Partnership in Higher Education: The Third Sector’s Role in the Internationalization of Japanese Universities

• In Event: Chinese roundtable II (Sponsored by SIG: East Asia)
  In Refereed Round-Table Session: Global and international education

Proposal

The 17th Sustainable Development Goal calls for revitalizing partnership between governments, the private sector, academia and civil society. This study examines how this partnership is occurring in the context of the higher education reform in Japan focusing on the role of civil society organizations (CSOs). It uses social capital theory (Putnam, 2001) and employs qualitative methodology, namely participant observation and semi-structured interviews conducted in 2017-2018 to explore international students’ experiences in their involvement with the CSOs. Specifically, it seeks to understand how international students’ membership in volunteer associations affects their quality of life and long-term planning. The study focuses on international graduate students studying in English at Japanese universities and CSOs in the Kansai area.
The first place where most international students look for support is an International Office of their new university. An effective and comprehensive support system may be a sign of a responsible organization; however, an overly protective or paternalistic approach becomes a burden for university staff and a constraint for students’ development. Historically, Japan has been a country with a strong bureaucracy and paternalistic attitude in many social settings; however, the situation is gradually changing. Among university administration, there is a growing awareness that they do not have to deal on their own with all the aspects of incoming foreign students’ life. Therefore, universities are consciously developing partnerships with local non-profits and volunteer groups.
Unlike their counterparts in other countries, Japanese CSOs tend to closely work with local or central government (Pekkanen, 2006; Haddad, 2007). Among the organizations observed, there is a considerable variety as for the degree of awareness about the internationalization and their role. Those CSOs that work closer with the governmental agencies, usually have a clearer understanding of internationalization goals and a vision of their part to play. They provide more specific services, such as language support or assistance in job-hunting, and are often seen as implementing agencies of the government. Other CSOs that are less associated with the government, pursue their own goals in interacting with students, such as training their Japanese members to become guides in their city, improving their members’ English proficiency or empowering the students to volunteer for their cause.
While providing services to fill out the gaps in the existing university support is needed, building social capital is more important in the long-run. While the degree of awareness about social capital generation as an objective of the CSO-student partnership varies among the stakeholders, the research shows that social capital is generated even when they are not intentional. However, the affiliation with CSOs can be more beneficial for students if they become active members. In these cases, an improved quality of life is reported (sense of belonging and purpose, feelings of joy and fulfillment). This helps students overcome the sense of loneliness and loss of social capital in their home society. In some cases, the membership in volunteer associations affects the students’ long-term goal orientation, such as decision to stay and work in the country longer than initially planned.

Author

• Polina Ivanova, Ritsumeikan University