‘I changed my life’s course’ : The impact of the Helsingin Sanomat Foundation fellowship on the career path of a journalist

This study focuses on the fellowship program of Helsingin Sanomat Foundation, which has sent a hundred mid-career journalists from Finland to study abroad at prominent universities. Based on two surveys, one on the fellows (n = 45) and one on a control group (n = 52), the article discusses the impact the fellowship education has on the journalists and their careers. The surveys are complemented with in-depth interviews of 10 fellow journalists. The results are discussed in the context of protean career concept, and they indicate that the fellowship period has a notable positive impact on the career of an individual journalist, but a contradictory impact on the journalist’s home organization.