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This chapter explores the role digital skills, interest in technology, and social support have in home care workers’ use of digital applications at work. The empirical research is based on the 2019 University of Jyväskylä survey study on eldercare work (N = 6,903), drawn from the members of four majors trade unions in Finland. In this chapter, a sub-sample of home care workers (n = 1,398) is used in the analyses. Structural equation models are used to estimate the direct and indirect effects of available technology support, digital skills, and interest in technology on the actual use of various digital applications at work. According to the results, technology support has no direct effect on the use of digital applications. However, technology support seems to increase interest in technology and improve digital skills, which in turn promotes the use of digital applications. The availability of technology support appears as a crucial facilitator for home care workers’ digital agency at work. peerReviewed

This longitudinal study of 1,066 Finnish students examined bidirectional reciprocal relationships between changes in perceived supportive school climate and changes in self-reported truancy from the last year of primary school (Grade 6) to the last year of lower secondary school (Grade 9). The results of the random intercept cross-lagged panel model showed, first, that a decrease in positive perceptions of school climate at the previous time point predicted more self-reported truancy at the following time point. Second, an increase in self-reported truancy predicted less positive perceptions of supportive school climate. The study indicates that students’ perceptions of supportive school climate and truancy negatively predict each other over time. Thus, school climate can serve as a target for prevention and intervention efforts to tackle truancy. Moreover, effectively addressing truancy may lead to a more favorable student view of school climate. peerReviewed

The increased use of social media has resulted in active participation of women on social media platforms, specifically Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. However, very little research has been carried out, specifically, on how women cope with the challenges of unemployment using social media networks. Thus, many women resort to different means as a coping strategy during their unemployment. In the face of rapid diffusion of social platforms, it is unclear how women personality traits influence their use of the social media. Similarly, it is also unclear how women’s experiences with these social networks, as a medium of online social support, serve as a coping strategy in the period of unemployment from the perspective of an emerging market. A quantitative research was employed. Hence, a questionnaire was used as its research instrument. Women Facebook users were contacted to fill the questionnaire between May and July 2019. There were 1,473 respondents. Their responses were utilized with SPSS for regression analysis, mediation analysis, and moderation analysis. This finding shows that educational achievement is a crucial factor in the ability of unemployed females to leverage online social support for employment. This study touched on the limitations of the previous works and areas for future study. peerReviewed

Following approximately 1,800 Finnish children, this longitudinal study examined the associations between students’ perceived social support (teacher-student relationships, family support, and peer support), behavioral engagement, cynicism towards school, and academic achievement during the transition from primary to lower secondary school. After controlling for parental educational level and cynicism before the school transition, the results showed that the more students experienced pre-transition peer support, the less they reported post-transition cynicism. Furthermore, pre-transition peer support contributed to students’ increased academic achievement and behavioral engagement after the transition through decreased cynicism. The findings indicated that peer support functions as a protective factor against cynicism as students move through the critical school transition phase and positively contributes to students’ behavioral engagement and academic achievement. peerReviewed