Vocationalization of Higher Education in Japan

As it enters the universal stage, Japanese higher education is experiencing a series of changes.One is the replacement of academic subjects with vocational ones, another is the shift from written entrance examinations to portfolio selection, and the third is the rise of professional management instead of faculty control.These changes, accelerated by the demand for international students due to declining domestic student numbers, challenge traditional ideas about higher education.long with the declining number of high school students, vocationalization is a major issue in Japanese higher education.The issue of vocationalization is a hot topic globally, and the Japanese case sheds light on key themes.Students are increasingly interested in studying practical subjects that connect them directly to the labor market, rather than academic subjects that foster academic curiosity and mental discipline.Such a trend is particularly noticeable among international students in Japan, who focus on social sciences and engineering (see JASSO 2022 survey results).Today, private universities, which are more responsive to market needs than public universities, are adding professional schools in information science, sports science, health science, food science, business management, regional development, and tourism to their undergraduate programs.Ahead of this trend, the ministry of education (MEXT) introduced "the professors of practice" in 2003, substituting work experience for academic achievement.They have been active in professional graduate schools, and are now moving into undergraduate education.