Capturing International Educational Exchange as "Third Space" and Its Dilemma: A Case of Faculty Staff Employment at Japanese Universities

• In Event: Exploring the dynamics and outcomes of exchanges and internationalization

Proposal

Introduction
The internationalization of higher education has become an urgent policy agenda around the world. Since this causes diverse international activities among universities, their strategies and administrations for international educational exchange (IEE) become more complex and specialized. As a result, universities need to secure human resources familiar with this specialized area and need to clarify the functions of faculty and administrative staff working in IEE. This phenomenon also points to the emergence of a “Third Space”, defined as a working space that occurs between academic and administrative practices (Whitchurch 2008), and thus research has begun to position IEE as a "Third Space" in Japan (Fujii et al., 2021).
Based on　analysis of 1) trends in faculty staff employment and 2) interviews with university officials on the hiring side, this presentation discusses the current status and dilemma of faculty staff’s working boundaries and spaces in IEE of Japanese universities.

Theoretical & Conceptual Framework
The working boundaries and spaces between faculty and administrative staff have been researched in many Western countries (Mcinnis 1998, Whitchurch 2008, 2012). In particular, Whitchurch classified university professionals into four categories: bounded, cross-boundary, unbounded, and blended. She names the blended category a "Third Space," and analyzes its characteristics and challenges. On the other hand, there are concerns that a "Third Space" may lead to a "para-academic" environment in which faculty staff, who has traditionally been responsible for teaching, research, and service in a comprehensive manner, will find their identities fragmented (Macfarlane, 2011).
In Japan, many faculty positions taking on administrative duties in IEE have been identified due to competitive government grants related to the "internationalization of higher education" since the late 2000s. Young non-tenured faculty staff is increasingly being assigned to these positions, focusing on more administrative work than education and research (Takagi, 2018). The overlap between faculty and administrative positions in IEE of Japanese universities has occurred, creating new job functions and working spaces.
This trend implies IEE is a "Third Space" that faculty staff is rapidly moving into. Nonetheless, the prior studies have not academically analyzed this sphere as the "Third Space " and thus this presentation provides insight into “Third Space” as a case of Japanese universities.

Research Questions
How is IEE at Japanese universities becoming a "Third Space"? What are the challenges?

Method
Two qualitative datasets were used in the analysis in order holistically to capture faculty staff’s work in IEE.
The first dataset was the Jrec-in Portal, where faculty job positions at Japanese universities are posted. Job descriptions, conditions, and qualifications of faculty staff engaged in IEE were analyzed in terms of how these items are mentioned and interrelated with each other (collection period: January to November 2021, 32 cases).
The second dataset consisted of semi-structured interviews with five university officials involved in faculty staff employment in IEE (interview period: May 2022 - May 2023). The interview questions were based on the items analyzed in the first dataset. The questions included "specific duties (education, research, administration)," "decision-making on non-tenure or tenure," and "qualifications required" for the positions. These interviews aimed to identify the roles faculty staff is supposed to play and the current challenges of work in IEE.

Findings
In the first dataset on faculty positions, the characteristics indicated the followings: 1) master's degree as a minimum academic requirement, 2) more non-tenured than tenured positions, 3) few teaching and research duties, 4), more administrative and service duties, and 5) teaching and research activities are not in fact denied.
Some interviewees indicated that guaranteeing and encouraging faculty staff’s research activities and outputs can eventually contribute to university international strategies and administrations. However, all interviewees additionally comment that faculty staff in IEE is more valued for their administrative ability to flexibly respond to project-based initiatives, rather than for their expertise in education and research (teaching experience, doctoral degree). Some respondents commented that while degrees and research achievements are one of the requirements for hiring faculty staff, in practice, they are not necessarily emphasized because research is not emphasized in IEE positions. Some others commented that, due to non-tenured employment, faculty staff in these positions sometimes tends to focus on their research too much for their next career and is reluctant to get involved in administrative work in IEE. This is because the IEE faculty staff is evaluated similarly to all aspects (teaching, research, and service) in which conventional faculty staff is evaluated, and their contracts are often renewed on that basis.

Discussions (Contributions & Implication)　
These analyses indicate that while the academic background is a prerequisite for faculty staff in IEE of Japanese universities, they need to perform more in administrative ways than academic ways, compared with conventional faculty staff. This also points to a dilemma between non-tenured faculty staff who wishes to devote sufficient time to research and employers who want them to prioritize administrative work in IEE. Given these mixed expectations from both sides, faculty positions in IEE of Japanese universities are becoming a "Third Space" where faculty staff is more administratively engaged.
Working boundaries and spaces in IEE of Japanese universities are at a crossroads. As the halfway positions that fulfill the functions of both faculty and administrative staff, should the Japanese IEE "Third Space" be sustained? Or are these positions pieces of evidence that threaten conventional faculty staff’s academic identities and communities as “para-academic”? To take this a step further, more discussions are needed on the development of a system for training, recruiting, and hiring human resources. In addition, the context of Asia and Japan, where IEE and the employment system are different from those in Europe and the United States, must be taken into account.

Authors

• Akinari Hoshino, Nagoya University

• KAZUSA OTA, Rikkyo University

• Hitomi Takaki, Nagoya University

• Motoki Fujii, Shizuoka University