Japan’s pursuit of meritocracy, cosmopolitanism, and global rankings in higher education: a Bourdieusian interpretation

ABSTRACT

Through the market-based conception of neoliberal performativity, an interlocking set of socio-economic agendas integrate higher education (HE) in state-level systems of production and accumulation. Within the scope of globalism, the capacity to develop competitive human capital emerges as a proxy indicator of achievement amongst institutions of higher learning. Through this elaborate symbolic structure, Japanese reforms aimed at bolstering “global” soft skills, including English, cosmopolitanism, and interculturality, function alongside an ideological arms race to enhance university rankings and individual investment in education. Invoking a Bourdieusian perspective, this conceptual inquiry suggests that stakeholders consider the secondary effects of asymmetrical efforts towards “élite” education, globalism, and world-class attainment, whereby accompanying policy reform propagates hegemony both locally and internationally. Additionally, the emergence of global soft skills as essential cultural capital challenges the supposed meritocracy of Japan’s HE system. Indeed, the “effort-based-reward” symbolic contract permeating much of the neoliberal discourse fails to account for the functional reality of class-distinguished taste. From this perspective, valuable cultural resources orientate towards a globally conscious, highly-credentialed middle-class privileged in social, economic, and cultural capital, thereby disadvantaging the majority of learners inevitably excluded from study at prestigious, brand-name universities.

KEYWORDS:

• Higher education
• internationalisation
• neoliberalism
• Bourdieu
• Japan

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Approximately $135.6 million USD using rates of exchange accurate to 2008.

2. Original source in Japanese. Text translated by the authors.

3. Approximately $10,000USD,

4. Emphasis present in original text.

5. Emphasis added by authors.

6. Emphasis added by authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Michael D. Smith

Michael D. Smith is an adjunct lecturer in English as a foreign language at Kwansei Gakuin University, School of International Studies, Japan. Currently enrolled as a doctoral student at the University of Bath, he holds a postgraduate teaching licence specializing in adult education, an MA in Applied Linguistics, and is an alumnus of University College London Institute of Education, where he gained an MA with distinction in Technology and Education. Michael’s research interests include the sociology of education, language policy, neoliberal governmentality, and the social and pedagogical implications of educational technologies.

Bradley D.F. Colpitts

Bradley D.F. Colpitts is an educational researcher and EFL instructor with more than 15 years of teaching experience. Holding a doctoral degree in postsecondary educational leadership and a master’s of education in TESOL from the University of Calgary, Canada, his research interests meet at the nexus of these two disciplines. These interests include educational leadership, innovation in higher education, the effective incorporation of educational technologies, and the expanding role of English in mediating internationalization processes in universities. He presently teaches EAP and content courses at Kwansei Gakuin University, School of Policy Studies, Japan.