2021 Fiscal Year Research-status Report
Building a Society More Inclusive of Migrants Through University Education
| Project/Area Number |
20K02946
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| Research Institution | Keio University |
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Principal Investigator |
コミサロフ アダム 慶應義塾大学, 文学部(日吉), 教授 (30791371)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2020-04-01 – 2023-03-31
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| Keywords | Immigration in Japan / Immigrant acceptance / National identity / Social markers / Acculturation / Japan studies / Intercultural relations |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
This study aims to identify Japanese criteria for deciding whether to socially accept migrants, how those criteria change contextually, and the impact of those boundary maintenance practices on migrants’ mental health with the goal of proposing ways for university education to help students become more accepting of migrants in Japan. Last year, I gathered data through 2 surveys: the first identified how the criteria that Japanese people value may change depending upon the ethnic group being considered, and the second examined how well immigrants feel they fit the criteria that Japanese value and that fit’s impact on their mental health. Analyses reveal that Japanese consider 2 types of criteria important for accepting migrants: ethnic (which cannot be acquired such as Japanese ancestry or birthplace) and civic (which can be gained, e.g., language skills or following social norms), but such expectations’ strength varies depending upon the ethnic group being considered. Also, the more migrants feel they fit Japanese acceptance criteria, the better their life satisfaction and lower their stress. Since April, 2021, I have published 1 refereed paper in an international journal about this research and given 3 conference presentations online (1 Japanese conference and 2 international ones).
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| Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
1: Research has progressed more than it was originally planned.
Reason
The first reason my research has progressed smoothly is that before my grant began, I completed a pilot study in which I surveyed Japanese university students about their criteria for accepting migrants in Japanese society. In this study, I developed a survey, established a theoretical framework, and designed the statistical tests that could be used, with some revisions, in my current kakenhi research. For example, by removing and adding some variable measures from the pilot survey, I could construct the new surveys very quickly and have them translated into Japanese. Also, because I had analyzed similar types of data before, I could rapidly analyze the new data. In the past 2 years, I have conducted 4 surveys to gather data from both Japanese and migrants in Japan and done a large volume of data analysis. I have begun to write 3 papers about my findings and have assembled an international research team to collaborate in writing other papers comparing my Japanese data with similar data in the US and Australia. In these 2 years, I have presented my findings at 5 conferences and published 5 papers related to this line of research.
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
I am currently debating whether to collect more data. For example, since I am in the UK for a sabbatical at University of Oxford, I could gather data about British criteria for accepting immigrants to compare to Japan. I will also continue analyzing my current data and work on 4 papers. Paper 1 will explain Japanese criteria for accepting migrants as a whole and variables that modify such expectations, and paper 2 will examine how Japanese criteria for accepting migrants vary depending upon migrants’ country or region of origin. Paper 3 will illuminate the relationship between how well migrants feel they satisfy Japanese criteria for acceptance and the impact of that fit on migrants’ mental health, and paper 4 will share recommendations for university education to make Japanese society more accepting towards migrants. I will present my research at the International Academy for Intercultural Research’s Biennial Conference, International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology’s International Conference, and at SIETAR Japan’s Annual Conference.
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| Causes of Carryover |
In the first year of my grant, I applied for 100,000 yen extra to cover data collection costs but ended up not using 90,326 yen because this expense was not as much as I had anticipated. I still have not spent this extra money. My plan this year is to use my grant to pay my research assistant and travel for invited lectures and research presentations for academic organizations. I may also collect further data for my study, though I am still investigating what would be the best type of data to further the goals of this research.
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