Taking Advantage of a Multicultural Campus: Impact of At-Home Intercultural Initiatives on Japanese Students’ Skills and Future Goals

Abstract

In 2014, 24 Type B universities were selected as part of the Top Global University Project to act as institutional role models of internationalization in Japan and as gateways for the development of global human resources, that is, globally competent human resources. The increasing pressure to internationalize, perceived as a major solution to Japan’s aging population, declining birthrate, and economic slump, is set against broader concerns regarding the emphasis placed by policy makers on quantitative goals. This research study aimed to explore the impact of six at-home initiatives developed to promote intercultural interaction at a highly diverse Japanese university and, ultimately, foster the development of global human resources. Online survey results of 355 Japanese students of English as a foreign language were used as data to analyze participation and interaction rates, as well as skill development and pertinence to postgraduation goals. Results show that despite the emphasis placed by the university on intercultural exchange, participation in noncompulsory activities that support language and cross-cultural competence acquisition is still relatively low. In addition, a significant number of students who participated in the initiatives admitted to only interacting with Japanese peers or perceived little impact on their skills. Suggestions are made to improve the discussed initiatives so as to maximize the impact of the multicultural campus on domestic students’ skills.