ABSTRACT
International students are regarded as potential immigrants to support the labor force and internationalization in Finland. Resilience, which is defined as the aptitude to adjust positively to the necessities of stressful and challenging circumstances, is a key element in understanding the integration of immigrants into a country. It is a well-known fact that the key to success in social cohesion of international students, who may be future immigrants, can be provided by improving higher education institutions, which pave the way to both social and financial opportunities. However, there is a gap in the related literature exploring both higher education and international students’ resilience, which may result in their immigration to the host country to empower the community socially and financially. Thus, this study aims to examine the relationship between resilience levels of international students studying at universities in the Lapland region and their perceptions related to immigrating to Finland after graduation. Data were collected from international students by using the International Student Resilience Questionnaire. Findings showed that there is not a positive correlation between resilience levels of the international students in the Lapland region and their willingness to immigrate to Finland after graduation.
