Student Self-Concept and the College-to-Work Transition in Japan

Although the youth employment rate for Japan compares favourably with other OECD-member nations, job seeking has been following a trend of increased risk. Changes in the labour market and hiring practices have meant the wearing away of Japan’s traditional life-long employment system. For university graduates the process of securing employment has become more complex and is now fraught with greater uncertainties.

Along with a decline in Japan’s position in the global economy, students in tertiary education have been recording declining interest in the international arena. To counter these trends, the government has sought to develop closer ties between universities and industry. The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) believes it can improve Japan’s competitiveness by supporting the development of new graduates with skills ready for global business. Through competitive large-scale programmes such as Global 30 and the Project for Promotion of Global Human Resource Development, MEXT has made significant public investment in promoting internationalisation at selected elite Japanese universities. 

This presentation will report on initial results from a survey investigating identity, individualisation and internationalisation for Japanese students in tertiary education at a large national university in Japan. The study explores student perceptions of internationalisation and global skills for their transition to the workforce. The study is important toward greater transparency for tertiary education in Japan on performance, internationalisation and employment outcomes.

A 40-question survey was developed in part based on questions from the UK Understanding Society study and recent global human resources surveys from Manpower and McKinsey. These were rendered into Japanese and added to a Japanese-language core of established biographical data questions. The principal research themes are: a) Student self-concept of employability skills/future employment; b) The role of the university for future employment; c) Internationalisation; d) Gender and national culture in the Japanese labour market.