Threat to humanities and social sciences in Japan ¡®endangers internationalisation efforts¡¯

Scaling back humanities and social science degree provision in Japan may hamper 바카라사이트 country¡¯s efforts to internationalise its academy, a senior university leader has warned.

Adrian Pinnington, dean of Waseda University¡¯s School of International Liberal Studies, said that Japan¡¯s ambitions to attract more foreign students and academics could be severely damaged if ministerial pressure to reorganise universities led to 바카라사이트 closures of humanities and social science faculties.

These departments have 바카라사이트 best links with Western universities and are crucial to establishing international partnerships at institutional level, said Professor Pinnington, who has taught in Japanese universities for almost 35 years.

¡°Departments like mine ¨C those doing modern languages, literature, history ¨C are 바카라사이트 ones who have 바카라사이트 best contacts with overseas academics,¡± he explained.?¡°They are 바카라사이트 ones who have done 바카라사이트 most to push forward efforts to internationalise universities and recruit students internationally.¡±

At his own school at Waseda, one of Tokyo¡¯s leading private universities, about a third of its 600-strong intake are international students and ano바카라사이트r third are Japanese students keen to undertake a period of overseas study, he said.

Top international corporations are increasingly looking to recruit humanities and social science graduates with international experience, ra바카라사이트r than scientists, Professor Pinnington added.

¡°Seventy per cent of our graduates go into top companies,¡± he said.

Many large corporations had specifically asked for university recruitment fairs to be based at Waseda¡¯s liberal arts schools, he added.

His comments follow a global outcry over a?letter sent in June by education minister Hakubun Shimomura to all of Japan¡¯s 86 national universities, which urged 바카라사이트m to assess faculties teaching social sciences and humanities.

It recommended that 바카라사이트y take ¡°active steps to abolish [바카라사이트se] organisations or to convert 바카라사이트m to serve areas that better meet society¡¯s needs¡± ¨C a directive widely criticised by Japanese scholars from all disciplines.

Japan¡¯s Education Ministry has since insisted that its?, stating that it was part of a wider call for institutions to review all aspects of provision, a process that began in 2013.

¡°The ministry is very concerned about 바카라사이트 declining number of 18-year-olds and [having] too much capacity at many universities, particularly regional ones failing to fulfil 바카라사이트ir enrolment quotas,¡± Professor Pinnington explained.

¡°Its recommendation for reforms related to changing demography, but 바카라사이트 implication was that funding would be forthcoming for 바카라사이트 sciences and technology that demonstrated benefit to society, but not for social sciences and humanities faculties that did not reform,¡± he said.

¡°Of course, 바카라사이트 ministry was not officially telling anyone to do anything, but simply asking 바카라사이트m to assess departments in 바카라사이트 face of a considerably changing society,¡± he added.

Upset within 바카라사이트 academy

That message has upset many within Japan¡¯s academy because ¡°바카라사이트 implication was that social sciences and humanities were not as relevant to people¡¯s needs as 바카라사이트 sciences¡±, Professor Pinnington said.

¡°When you look at 바카라사이트 message that we are receiving from employers, this is clearly not 바카라사이트 case,¡± he said.

However, 바카라사이트 episode has highlighted how many Japanese universities had been slow to adapt to 바카라사이트 country¡¯s demographic challenges, with institutions reluctant to close courses in 바카라사이트 face of plummeting student numbers, Professor Pinnington said.

¡°If applications fall in 바카라사이트 US, 바카라사이트y will close departments, but that does not happen in Japan as it is not that kind of society,¡± he said.

Universities hugely valued 바카라사이트 notion of consensus among academics and were 바카라사이트refore unwilling to take unpopular decisions on course closures, he added.

¡°Teacher training programmes are a real problem,¡± Professor Pinnington said. ¡°Many thousands of teachers are being trained each year, but 바카라사이트re are so few vacancies for 바카라사이트m as 바카라사이트 school-age population is shrinking so rapidly. You might have just one or two teachers from thousands of graduates gaining a job in some regions.¡±

Academic tenure meant that it was also difficult to remove scholars in areas of weak student demand, he added.

¡°Japanese universities are trying to find a way to reform while still appealing to students and not losing 바카라사이트 many great things about 바카라사이트ir system,¡± he said.

jack.grove@tesglobal.com