2023 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 – 2025-03-31
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| Keywords | Immigration in Japan / Immigrant acceptance / National identity / Social markers / Acculturation in Japan / Japan studies |
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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 worked on 3 papers that identified: 1. how the criteria that Japanese people value may change depending upon their perceived levels of threat, contribution, and social status among immigrants, 2. how such acceptance criteria may change according to immigrants’ national background, and 3. the impact on migrants’ mental well-being in trying to acculturate to these acceptance criteria in Japanese society. The findings in these papers have important implications for education: by promoting immigrants’ contributions in Japan (both economic and social) and social status, while reducing threat perceptions, educators can engender more inclusive attitudes towards immigrants among students. Also, by redirecting migrants’ acculturation efforts to acquirable civic acceptance criteria, better migrant mental well-being can be achieved. From April 2023 to the end of March 2024, Paper #1 was published in the International Journal of Intercultural Relations, and I gave 8 presentations in Japan and abroad, including 2 invited lectures at University of Oxford.
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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 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. In the past 4 years, I have conducted 4 surveys to gather data from both Japanese and migrants in Japan and done a large volume of data analysis. In May 2023, my paper which was accepted in Elsevier’s International Journal of Intercultural Relations (entitled “Constructions of Japanese National Identity: Host Views Using a Social Markers of Acceptance Framework”), and I have assembled a global research team to collaborate in writing other papers comparing my Japanese data with similar data in the US, the Netherlands, and Australia. In these 3 years, I have presented my findings at 11 conferences and published 6 papers related to this line of research, with 3 more papers in progress (1 to be published as a chapter in my forthcoming book, The SAGE Handbook of Intercultural Communication).
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
I have submitted to an international journal a paper that assesses how SMA change depending upon the national background of the immigrants being considered by Japanese people. In addition, I am finalizing the content for my book, The SAGE Handbook of Intercultural Communication, which will include a chapter about this research. Also, I will write 2 more papers. Paper 1 will assess the impact of Japanese expectations for SMA on immigrants’ mental health, and Paper 2 will address how Japanese university education can contribute to making Japanese society more accepting of immigrants. I plan to submit Paper 1 to an international journal, while I will publish Paper 2 either in a domestic or international journal. To disseminate my research, I plan to present at 1 conference this year: SIETAR (Society for Intercultural Education, Training, and Research) Japan and am currently discussing doing invited lectures in Australia and New Zealand.
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| Causes of Carryover |
The reason that I could not spend all of my funds last year was because I was planning to use them to give lectures at the University of Oxford in February. However, the University of Oxford awarded me an Astor Visiting Lectureship and paid for my visit. So I ended up not using any of my funding from this Japanese governmental grant. I plan to use my remaining funds to attend a conference on statistics in the US that will augment my understanding of methods that I would like to use in my research on social markers of acceptance.
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