International student networks as transnational social capital: illustrations from Japan

ABSTRACT

This paper examines how social isolation in a non-Anglophone context where English is not the main language of instruction for local students but is for international students, has unintended consequences for social capital formation among the latter. What factors influence international student network formation in such places where linguistic barriers are institutionalised and what are their consequences not only during college but beyond, in shaping students’ career plans? Using qualitative interview data with 67 international (originating from Asian countries) and domestic students in Japanese universities, we find that such institutional barriers negatively promote greater isolation of international students but positively encourage the formation of diverse multinational ties – a process through which international students gain ideas, confidence and direction regarding their post-graduation career plans to work transnationally.

KEYWORDS:

• International students
• Japan
• higher education
• transnational social capital

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Rennie J. Moon with a background in international comparative education and sociology, her research has examined topics related to globalization and higher education in Korea and Asia.

Gi-Wook Shin is the director of the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center and a professor of sociology at Stanford University.

Notes

1 For definitions of bonding and bridging social capital, see Putnam (2000); for transnational social capital, see Levy, Peiperl, and Bouquet (2013).

2 Comparable data on the global number of foreign students (defined as those who are not citizens of the country in which the data are collected) are available only until 2012, because since this year many countries started supplying data on international students (defined as those who left their country of origin and moved to another country for the purpose of study) only. As a result, trends in the global number of foreign students are based on the data until 2012; OECD (2016).

3 Given that Chinese students form the largest ethnic group among international students in Japan (55.9%), Chinese students are underrepresented in our sample. However, we did this intentionally to capture the experiences of diverse groups of students. Still the top 3 groups in our sample (Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese) are the same as in the international student population in Japan

4 A Vietnamese student majoring in marketing, for example, shared her desire to bridge between Vietnam and Japan:

I’m learning a lot interacting with people here. I can see that Japan is now accepting more and more Vietnamese students and I think the relationship between Vietnam and Japan will really improve in the future. Trade between the two countries is expanding. A lot of Japanese companies are investing in Vietnam … I think it’s a great opportunity for me. I can be involved in those processes … I expect that my network here might give me an advantage here and in Vietnam.