Structural Transformation of Japanese Higher Education: Adopting to Meet Challenges Posed by Globalization and Market Economy

Abstract

Higher education (HE) throughout the world is now facing the issue of globalization. In Japan, serious competition resulting from increasing globalization has forced universities to adapt to the current knowledge-based society. The transfer of knowledge and human resources in a knowledge-based society is regarded as synonymous with internationalization, and Japanese universities now need to upgrade their degree of excellence in both research and teaching within a global context. These issues, however, do not relate only to Japan; the rest of the world is also struggling to adjust to global developments in HE as globalization has had huge cultural, economic, and political impacts on most higher education institutions (HEIs hereafter) in the world. The increased importance of the knowledge industry, innovations in information and communication technologies, stronger orientations toward a market economy, and growth in regional and international governance systems have all contributed to an accelerated flow of people, ideas, culture, technology, goods, and services in our evermore globalized world. Globalization affects countries, cultures, and systems in both positive and negative ways (Altbach 2002). All sectors of society are being affected and HE is no exception (Knight 2008). As globalization has gradually affected HE, competition, which is closely associated with the global economy, has become a central concern. Combined with the impact of globalization and the development of the global knowledge economy, these forces have resulted in the climate of global competition that is currently reshaping HE.