World-class education for the few: Analysing Japan’s designated national university corporation system policy discourse

Abstract

This study explores the production, dissemination, and reception of the discourse of educational excellence and internationalisation in Japan’s Designated National University Corporation System. The study frames the policy initiative within the longstanding goals of the Japanese government and demonstrates how the work of Michel Foucault helps uncover the policy’s inherent power dynamics and ideological conflicts. The investigation operationalises Foucault’s theories with a framework to investigate the policy discourse, illuminating the central concern as global competitiveness and an imposition of rigorous criteria for designation. The analysis uncovers a coercive isomorphism, with universities replicating the government’s discourse. Furthermore, the focus on global competitiveness and rankings in the policy comes at the expense of facilitating other forms of internationalisation. More comprehensive reforms are recommended to foster authentic global engagement and inclusivity across a broader base of higher education institutions, rather than focussing on an increasingly thinner strata and the pursuit of global prestige.