Global International Perspectives

and
Higher Education In Japan
By

Evelyn Hall
Yvette Wilmoth

Introduction To Higher Education

EDA 5931
D. Wright, Ph.D.
September 23, 2006
Globalization in Higher Education

• The flows of students across

borders
• 1.6 million students now study
outside of their home countries
• More than 547,000 studying in the
United States.
• In the U S there is much more
rhetoric than action concerning
internationalization of higher
education
 Internationalization of Higher
Education Institutions

Defined as:

...a change process from a national higher education

institution to an international higher education
institution leading to the inclusion of an international
dimension in all aspects of its holistic management in
order to enhance the quality of teaching and learning
and to achieve the desired competencies; (Soderqvist,
2002, p.29)
Internationalization Includes:

Policies relating to recruitment of foreign

students

Collaboration with academic institutions

or systems in other countries

Establishment of branch campuses

abroad
 Growing Trends

• Australia and Britain have been especially active in

establishing transnational programs
• More than 140,000 international students are
involved in academic programs under auspices of
British universities elsewhere in the world
• The U.S. has come relatively late to transnational
education
• Leading the path in the U.S. is University of
Chicago, the University of Pennsylvania, and
Temple University who partner with business
school overseas
Issues Pursuing Internationalization
India (long-standing concern has been “brain drain”)

1. The majority of Indian students who study in the

U.S. do not return home
2. India has a large academic system, enrolling
more than 5.6 million students
3. India is seeking to make its own universities more
attractive for foreign students
4. Academic institutions use English as the main
language of instruction
5. Ranks third among countries sending students to
the U.S. and with more than 42,000 students
studying abroad.
Higher Education In Japan
 Japan

• An Island country in East Asia, Located in the Pacific

Ocean
• It lies to the east of China, Korea, and Russia
• Over 377,872 square kilometers (145,898 sq mi)
• The 62nd largest country by area.
• It encompasses over 3,000 islands
• Most of Japan's islands are mountainous, and many are
volcanic, including the highest peak, Mount Fuji
• World's 10th largest population, with nearly 128 million
people
• Japan's population is estimated at around 127,810,000
Language

• Japan's official language is Japanese (Nihongo)

• 99% of the population speaks Japanese as their
first language.
• There is no consensus on what, if any, linguistic
relationship Japanese has with other languages
• Japanese has borrowed or derived large
amounts of vocabulary from Chinese
• Since the end of World War II, Japanese has
also extensively borrowed from English
• The writing system uses (Chinese characters)
as well as the Roman alphabet and Hindu-
Arabic numerals.
 Education in Japan

• Compulsory education was introduced into Japan in 1872

• Since 1947, compulsory education consists of
elementary and middle school, which lasts for 9 years
(from age 6 to age 15).
• Almost all children continue their education at a three-
year senior high school, and, according to static's, 67.5%
of high school graduates attend a university, junior
college, trade school, or other post-secondary institution
in 2006.
• University of Tokyo is one of Japan’s large University
 Internationalization of Higher
Education in Japan

Challenges due to three factors

• Decrease in the size of college age cohorts in the

coming years
• Heightened expectations in the modes of
instructional delivery through the advances of
information and communication technologies
• Global competition for college students worldwide
especially for English-speaking countries
 Japan Solution to Challenges

• Expand their student base by encouraging adult learners

to pursue life-long and life-wide learning and promoting
foreign students enrollment

• Build infrastructure for effective and efficient use of

information and communication technologies in
instructional delivery on/off campus

• Offer courses in English to attract foreign students to study

in Japan
 Useful websites:
The following web sites are in English only. IMFNS is not
responsible for the content found on these sites:

• 10 tips for creating effective presentations -

http://www.microsoft.com/office/previous/xp/columns/column08.asp
• PowerPoint tips and hints –
http://www.pptbackgrounds.fsnet.co.uk/pptips.htm#Hints%20and%20Tips
• PowerPoint tips (1997) –
http://www.teachers-connect.net/cc/99-00/advpp.htm
• PowerPointers -
http://www.powerpointers.com/showarticle.asp?articleid=374