Japanese Higher Education Reform Trends in Response to Globalization and STEM Demand

Overview & Synopsis

Globalization has had a substantial impact in the educational field as new ranks of students increasingly have opportunities and the capability to enter higher education and study abroad. Mass access to higher education has become a worldwide phenomenon, as evidenced by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO 2016) statistics that global enrollments in higher education have increased 56 percent from 2004, with most recently available 2014 reporting indicating 207 million enrollments world-wide. Amidst these changes is a rising demand for students to enter into the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) fields, which offer high quality jobs that stimulate economic development and fulfill increasing human capital needs in their respective industries. STEM fields comprise majors ranging from chemistry, physics, software engineering, statistics, and beyond. Given the importance of globalization and STEM development in ongoing global higher education reform, this article examines those trends and how Japanese higher education seeks to drive innovation and global competitiveness through STEM reform.