Investigation of Post-graduation Outcomes of Students in EMI Programs in Higher Education in Japan

2020 Fiscal Year Annual Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20H01698
• Research Institution: University of Niigata Prefecture
• Principal Investigator: Brown Howard 新潟県立大学, 国際地域学部, 教授 (40562145)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 花田 真吾 東洋大学, 国際学部, 准教授 (00635865)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 英語による教育 / 学生のキャリア支援 / 高等教育の国際化 / EMI / 学生の就職活動

Outline of Annual Research Achievements

The purpose of the project is to understand the job-hunting situation and career outcomes of English-medium instruction (EMI) program students. In the first phase, we are focusing on understanding the role of university career support staff and private sector actors in the career-support field.
Much of the first year of the project was spent gathering up-to-date information on the career support networks available to mainstream students as a point of comparison for EMI students.
We also prepared a comprehensive list of programs taught entirely in English at Japanese universities, which will act as a contact list for recruiting participants.
The survey and interview schedules to be used in data collection were also developed and tested.

Current Status of Research Progress

4: Progress in research has been delayed.

Reason

The project experience considerable delays due to the coronavirus pandemic.Travel restrictions made it difficult to conduct site visits for data collection and networking. Online solutions were possible but they were an imperfect substitute.

Strategy for Future Research Activity

In FY2021 the research plan calls for data collection from university career support staff and private sector actors. A survey instrument developed this year will be implemented and semi-structured interviews will be conducted to investigate the views of those working in the career support field.