Internationalization efforts of Japanese higher education: Implementation and progress of the Global 30 initiative

• In Event: The internationalization of higher education and national reactions to critical trends: A student research panel

Abstract

Japan’s higher education system, through the generosity of the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) funds a program called the Global 30 Project with the goal of making meaningful strides toward internationalizing their university student and faculty populations to compete and collaborate with other institutions across the world. The focus of this research is to understand in what ways the Global 30 Project (also known as G30) has impacted three selected institutions that have participated in the project and set goals for increased internationalization: Sophia University, Waseda University, and the University of Tokyo. These three case studies have each created different goals through the G30 project to maximize their internationalization potential and to reach the nation’s goal by the year 2020. Through analysis and understanding of best practices each participating institution has created, this research aims to understand the different methods universities have used to reach their internationalization goals and to compete with other institutions. Furthermore, this analysis will shed light on the shortfalls in each G30 project that may hinder their overall goal for the university as well as the nation’s internationalization strategy. The Global 30 Project is a unique strategy aimed at helping Japan internationalize its higher education system, therefore, this project sheds light on the impact of this type of project on a university’s role to prepare the next generation of Japanese and international students for an increasingly globalized workforce.

Author

• Maggie Appel-Schumacher, The George Washington University