Graduate School Subcommittee Meeting 119 Minutes
Overview
At the 119th Graduate School Subcommittee meeting, participants discussed doctoral talent and connections between graduate schools and society, drawing on presentations by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, BizReach, Fujitsu, and Hokkaido University. Topics included the goals of the Doctoral Talent Initiative, challenges around entering doctoral programs and finding employment, companies’ job-based hiring, access to career information, and university support systems. Participants discussed how to connect doctoral graduates’ expertise and capabilities with companies’ job requirements, as well as disparities in support and shortages of specialized staff.
Key points
- The meeting also identified employment for humanities PhD graduates in companies and employment for international students with limited Japanese proficiency as challenges.
- Participants discussed the importance of clarifying which roles require a doctorate and of companies and universities alike describing doctoral graduates’ expertise and capabilities.
- Participants suggested that support varies by factors such as university size, field of study, and region.
- A shortage of specialists able to support advanced applied skills for doctoral graduates was identified as a challenge.
Overview
The 119th Graduate School Subcommittee meeting was held to discuss doctoral graduates’ contributions across diverse areas of society and connections between graduate schools and society. The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, BizReach, Fujitsu, and Hokkaido University gave presentations, followed by an exchange of views among committee members.
The Doctoral Talent Initiative sets a goal of bringing the number of doctorate holders per 1 million people to a world-leading level by 2040, approximately three times the 2020 fiscal-year level. One reason cited for not entering a doctoral program was concern about finding employment after graduation (31.1%).
Impact
It was explained that information overload or bias can prolong job searches, reduce research time, weaken understanding of companies, and concentrate applications, leading to declined job offers and mismatches.
Details
BizReach Campus for Doctoral Students provides doctoral students and prospective doctoral students with tools to make their research and work histories visible, year-round online visits with alumni, company information, and events. Students can use it free of charge; registration screening and 24-hour human monitoring are in place.
Fujitsu moved to job-based personnel management in April 2020 and will end uniform new-graduate hiring and uniform starting salaries for fiscal 2026 graduates. It specifies the organization and role at the time of an offer, applies compensation based on the role, and also runs paid internships and a doctoral program for working professionals.
Hokkaido University provides continuing support from undergraduate through doctoral study through the Red Thread Meeting, individual consultations, the English-language Career Link Meetup, and the Doctoral Human Resource Development Consortium. The discussion also identified support for small and specialized universities, regions with few companies hiring doctoral graduates, and international students with limited Japanese proficiency as challenges.