New Graduate Recruitment: Balancing Work and Childcare

Erina Kamiya says she felt a close connection to university staff even as a student in the Faculty of Law at Keio University. Hired as a new graduate, she is now a mother of one, balancing work and childcare every day. We asked her about her work environment and the skills she has acquired on the job.

I started my job in 2012, and I'm now in my eighth year. Since I was in an intellectual property law seminar in the Department of Law at the Faculty of Law of Keio University, I was mainly considering a job at a manufacturer. However, at that time, there were no legal positions available for new graduates. Most companies hired for sales positions with the possibility of a later transfer to the legal department if one showed aptitude. I decided on Keio University, the only university I applied to, because I wanted to support faculty and students, and I felt it suited my personality. Also, as a student, I was part of the Seminar Committee and often interacted with the Office of Student Services, which made me feel close to the university staff and made it easier to imagine myself working as a professional there.

After joining, I underwent two months of on-the-job training at the Hiyoshi Campus Office and was then assigned to student affairs at the Shonan Fujisawa Campus (SFC). SFC was a workplace full of excitement and a sense of speed, with many ambitious staff members eager to take on new challenges and create a better environment for students, fostering a sense of unity to work together toward these goals. In my work, I always made it a point to treat all students equally, listen carefully to their inquiries, and explain things thoroughly until they were satisfied.

Since June 2019, I have been assigned to the Office of Research Development and Sponsored Projects at Mita Campus. In a complete change from my time in student affairs, I now support faculty members not as "instructors" who teach in an educational setting, but as "researchers" dedicated to their studies. The work of the Office of Research Development and Sponsored Projects is divided into two main areas: managing and applying for Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (Kakenhi), a grant program from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, and managing joint research projects with the government and private sector. I am in charge of Kakenhi. Since Kakenhi are public funds, when purchasing equipment, for example, I check each item to see what experiments and research it will be used for and manage whether it is being used appropriately. This allows faculty members to smoothly carry out their research projects and achieve results.

From a student's perspective, it's easy to imagine jobs that involve interacting with students, such as in student affairs or the admissions center, but Keio University has a wide variety of departments. Naturally, the culture and organization differ from campus to campus, so no two work environments are exactly the same. My current department is so different from my previous role in student affairs, which was mainly internal, that it feels like I've changed industries. Interacting with external parties and preparing official documents was like uncharted territory right after my transfer. Every task is new, and I enjoy learning things from scratch. Of course, there are some common duties, but the systems and the faculty I interact with differ by campus. I've started to think a lot more about how to explain things clearly, and I believe my management and communication skills have improved. Through meeting various people and taking on different jobs, I've acquired a range of abilities, and I feel that I have been constantly growing throughout my eight years as a working professional.

I am currently raising a child. This was also the case at SFC, but at Mita Campus as well, there are many people who are pregnant or who have returned to work on reduced hours after taking childcare leave. Very few people resign due to childbirth. Many of my supervisors and senior colleagues have experience with raising children, so there is a great understanding of using the system, making it a very easy place to work. At Keio University, employees can take reduced working hours in 30-minute increments, up to a maximum of two hours per day, until their child is in the first grade of elementary school (until September). For me, as someone who also wants to value my own career, the good working environment is one of the reasons I work here.

My workday starts at 8:30 a.m., but since I can't make it in time after dropping my child off at daycare, I am allowed to start 30 minutes later. I also leave at 4:30 p.m. instead of the usual 5:00 p.m. In addition, there is a nursing care leave system, which is separate from paid leave, and many male employees also use this system. There are times when I have no choice but to prioritize my child, and I am truly grateful for the comprehensive childcare support systems. Also, since I started working while raising a child, I've become more conscious of keeping my colleagues informed about my work status in case I need to take a sudden day off to care for a sick child. I've also become more aware of working within my limited reduced hours without relying on overtime.

Keio University, founded by Yukichi Fukuzawa in 1858 as a school for Dutch studies, has many fine, long-standing traditions. On the other hand, globalization and competition among universities will continue to expand, and universities will be required to change. In terms of globalization, there are students and faculty on campus who cannot speak Japanese. I believe it is necessary for each and every staff member to have a proactive attitude, to think about how we can support these individuals, how we can apply our experience to our work, and to make proposals for improvement to those around us. For those of you considering Keio University as a place of employment, I hope you will acquire the ability to flexibly respond to our ever-changing society while upholding our traditions.

To identify problems, think of solutions, and propose them. It's quite difficult with daily tasks, but I want to keep that mindset myself. I'm still in my first year in my current department, so my primary goal now is to learn each task one by one. But from my second year onward, I hope to add my own unique value and grow even more.