Stagnation and Persistent Inequality in University Education in Japan Owing to Market-Based Policies

• In Event: 18.014 - New Direction of Educational Reform for Educational Equality: Lessons From East Asia

Abstract

Objectives
This paper aims to introduce the trend of higher education policy in Japan, and to examine the impact of recent changes in the education policy on inequality in opportunity for university education.

Perspectives
Due to the financial deficit faced by the Japanese government, public expenditure on higher education has always been low. In Japan, there are three types of universities: national, public, and private universities. Since national/public universities are managed by central/local governments, tuition fee in these universities is relatively low. On the other hand, since tuition fee forms the main financial resources of private universities, students in these universities have to pay a high tuition fee. In the latter half of the 1970s, the Japanese government faced a severe financial deficit. Since then, the tuition fee of national/public universities have increased, and the difference in tuition fee between national/public and private universities has reduced. Since the number of students was expected to decrease rapidly after the 1990s due to low fertility rate, the Ministry of Education strongly restricted establishing new universities and increasing in the capacity of existing universities. The number of students who graduated from high schools started decreasing since the 1990s and, therefore, the intensity of the competition for university admission started decreasing as well. In addition, the economic condition simultaneously deteriorated. Further, in this era of globalization, universities had to cope with the global competition. Educational reforms introduced in Japanese universities were characterized by a set of market-based policies. Owing to the shortage of financial resources and the need for global competition, national/public universities have become independent administrative corporations, and government subsidies for these universities have decreased. The government emphasizes that universities have to efficiently provide education, produce research outcomes, and competitively obtain grants. Therefore, evaluation of university education and accountability for research are strongly required. Regardless of the worsening economic conditions, universities continued to increase their tuition fee. According to the statistics of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Japan’s public expenditure on tertiary education institutions is the lowest among the OECD countries, and the financial supports for less advantaged students are very fragile. Student advancement into university has remained stagnant at around 50% because of the high economic burden on households. Japanese tend to emphasize individual responsibility for educational choices, regard them as private issues, and are indifferent to the prevailing inequality in opportunity for education based on social backgrounds.

Data & Methods
This study uses nationwide questionnaire survey data, such as Social Stratification and Social Mobility (SSM) Surveys and Japanese Life Course Panel Survey (JLPS), and employs cross-tabulation and regression analyses.

Results
The findings reveal that inequality in access to university education persists despite expansion in the field of education.

Scientific Significance
Households in China and South Korea also bear a heavy expenditure on education. From comparative perspective, the scenario in Japan can be a reference point to consider the inequality in opportunity for higher education among East Asian Countries.

Author

• Wataru Nakazawa, Osaka University