.
Like I said, I am very lucky to live in Finland where I get to go to university for free. I am also very lucky to have a boyfriend with educated parents who I can turn to even if my own parents don’t always know how to help. However, saying that socioeconomic background does not matter at all in Finland is just not true. Us working class students have to work a lot harder to fit in sometimes and that should be taken into consideration. Only by acknowledging the problem can we do better in the future.