Engaging students in promoting diversity, equity and inclusion in Japanese higher education: Co-developing intergroup dialogue with university students

• In Event: Fostering global student engagement and success

Proposal

Scholars, policymakers, and practitioners have discussed the significance of promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) in higher education across Asian countries and the world (Sanger & Gleason, 2020). In Japan, tertiary education institutions, especially universities, have taken various initiatives to promote DE&I in line with the legislations and policy-making related to it, such as the Basic Act for Gender Equal Society, Act for Eliminating Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities, Plan to Host 300,000 International Students in Japan, and Act on Promotion of Public Understanding of Diversity of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (Yoshida, 2018). However, some scholars have criticized that these initiatives tend to be lip service and lack a social justice perspective (Iwabuchi, 2021). Furthermore, these efforts have not necessarily succeeded, as shown in the findings of the inequal ratio in gender and nationality of faculty members, hate and discrimination incidents on campus, and the struggles and a lack of support reported by marginalized students with diverse backgrounds (Cho, 2023; MEXT, 2018). Thus, it is necessary to act on further reforms and improvements. What pedagogies could we use to create a more just, inclusive, and equitable campus?

Scholars have argued that student engagement, albeit in a variety of forms, serves as one of the catalysts of institutional change (Klemenčič, 2014). Students have the potential to become actors of institutional change to promote DE&I (Morgan & Davis, 2019). While the Japanese government has also emphasized the importance of university reform engaged by students, the “protagonists of learning” (MEXT, 2007), student engagement has not been the main focus of university reforms related to DE&I. More research, policy, and practice that examine student engagement related to DE&I in Japanese universities are needed.

This presentation examines the possibilities and limitations of a multicultural workshop we co-developed with students at a Japanese national university. More specifically, we explore how, if at all, university students raise awareness of DE&I issues and think of the possibility of becoming actors of institutional change on university campuses.

In order to engage students in creating a diverse and inclusive campus, we co-developed and co-implemented a two-day multicultural workshop, based on the foundational concepts of intergroup dialogue, in collaboration with a group of young faculty members and students at a Japanese national university (University A) in August 2022. As part of a joint research project between the university and the company, we also collaborated with an employee who is in charge of DE&I issues at Company B. Intergroup dialogue, a multicultural intervention to reduce prejudice and nurture intergroup relationships, has more than 30-year history in the United States. Much empirical research has revealed its positive effects, such as attitude change, consciousness-raising, and action preparedness (Frantell et al., 2019; Zúñiga et al., 2012), which are critical components to promote collective action and social change. Based on the foundational concepts of intergroup dialogue, we valued the diversity of participants (e.g., ethnicity, gender, generation, and SES), drew from their lived experiences, and fostered meaningful dialogues through building equal relationships. The participants learned basic concepts of social justice such as oppression & privilege and unconscious bias and social contexts of immigrants in Japan through e-learning contents prior to the workshop. On the first day of the workshop, the participants, Japanese students and international students from University A and employees from Company B discussed case studies of an immigrant college student, an international student, and a foreign worker, focusing on their individual, systematic, and structural barriers that hinder their success. On the second day, the participants co-created action plans to tackle these barriers and to create a more diverse and inclusive university and workplace.

From 2022 to 2023, two graduate students became research assistants, co-designing, co-facilitating, and co-reflecting on the workshop, and analyzed data with faculty members, which was an attempt to promote student engagement. As scholars discussed the critical role of facilitators in intergroup dialogue (Frantell et al., 2019), graduate student facilitators promoted psychological safety in the workshop, asked reflexive questions, and contributed to creating an equal relationship among diverse participants. During the workshop, we recorded the entire session, wrote fieldnotes, conducted pre and post-surveys, and did follow-up interviews with university participants, which became the primary data of this applied research.

Through participating in the workshop, the Japanese students deepened their understanding of how oppression affects international students on campus, including their pressure to assimilate into Japanese university culture and the various barriers they face such as accessing student services. Some students realized their role in educating others on structural oppression and privilege. International students mentioned how they felt empowered by dialoguing with company employees who listened carefully to their stories and provided affirming comments on them, which made the students realize that they could be who they are. Some students realized the importance of doing advocacy work as they often felt powerless on campus and could not even imagine voicing their opinions to administrators and faculty members, questioning the evaluation they received from professors, and doing protests against the university.

While these changes might be a small impact, we believe they are critical steps to engage students in promoting DE&I on college campuses. However, we are also aware of what was not spoken during the workshop, which implies a sense of powerlessness or indifference among students as agents of institutional change. These attitudes reflect the unwillingness of Japanese universities in sharing power with students in making policies and practices. In future programs, we could invite university faculty members and administrators to listen to the needs of students and have a dialogue with them, which could perhaps motivate students to take action. Involving those who have power in the project could also lead to systematic change that encourages student engagement and make changes on campus. In a society where student activism, student organizing, or student advocacy has not fully developed, creating grassroots changes through developing diverse intervention programs, as we introduced in this presentation, could open up possibilities for the future of higher education.

Authors

• Tomoko Tokunaga, University of Tsukuba

• Akira Sawata, University of Tsukuba