Taking Advantage of a Multicultural Campus: Impact of At-Home Intercultural Initiatives on Japanese Students’ Skills and Future Goals

Abstract

In 2014, 24 Type B universities were selected as part of the Top Global University Project to act as institutional role models of internationalization in Japan and as gateways for the development of global human resources, that is, globally competent human resources. The increasing pressure to internationalize, perceived as a major solution to Japan’s aging population, declining birthrate, and economic slump, is set against broader concerns regarding the emphasis placed by policy makers on quantitative goals. This research study aimed to explore the impact of six at-home initiatives developed to promote intercultural interaction at a highly diverse Japanese university and, ultimately, foster the development of global human resources. Online survey results of 355 Japanese students of English as a foreign language were used as data to analyze participation and interaction rates, as well as skill development and pertinence to postgraduation goals. Results show that despite the emphasis placed by the university on intercultural exchange, participation in noncompulsory activities that support language and cross-cultural competence acquisition is still relatively low. In addition, a significant number of students who participated in the initiatives admitted to only interacting with Japanese peers or perceived little impact on their skills. Suggestions are made to improve the discussed initiatives so as to maximize the impact of the multicultural campus on domestic students’ skills.

Preparing Education Students for an International Future? Connecting Students’ Experience to Institutional Contexts

“…International perspectives and research for many of the courses are seen as fairly weak or not properly incorporated in the course design, and the tendency to rarely use English texts limits further the possibilities to access research content. This is in line with studies on the limitations of IaH when students do not engage in meaningful interactions, are not aware of programs and opportunities for internationalization (Hofmeyr, 2021), and the program design allows for "cocooning" whereby students opt for non-international activities (Whatley et al, 2021).…”

Editorial Advisory Board Members on Reimagining Higher Education Internationalization and Internationalization of the Curriculum

“…In other words, for P3, a refocusing on the educational opportunities afforded by internationalization to all students to explore difference and embrace the unknown and the rich potential multicultural and inclusive campuses can have to support this form of learning. A potential which has largely remained unrealized and, as such, continues to be a major problem according to P15 (cf., Hofmeyr, 2021), and thus, constrains how higher education internationalization might meaningfully contribute to society and its needs.…”

Who benefits from the international classroom? A longitudinal examination of multicultural personality development during one year of international higher education.

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