Barriers to Graduate School Reform in Japan

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  • 大学院改革の隘路
  • 大学院改革の隘路 : 批判の背後にある企業人の未経験
  • ダイガクイン カイカク ノ アイロ : ヒハン ノ ハイゴ ニ アル キギョウジン ノ ミケイケン
  • 批判の背後にある企業人の未経験

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Abstract

<p>　 Since the 1990s, the reform of graduate school education in Japan has aimed to strengthen educational functions by (1) increasing the number of graduate students, (2) nurturing the growth of professional, and (3) implementing systematization e.g., coursework enrichment. However, this reform has not resulted in an increase in the positive evaluation of graduate students among persons working in companies. There is also criticism by many people of the gap between what they learned in graduate school and the knowledge and skills required in their working lives.</p><p>　 This paper examines the reason why the evaluation of graduate school education is so low, focusing attention on the experiences of persons working in companies. In autumn 2014, we conducted a questionnaire survey with a sampling size of 2,470 company employees who, in the past five years, had conducted job interviews.</p><p>　 Results show that: 1) Interviewers who are consciously aware, because of the globalization of their own companies, of educational background disparity between the employees of Japanese and those of foreign enterprises, consider graduate students to be potential employees; 2) A positive evaluation of such students depends on the number of interviews conducted; 3) Interviewers who are satisfied with personal study achievements at university ask more questions about the interviewee’s university study experience, concluding that postgraduate applicants are promising candidates; and 4) Most significantly, few interviewers in Japan have experience in positively evaluating graduate students, indicating that a reason for the passivity of Japanese companies in hiring postgraduates is an insufficiency of experienced interviewers.</p><p>　 Hence, a possible solution might be found in getting experienced interviewers to share instances of business contributions made by postgraduates, taking into consideration that, although they are few in number, such interviewers realize the worth of postgraduates. Through the “reliving” of such experiences on the part of other companies, the relative inexperience of corporate interviewers in general may be compensated for to some extent, leading to an increased awareness of the worth of postgraduates and of graduate school education.</p>

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