Ko Gakureki Wakingu Puua (高学歴ワーキングプア) [Highly Educated Working Poor]

Kobunsha Shinsho, 2007, 217 pages, ISBN-10: 4334034233 (700 yen)

Review by Fumiko Halloran

In pre-World War II Japan, anyone who graduated from college or university was considered to belong to an elite class as few then could afford the luxury of a higher education. If that person had a doctorate, or “hakushi-go,” he was admired for such a daunting achievement and was assured of a high position in government or academe.

In present day Japan, this picture is no more. Japan is glutted with so many Ph.D. candidates and holders that many cannot find jobs in their specialized fields. While those with Ph.D.s in medicine, pharmacy, and other practical areas fare much better, those seeking jobs in the humanities and social sciences are in the worst shape. How it became so is the theme of this provocative book by an author who has Ph.D. in human environment studies from Kyushu University.

First, some statistics: as of 2006, some 261,000 students were registered in graduate schools in master’s and doctorate courses. (These numbers do not differentiate between Japanese and foreign students). This is quadruple the number twenty years earlier. At the same time, 16,000 had completed the requirements for doctorates, the highest number ever. We should be aware of the difference between those who completed the doctorate requirements and those who were awarded the doctorate degrees. The former had either not submitted their theses or had submitted them but had not had them approved by the faculty yet.

The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (Monka-sho [文部科学省] or MEXT) defines those who had completed the requirements as those who stayed in the doctorate course for three years and left. Of the graduates in doctoral courses, only 57% landed in full-time employment. Among them, 50% in humanities and social sciences did so. Some newspapers pointed out that only 3% of organizations in the private sector planned to hire Ph.D. degree holders (according to a survey in 1998) and that in 2005, 12,500 Ph.D. holders were so called “freeters.” “Freeters” are part-time workers who hop from one job to another.

A natural question: Why is this happening? The author points to the year 1991, when the then Ministry of Education [文部省] proposed to reform the university system. Among its goals was to promote education and research to a world class level, which pushed for improving graduate school system. Seeing an opportunity to expand its programs, the Tokyo University Faculty of Law proposed a model that would have its faculty teach both undergraduate and graduate courses. As a reward, Todai received a 25% increase in its budget from the ministry. Todai’s move was soon followed by other national universities that wanted the same budget increase. Thus they began vigorously to recruit students to fill the graduate school quotas set by the ministry.

Within the graduate schools, research universities (Kenkyu Daigaku -研究大学) such as the seven former imperial universities (Tokyo, Kyoto, Tohoku, Hokkaido, Nagoya, Osaka, and Kyushu), the Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tsukuba, Hitotsubashi, Kobe, and Hiroshima (all national) and Waseda and Keio, both private, had little problem attracting students. But the rest of the universities had to scramble to retain students in their graduate schools.

The author points out from interviews with students that they were encouraged by their professors without understanding what awaited them in the job market. They shared unrealistically optimistic views of the administrators and professors who promised job opportunities once students received their graduate degrees. In particular, small, local and private colleges were eager to establish graduate schools to raise their prestige and attract more students. The result was a sharp increase in numbers of graduate schools while job prospects were limited. Declining youth population and worldwide economic hardships did not help.

The most likely career for graduates is teaching at colleges and universities starting as research assistants to eventually attain the position of professorship. For many graduates, however, this is an impossible dream because of the glut in graduate degrees. In addition, local colleges and universities are often connected with major national universities whose faculty control the teaching positions of the local schools and fill them with their own students.

If you are not a graduate of a prestigious university nor a student of influential professors, you may not even be interviewed by a hiring university. Thus graduates work as tutors at college preparatory schools called juku, or as hourly part-time lecturers at universities, cashiers at convenience stores, waiters at restaurants, and laborers in construction. A man in his 30’s interviewed by the author even became a professional pachinko gambler.

The author asserts that the Ministry of Education and the Todai Faculty of Law conspired to shift Japan’s education toward the graduate schools in their own interest. He says the professors feared the declining birth rate could decrease the number of college students that, in turn, would decrease the number of teaching positions for Todai graduates. The ministry feared the decline in budgets for educational programs would cause a decline in the power of the ministry.

And they feared that the shrinking student population would lead to reduced numbers of lucrative senior posts in educational institutions that they had counted on as second careers after retirement, or “amakudari” or “descending from heaven.” Most senior officials in the ministry are Todai or other national university graduates who maintain close contacts with their alma maters, which the author criticizes. He claims that the students were sacrificial lambs, naively believing professors who painted bright futures in satisfying academic careers.

Critics have pointed out that it was students themselves who chose this path and they always have had the option to shift careers. The author’s interviews revealed that many graduate students found it difficult to land jobs in the private sector because companies prefer to train employees on the job. And graduates cling to the hope that someday they will join the academic establishment.

The author argues that the situation is not the problem of individual choices anymore. According to some estimates, tax payers spend $1 million to educate one doctorate holder, as national, public, and private universities receive central government subsidies out of tax revenues. If that doctorate student cannot be active in research and teaching at the prime of life, the return for the investment would be poor.

The government has tried remedies. For example, from 1996 to 2000, the Ministry of Education provided post-doctorate fellows offering salaries ranging from $40,000 to $50,000 a year and $10,000 research grants. It sounded like a good program except that half of the 10,000 positions were for foreigners coming to Japan and Japanese students in graduate school. This did not solve the problem of those who had finished doctoral programs. The age limit was 35, which disqualified many doctorate holders. The seven top universities and the Tokyo Institute of Technology set up an internet job information network for graduates.

The author describes in detail the driving force of making education profitable as the government introduced business incentives to make all colleges and universities “hojin” [法人] or corporations that would be financially accountable. Already several colleges and universities have shut down due to accumulating debt.

The author’s assertion of the Ministry of Educaton and Todai Faculty of Law conspiring to promote graduate school system to their own benefit might meet rebuttal from the two groups.  For example, Tamotsu Tokunaga, the director general on higher education at the ministry, asserts in Gaiko Forum [外交フォーラム] (October 2008 issue) that their goal to double the number of graduate schools by the end of 20th century was achieved, with half of science and technology major undergraduates proceeding to graduate schools. He gives credit to the graduate schools on improved quality of research, diversity of education, and international competition. But even he concedes that graduate school faculty see their schools as contributing to their own research, rather than educating students to prepare them for careers. Meanwhile, more than 10,000 Ph.D. holders need full time jobs that fit with their training.

A different version of this review first appeared on the National Bureau of Asian Research (NBR) Japan-US Discussion Forum and is reproduced with permission.