International academics’ institutional integration and social adaptation among different local language competence groups in Japan

Given the increasing precarity of the academic job market and the growing presence of international academics, understanding the experiences of international early career academics is crucial for supporting their career development. In this context, local language competence is frequently cited as a critical factor in facilitating their institutional integration and social adaptation beyond academia. However, little research using quantitative approaches offers insights into the extent to which local language competence—Japanese, in our case—contributes to these outcomes. Using survey responses from such academics, we examine the relationships between their Japanese-language competence and institutional integration and social adaptation. Surprisingly, we observe no consistent pattern in institutional integration across different language competence levels. Although language competence is significantly related to social adaptation, particularly in interpersonal interactions, its effect size is minimal. These findings highlight the complexity of the relationship between international academics’ adaptation processes and their local language competence.