Convergence and divergence in the concept of global citizen: The case of international students in Japan

Scholarship has approached the term global citizen from multiple perspectives, including as a future-oriented education agenda. However, existing discussions often lack an integrative framework that bridges academic discourses with individuals’ perceptions, addressing conceptual uncertainty. Situated within Japan’s sociocultural dynamics as a non-Anglophone, non-Western host country, this study explores how international students make sense of the concept of global citizen through their study-abroad experience. It further analyzes how their perceptions correspond with the established theoretical frameworks—specifically, the typologies of global citizenship and the sense-of-being model. Using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) as the methodology, the study draws on semi-structured interviews with 18 international students at a Japanese university. The findings reveal both convergence and divergence in students’ perceptions and are synthesized into a Relational Global Citizen Imagination (RGCI) conceptual framework. Students commonly conceptualize global citizens in a relational fashion through recognizing differences in cultural diversity and connectedness in a global community, echoing the sense-of-being model. Simultaneously, their interpretations reflect neoliberal, liberal, and critical orientations in the typology framework, shaped by their individual identities with varying hierarchies and Japanese social characteristics. This study is significant in providing a more contextualized and practice-oriented approach to global citizenship education in international higher education.