[Feature: Toward a Campus of Mutual Support] Hideko Sumita: From Competition to Kyosei (Conviviality) — Aiming for a Juku Recognized in Global Society

2023/03/07

I am involved in international collaboration at the Juku, and international collaboration between universities is clearly influenced by the trends of the times. During the bubble economy, top universities in Europe and the United States visited the Juku expressing a desire for exchange, but as the Japanese economy began to stagnate, they all simultaneously deepened their exchanges with Chinese universities. Currently, as security issues become more apparent, interest in Japan from Western universities is rising again, like a pendulum swinging back.

The Juku belongs to several international university networks. The discussions there are often on topics and debates that are slightly ahead of those within Japan, making it a place to sense signs of how society will evolve in the future. Previously, universities often presented the "strength" of their education and particularly their research activities as a showcase. I was often surprised to see what top global universities were doing and felt that I had to somehow deliver that information within Keio. However, before I knew it, the tone of such competition shifted toward statements conscious of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI), and network activities have changed in conjunction with that.

Let me give an example. The Juku is a member of APRU (Association of Pacific Rim Universities), a network of research-intensive universities in the Pacific Rim. Various levels of meetings and events are held there every year, led by presidential-level meetings. There, voices were raised saying that something must be done regarding the treatment of female faculty and researchers. In Japanese universities, the small number of women in executive positions such as president, or in senior levels such as professor among researchers, is an issue for many universities, not just the Juku. However, in my eyes, top Western universities like Harvard, Cambridge, and Oxford had already produced female presidents as leaders, and I had assumed that the problem of gender inequality had already been largely resolved.

To be honest, I felt a sense of incongruity when members from prominent APRU member universities in the North American West Coast, Australia, New Zealand, and Hong Kong raised these issues. However, listening closely, female researchers who face a high risk of career interruption due to child-rearing and other factors are by no means on equal footing with male researchers. As a result, they suffer disadvantages in promotions and other areas, and there is a need for female researchers themselves to consciously build their career paths. In response, a project called Asia Pacific Women in Leadership (APWiL) was launched within APRU. As a trial, a program was provided where member universities recommend mentors and mentees, the secretariat performs matching, and online mentoring is conducted for one year. The Juku has participated in this program since its first year. At the suggestion of Vice-President Okuda, who is in charge of Kyosei (Conviviality) and participated as a mentor from the Juku, we have begun piloting a mentoring program specifically for female faculty members within Keio starting from this 2022 fiscal year. This is an initiative based on a completely new concept of female faculty members connecting and networking to support each other's career development.

In international education as well, there is much to learn from overseas universities. The Juku is actively implementing student exchange programs. I sometimes learn through overseas Mita-kai and other venues how those who experienced these programs are flourishing globally after graduation. As someone with experience supporting the operation of student exchanges as a member of the secretariat, this is gratifying. However, traditionally, student exchange was based on the idea of selecting a small number of elite students and sending them to overseas partner universities—in other words, dispatch through competition. While that has its own significance, for quite some time now, we have received inquiries from overseas universities asking if we can accept exchange students who require special accommodations—for example, students who are granted individual exam times because they require more time than usual for periodic exams. Along with this, guidelines from the home university regarding such accommodations* are sometimes sent to us. In some countries, it appears that such responses are mandated by law.

Awareness of the SDGs promoted by the United Nations is rising among universities worldwide, and discussions questioning the social role and raison d'être of universities are active within global institutions. Many universities are turning their eyes toward marginalized groups that previously could not access higher education, reaching out to communities and regions they had not previously engaged with to provide learning opportunities. This is precisely the flow from competition to Kyosei (Conviviality). I feel strongly that only by sensing these trends and responding appropriately can we become a Juku that is respected by the world.