Filling the employment gaps in Japan

This article analyses the data associated with providing a clear path to work and successful future careers for international students, and the strategies that might be employed by Japanese higher education institutions to succeed in growing the international student market.

One of the really interesting aspects of Japan’s push to get back to pre-pandemic international student numbers (300,000 by 2026) is the connection seen with the need for talented international students to fill the job vacancies created by the declining birth rate across Japan. It’s an urgent issue for other nations in Asia such as South Korea and Singapore, but certainly more acute in Japan.

Globally (and with the rise of nativist tensions) international students are often seen as an easy target and are blamed for taking local jobs, spying for their home country, not taking ‘real’ courses and bringing their dependents with them as a way of evading the standard migrant routes. Recently, this has been most prevalent in UK rhetoric from the Home Office. But it’s a tendency that has spread to other countries with increasing international student numbers. Recent announcements by the Dutch Minister led to a halt in international recruitment activities by Dutch institutions. The rationale in the Netherlands is that international students have caused a major pressure on housing leading to a shortage and,in the long term, international student recruitment will ‘put pressure on the sustainability, affordability and quality of the Dutch education system’. Naturally, institutions have pushed back against this rhetoric arguing for the value of internationalisation and the presence of international students, as well as their contributions to the local economies.

Japan, despite a past history of isolation, is looking towards international students as a solution to an issue that has become an existential crisis. There has been a flurry of stories in the Western press with headlines such as “Japan’s aging population poses urgent risk to society” and “it’s now or never to reverse Japan’s population crisis”.

The need for action is clear and the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has a programme called Specified Skills Workers (SSW) which refers to several job areas including Agriculture, Fisheries, Construction, Aviation, Hospitality, Nursing, Automobile and Ship Building. Support is offered in terms of language, housing and visa issues.

Drawing from our own data (the International Student Barometer which has over 4 million respondents since 2006) we know that future career considerations is one of the chief reasons students choose an institution and country, so if Japan can provide a clear path to work and successful future careers for its international students then it is likely to succeed in growing the international student market.

 In addition, our 2022 data indicates that ‘the ability to work after study’ is a key decision factor, as can be seen by 82% of students rating it as important or very important when choosing an institution.

 This varies between nationalities, as shown below.

With India and China representing the largest population of international students globally it's instructive to see how significant post-study work opportunities are for Indian students compared to Chinese students.

The Barometer captures all the richness of the student experience, but increasingly the focus has been on ‘the world of work’ and we capture this in a number of satisfaction indicators. The key areas connected to employability that we evaluate are:

LEARNING

• Advice on guidance on long term job opportunities and careers from academic staff
• Learning that will help me get a good job
• Opportunities for work experience placements as part of my studies

 LIVING

• Opportunities to earn money whilst studying
• Making good contacts for the future

 SUPPORT

• Careers Advisory Services

 Looking at the data from 2022 we can see international students’ satisfaction levels on these elements below.

You can see that globally, net satisfaction with these items (students who are either satisfied or very satisfied) ranges from 62% to 91% (the low score of 62% for earning money whilst studying reflects both country legislation and availability of work which is to some extent out of the control of individual institutions.)

Top tips for a pro-active approach to employability

It is incumbent on both institutions and government to make a clear link between study and employment. There are a number of key strategies we would advise which are all related to the above issues raised in our surveys. Here are our top tips for Japanese institutions to improve in this vital area based on best practice of institutions that work with us globally:

1. Academic staff should be made aware of their responsibilities to assist students with advice on future careers, and institutions should provide training and guidance in these areas.
2. The curriculum itself should clearly signpost how it relates to a future career.
3. Work with local and international employers in your region to allow for placement opportunities.
4. Give international students clear guidance on part-time job opportunities – ideally connected to their field of study.
5. Building a network of contacts for the future is a vital component of university life for international students and we know from our global data that satisfaction with this indicator will make students more likely to recommend your institution.
6. Careers Offices globally are now much more likely to be tuned in to the fact that they need to serve not just their local student population, but also international students who have specific barriers to overcome (language, prejudice etc.) but who also can bring enormous benefits to a company.

 Addressing confusion amongst student populations

Globally there is enormous confusion for students on whether they are entitled to work whilst studying (including for how long and in what type of jobs) and also whether, for how long and in what capacity they can work after study. Fluctuations in post-study work rights by governments globally have made this a confusing landscape for international students to navigate.

So what can Japan do?

There are some promising signs in these areas. The Ministry of Education (MEXT) has a programme designed to enhance employment of international students and its website states:

“The Program will support universities to create learning environments for international students to acquire necessary skills (such as “business Japanese”, “Career education and business culture in Japan”, and “Mid- & Long-term internships”) for being employed in Japan.“

One of the real challenges is to persuade local companies to value international students as a key resource. Too often there will be complaints that they don’t understand the work culture; this can be especially true in Japan and there are inevitable difficulties with the language. There are some great examples though where these perceptions are being challenged and bridges built between institutions, communities and the corporate world. One such initiative is in Gunma Prefecture which is a mountainous, agricultural area about two hours from Tokyo. The project, called the “Glocal Hatara-Kurasu Gunma” Project aims to increase the employment rate of international students in Gunma from the current 15% to about 50%.With ten local institutions and 42 local councils and companies involved, it is great to see a project that recognises the real value of international students to local companies in supplying youth, a new perspective and global outlook to smaller companies who in the past have had little experience in employing international students.

Such initiatives bode well for Japan’s success in attracting international students with clear paths to employment.

For those Japanese higher education institutions first to participate in the International Student Barometer, it will be interesting to see how their satisfaction scores and perceptions around the concept of employability compare with their national and global counterparts.

The Student Barometer helps institutions make informed decisions to enhance the domestic and international student experience and drive successful recruitment and marketing strategies.