The Internationalization of Higher Education in Japan: Effective Organization for a Sustainable Internationally Cooperative Higher Education Program

Abstract

The goal of this study is to explore the challenges of international collaboration in higher education activities in Japan by identifying the management frameworks and elements necessary to run sustainable, quality-assured, internationally collaborative activities. Internationalization was examined from three perspectives: collaboration between a university’s headquarters and its departments, program management, and quality assurance. A qualitative case study design was used that involved interviews with 48directors of collaborative international higher education programs. Regarding intra-university collaboration, it was found that there were four major system types divided into eight subtypes: 1. Top-down; (A) Leaving the job to departments, (B) Control, and (C) Ownership; 2. Bottom-up; (A) Approval and (B) Independent; 3. Acting as one; and 4. Cooperation; (A) Regional and (B) Field. The most frequent subtype was “Approval” and the most successful subtype was “Independent.” Regarding program management, many institutions have mature systems, but even these systems found it difficult to achieve accreditation by external agencies. To enable Japanese higher education institutions to survive in the global market, central leadership that encourages departmental independence is necessary. Entrepreneurialism, whereby not only executives but also academics and administrators explicitly seek out new strategies is a key element in Japanese higher education institutions.

Internationalization of Higher Education: A Case Study on Media Utilization, Policies Consistency and Stakeholders’ Insights in Indonesia

“…Moreover, how mid-level administrators working in international student service centers make meaning of their roles and perceive their institutions' support (Bodine Al-Sharif et al, 2021). If internationalization of Higher Education and organizations are linked, previous studies analyze the effectiveness of organizations (Saito & SoungHee, 2019) and organizational pressure (Guri-Rosenblit, 2015;Zapp & Ramirez, 2019). Meanwhile, research on the media and internationalization of Higher Education are still few.…”