Japan: Economics in Everyday Life

11. Why Do Students Take It Easy at the University?

11 Why Do Students Take It Easy at the University? Shigeyuki Abe, Shoji Nishijima, Shyam Sunder, and Karen Lupardus Japan has one of the highest literacy rates in the world. Its industrious and educated labor force accounts for the high volume, variety, and quality of its industrial products, and are the base of its postwar economic success. Yet most Japanese university students consider their colleges and universities merely as four-year playgrounds. Why? Japan’s Ministry of Education (Monbusho) oversees an egalitarian primary and lower secondary public education system by exercising its broad authority over school curriculum, teaching manuals, and school texts. Admission to coveted schools is determined almost entirely by once-a-year competitive entrance examinations at junior and senior high school levels (see chapter 3). All students must go through “examination hell” to enter the nation’s prestigious and well-established hierarchy of public and private universities. About 40 percent of all high school graduates are admitted into some kind of higher education institution. Over 70 percent of the students pursuing postsecondary education are admitted into four-year colleges and universities. 73 Once admitted, science and engineering students have to study fairly hard to graduate. However, most Japanese university students, especially those enrolled in liberal arts programs, cruise for the next four years. High school students in Japan consider universities as playgrounds that offer them a four-year hiatus between the discipline and rigors of study in lower education and a lifetime of long hours toiling for paternalistic employers after college (see chapters 12 and 13). Class Attendance Most Japanese university students do not attend class regularly. In liberal arts and social science classes, daily attendance averages below 20 percent of the class roster. Those who do attend are often more interested in socializing with their classmates than in listening to their instructors. After roll-call, many students sleep in class while others chatter away, oblivious to the lecture. What do students do when not in class? Extracurricular club activities on campus, part-time jobs, travel, volunteer work, 74 Japan: Why It Works, Why It Doesn’t and other nonacademic activities take up most of the students’ time. A 1995 survey of undergraduate students at Kobe University , a national (public) university, reveals that 59 percent of the students do not study at home, and another 30 percent study no more than an hour per day. Only 31 percent of the students said that they attend classes most of the time; another 37 percent indicated that they attend fairly frequently. In a multipleresponse portion of the survey, nonattendance of classes was attributed to boring lectures (65 percent), club activities (26 percent), no intention to study (20 percent), no particular reason (20 percent), and part-time work (12 percent). Ninety-four percent of Kobe University undergraduates hold part-time jobs. In the United States, less than two-thirds of college students hold part-time jobs. Not surprisingly, university administrators routinely assign classes with large rosters to small classrooms, knowing full well that only a small percentage of the students enrolled are likely to attend. If all registered students showed up, many classrooms would not even have standing room. Although universities rarely limit course enrollment, they are obliged to schedule exams in rooms large enough to accommodate all enrolled students. The curriculum of Japanese universities is typically divided into two semesters of year-long, lightweight courses, each course usually having one final examination at the end of the year. It is rare for a student to fail these exams. Professors frequently put little effort into their lectures and most give no homework assignments . Easy exams and soft grading curves allow most students to sail through without learning much. In social science and humanities courses, a night of cramming before the examination is usually sufficient to earn a passing grade. Even that is unnecessary if the exam is open book. Seventy-nine percent of all Japanese university students graduate within four years of entering college. It is hardly a demanding or stressful environment for students. Why Do Students Take It Easy at the University? 75 Incentive Structures The weakness of the Japanese university system can be traced to the incentives of students, professors, and potential employers of graduates (see chapter 12). From elementary to university level, Japan’s educational system screens and selects students for advancement through competition. The annual “entrance examination hell” identifies the best and brightest high school...