Transnational Academic Mobility in Japan: Habitus, Agency and Social Networks

• In Event: The opportunity and challenge of academic mobility: Experiences of students, early career researchers, and spouses

Proposal

This study investigates habitus and agency development of international academics who migrated to Japan, which are critical in motivating and empowering international academic’s transnational upward academic mobility. Fueled by a series of recent governmental and institutional internationalization schemes, Japanese universities have witnessed an influx of international academics. These international academics were accepted to the Japanese higher education system, as desired catalysts and talents for scientific advancement and knowledge exchange, to boost the competitiveness of both Japanese universities and the Japanese knowledge-based economy in global arena. Quantitative profiling and qualitative interviews of international academics in Japan have provided higher education researchers critical lens in understanding the experiences from migrated academics and the impacts of increased transnational academic mobility in the Japanese higher education system and Japanese society, such as personal motivations of mobility, personal and professional challenges, institutional adaptations and resistance to the arriving international academics (Huang, 2018; Huang et al., 2019; Chen, 2022a, 2022b; Brotherhood et al., 2020). Though such critical “screenshots” of international academic mobility are valuable, there is a lack of in-depth and holistic investigation on habitus and agency development along one’s migratory trajectory that contribute to transnational academic mobility. Responding to the research gap, this study is propelled by Bourdieu’s conception of capitals, agency and habitus as well as transnationalism from migration studies.

Based on a longitudinal two-year ethnographic fieldwork, this study questions 1) how is the habitus of international academics developed along transnational mobility? 2) how is the agency of international academics developed along transnational mobility? 3) how do the individual habitus and agency of international academics contribute to one’s transnational academic mobility in Japan? The research progresses by qualitative analysis of individual biographical and semi-instructed narratives and illustrations.

The research highlights the criticality of both individual agency and habitus development as well as systematic academic support in transnational academic mobility. In particular, personal and family maneuvers, desires for a better life, academic curiosity and multiculturalism were primitive forces and dispositions that propel one’s transnational academic mobility. Such transnational academic mobility is sustained with systematic academic support and training. An academic supervisor or a work role assists the international academics in discovering one’s academic interests that are the initial and long-lasting motives for academic careers. In addition, it prepares the international academics with academic skills and dispositions necessary for upward academic mobility in Japan, such as language skills and academic knowledge. Lastly, it introduces international academics to an academic eco-system where they learn, share, and exchange academic resources and duties with other academics of similar interests, where academic outputs and upward academic mobility to academic leadership are achieved. The Japanese academic inbreeding system of koza, zemi and bunya sorts and nurtures international junior academics through a unique Japanese academic apprenticeship.

Author

• Yifeng Hong, The University of Hong Kong