Chinese Faculty Members at Japanese Universities - Who Are They and Why Do They Work in Japan - A Study

Oct 15, 2026

This study identifies key aspects of the demographic characteristics and motivations of Chinese faculty at Japanese universities. Methods combine analysis of data from a 2017 national survey of full-time international faculty in Japan with semi-structured interviews with full-time Chinese faculty hired across different Japanese universities. Findings indicate a larger number of female Chinese faculty, Chinese professors, holders of Chinese doctoral degrees, and engineering faculty, with greater research over teaching engagement. The study concludes that academic or professional reasons dominate, followed by appreciation for Japanese life and culture and acceptance of better living conditions than in China.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages21

Reading Time53 min

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Abstract

Introduction

Internationalization and policy context

Rankings and the role of international faculty

Japan’s expansion of inbound international faculty

Chinese Faculty Members at Japanese Universities: Who Are They and Why Do They Work in Japan? Futao Huang (黄福涛) and Lilan Chen (陈丽兰) Hiroshima University ECNU Review of Education 2021, Vol. 4(4) 743–763 ª The Author(s) 2021 Article reuse guidelines: [sagepub.com/journals-permissions](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)[ ](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)[DOI: 10.1177/2096531120985877](DOI: 10.1177/2096531120985877)[ ](DOI: 10.1177/2096531120985877)[journals.sagepub.com/home/roe](journals.sagepub.com/home/roe) Abstract Purpose: The purpose of this study is to identify the key aspects of the demographic characteristics and motivations of Chinese faculty at Japanese universities. Design/Approach/Methods: Main methods include an analysis of relevant data from a national survey of full-time international faculty in Japan in 2017 and results from semi-structured interviews with several full-time Chinese faculty hired in different Japanese universities. Findings: This study suggests that, compared to the average level of international faculty, there are larger numbers of female Chinese faculty, greater numbers of Chinese professors, Chinese doctoral degree holders, Chinese faculty in engineering, and larger numbers of them being engaged in research rather than teaching. Further, this study argues that the most important reasons for Chinese faculty to work in Japanese universities are academic or professional reasons, followed by their fondness for Japanese life and culture and their agreement with better living conditions in Japan than in China. Originality/Value: It is the first time that the key characteristics of full-time Chinese faculty at Japanese universities and their motivations to come to Japan are investigated and discussed based on both quantitative and qualitative methods. Keywords International faculty, internationalization of higher education, Japanese university, national survey Date received: 23 September 2020; accepted: 14 December 2020 Corresponding author: Futao Huang, Research Institute for Higher Education, Hiroshima University, Chome-3-2 Kagamiyama, Higashihiroshima, Hiroshima 739-8511, Japan. Email: [futao@hiroshima-u.ac.jp](futao@hiroshima-u.ac.jp) Creative Commons Non Commercial CC BY-NC: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License ([https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/)) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages ([https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage](https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage)). Introduction With the advancement of economic globalization and especially a growing demand for improving international competitiveness of national higher education and research worldwide, attracting international faculty has become one of the important and effective ways of internationalizing national higher education in many countries. According to an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD, 2004) report, most OECD countries have launched policies and strategies to attract capable scholars and scientists who have a high-level knowledge and competency from other countries. Since the 1990s, the mobility of international faculty has expanded quickly in most OECD countries (OECD, 2015) . Furthermore, in some ranking organizations such as Times Higher Education and Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), the proportion of international faculty and students is used as an important indicator in ranking universities. To achieve high international status and be treated as a World-Class University, it is critical for some countries to accept talent from overseas, especially international faculty who are no less important than international students (Teichler, 2015) . A recent research

FAQs

What is the main purpose of the study?

To identify the key aspects of the demographic characteristics and motivations of Chinese faculty at Japanese universities.

How were the data collected and analyzed?

By analyzing data from a 2017 national survey of full-time international faculty in Japan and by conducting semi-structured interviews with full-time Chinese faculty across different Japanese universities.

What reasons do the study results find most important for Chinese faculty working in Japan?

Academic or professional reasons are most important, followed by their fondness for Japanese life and culture and their agreement with better living conditions in Japan than in China.

Oct 15, 2026

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