Globalising Higher Education in Japanese Universities
Globalisation in higher education is one of the top priorities for universities in Japan, as with other countries. However, in Japan, there is another significant driver for globalisation in higher education. This is closely related to the current situation of the Japanese demographic structure. Japan is a hyper-ageing society, meaning that the proportion of the ageing population is much higher than that of the young population. The ratio of those who are over the retirement age and supported by social welfare systems, such as pensions, is rapidly increasing. Meanwhile, the younger population which is supporting the social and economic systems by paying taxes is decreasing. This is due to the low birth rate and long life expectancy in Japan. As a result, the Japanese population has started decreasing since 2016 and according to demographic projection by public sectors, this trend will last for a few decades. This is closely related to the necessity of globalisation in Japanese universities.
Firstly, due to a decrease in the young population, the number of students who are graduating from high school and enrolling in university is decreasing. Japanese universities would thus need to be more open to enrolling students from overseas.
The main reason for Japanese students who are considering participation in study abroad programmes is to improve their language skills, particularly their English proficiency.
Secondly, as the Japanese economic market would be shrinking, many private sectors targeting the domestic market may have to expand their businesses to foreign markets. Universities are expected to introduce educational contents and experiences to prepare domestic students to work in international business environments.
One of the actions for this is the Japanese national project, Global 30 (G30), which was started in 2009. Under the G30 project, many Japanese universities started offering degree programmes taught in English. English is not only used for teaching the courses but also for all services offered to students, including the conducting of the admission exercise and online examination for students staying overseas. Administrative staff with good English skills are deployed to support campus life during their stay in Japan. These programmes were successful in increasing the number of inbound international students in Japan. However, many universities have also been utilising these methods for the globalisation of programmes taught in Japanese.
International Partnerships
For Japanese universities, international partnerships are quite important for establishing new degree programmes. One important reason is student recruitment. Admission exams and university guidance would be more effective if Japanese universities have partner institutions in the country or region where a significant number of applicants is expected to enrol for their degree programmes. Another factor is students’ career development. Since many students who graduate from Japanese universities are expected to contribute to the Japanese business market in private sectors, the direction of business expansion which Japanese private sectors take is an important consideration in international partnerships.
Because of the above factors, most of the Japanese universities have strategic partner institutions and have opened extension or branch offices in Southeast Asia. For example, more than 50 Japanese universities have opened offices in Thailand.
Expanding Globalisation Through AIMS
Japanese universities usually recommend domestic students for study abroad programmes during their undergraduate study as an effective way to obtain international experiences, as well as to improve communication skills. The main reason for Japanese students who are considering participation in study abroad programmes is to improve their language skills, particularly their English proficiency. In Japan, English classes are mandatory in school. However, these focus mainly on reading and writing, and not listening and speaking. Therefore, Japanese students are less proficient in English oral communication, compared with students from other countries, as shown in their low average scores in major English proficiency tests. Many Japanese university students recognise this and decide to participate in study abroad programmes to improve their English speaking and listening skills. Those students tend to select countries where English is spoken as a native language, such as North America, Europe and Oceania, as destinations for their overseas study. Therefore, destinations for outbound Japanese students were mainly the abovementioned regions while students who went to Asian countries were very few.
Senior citizens participate in such events and enjoy exchanging or sharing their experiences with international students — the main reason for international students to participate, as such stories bring new knowledge which they cannot learn from lectures in the university.
Hence, the Asian International Mobility for Students (AIMS) programme was a good opportunity for Japanese universities as well as the Japanese government to provide another dimension to the globalisation of higher education in Japan. AIMS is one of the flagship projects by the Southeast Asian Ministry of Education Organization, Regional Centre for Higher Education and Development (SEAMEO RIHED). To invite Japanese universities into AIMS, the Japanese government utilised an ongoing national project.
The Japanese government had been implementing the Inter-University Exchange Project (IUEP) as a scheme to promote globalisation in Japanese universities using financial aid since 2011. This project supports initiatives proposed by Japanese universities to bring globalisation to Japanese higher education with five-year government subsidies. During the first five years, the university needs to establish a sustainable project platform which can be run even after the subsidy period. Since 2011, IUEP has focused on different regions of the world and the focus in 2013 was on AIMS. 27 universities applied with various initiatives for globalisation through participation in AIMS and the Japanese government selected 11 universities to be partner universities in AIMS. Among these Japanese universities, the University of Tsukuba was assigned to serve as a national coordinator. The University of Tsukuba is also serving as an affiliate member of the SEAMEO secretariat and has strong links with institutions under SEAMEO, including SEAMEO RIHED.
Interactions Between International Students and Local Communities
AIMS has also brought some positive impact on the ageing society in Japan. This can be observed in several activities between inbound international students in Japanese AIMS universities and local communities in Japan, which are promoted by the Japanese AIMS universities as one of the universities’ social services. The most popular form is providing an open public space for casual conversations or seminars where international students and the local Japanese community can introduce their traditional cultures to one another. Active participants from local communities are mainly families with pre-school children and senior citizens. Since they mainly use English as the language of communication, parents of pre-school children participate with the expectation that their children will get used to English conversation, as well as interact with people from different cultures. Senior citizens participate in such events and enjoy exchanging or sharing their experiences with international students — the main reason for international students to participate, as such stories bring new knowledge which they cannot learn from lectures in the university. As there is mutual benefit for international students and people from the local community, interactions are quite active and events are run on a voluntary basis.
Establishing Student Mobility Between Japan and Southeast Asia
During the first five years of AIMS from 2013 to 2017, all 11 Japanese universities achieved the target of 25 outbound and 25 inbound students (total 50 for student mobility) almost every year. The total number of students became one of the highest among AIMS partner countries. The number of Japanese students who went to Southeast Asia dramatically increased compared to the period before AIMS. After 2017, although there was a slight decrease in the student mobility number, all 11 Japanese universities continued participating in AIMS with their own funding. Another important fact about AIMS is the funding for inbound students from Southeast Asia to Japan. Compared with outbound Japanese students to Southeast Asia, inbound students from Southeast Asia did not show any drastic increase even after participation in AIMS because Japan has always been a popular study-abroad destination for these students. However, after the participation of Japanese universities in AIMS, the number of inbound students from Southeast Asia who received funding from their home country or university significantly increased. In this sense, it can be said that AIMS brought great success in the establishing of a sustainable student-mobility platform between Japan and Southeast Asia.
NAKAO NOMURA
Dr Nakao Nomura is Associate Professor, Programme Manager and Trans-ASEAN Global Agenda Education Programme, University of Tsukuba, Japan.
OCTOBER 2020 | ISSUE 9
Regional Student Mobility
