Many Japanese universities are actively promoting globalization in higher education by recruiting more foreign academics. The reduction of government funding results in a need to secure external funding. Foreign early-career academics in Japan, with language and cultural barriers, are facing bigger challenges in securing external research funding. This study focuses on foreign early-career academics in the humanities and social sciences, who represent a significant proportion of foreign academics in Japanese universities. The purpose of this study is to examine their current research funding situation and difficulties they encounter, and to clarify the support they require. Findings show three key areas of difficulty: language barrier, difficulties in gathering information, and lack of networking opportunities. It is noteworthy that foreign early-career academics have an advantage in their international connections, as they often possess information on overseas funding opportunities. The findings of this research offer insights into enhancing globalization in Japanese higher education and may also be valuable for other non-English-speaking countries.
Qianran Wang (Sun,) studied this question.