Who Gets a Global Competency? The Case of University in Japan

With the recent discourses about the globalization of University and College education, who has mastered global competency in Japanese universities? Based on the research question, “Who has acquired global competency?” the data from 1957 Japanese in their 30s and 40s generation was analyzed. How do overseas experiences, jobs and current income, and the acquisition of global competencies relate to each other? From there, this study attempted to clarify what global competency is and what it is not. First, it focused at overseas experience and found that 80% students of the respondents had never been abroad in elementary, junior high, high school, or university, and 20% students had some kind of overseas experience. It was interesting to note that there was almost no correlation between current income and global competency, and that there was no statistically significant difference in current income with overseas experience. The result of a hierarchical multiple regression analysis showed that when global competency was the dependent variable and the independent variables were personal attributes variables only, or both personal attributes variables and overseas experience, the adjusted multiple coefficient of determination was low, but when the independent variables were personal attributes, overseas experience, and competency acquired in university courses, the coefficient of determination was higher than the previous one. This study emphasizes that global competency which working adults in their 30s and 40s generations is not only about speaking English or having overseas experience. This suggests that the learning experience acquired in university lectures also plays an important role in the acquisition of global competency.