The Value of the Ph.D. in the Nested Contexts of Japanese Society: From the perspectives of doctoral students

As in other Confucian societies in Northeast Asia, higher education has long been respected and valued in Japan, and Ph.D. holders are regarded as critical for their economic and social contributions. However, despite tremendous efforts by the government to expand doctoral education, the enrollment rate in Japanese Ph.D. programs has steadily decreased since the early 2000s. Further, Ph.D. education in Japan has remained relatively under-researched, and few studies have focused on students’ perceptions of their doctoral programs. This interview-based study thus drew on McAlpine and Norton’s (2006) nested contexts framework to examine how fifteen Japanese doctoral students perceived the value of the Ph.D., and how these perceptions were related to the micro, meso, and macro contexts in which they were situated. The results suggested that most participants valued the Ph.D. as a qualification for career progression and believed the Ph.D. had little worth beyond academia, a perception bound up with the unique Japanese Ph.D. selection and employment systems, as well as limited access to financial support and structured curricula, which presents challenges particularly for part-time students who account for a large proportion of doctoral students in Japan.