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What sort of trends can be seen in Japanese companies’ hiring practices since the global financial crisis of 2008? The author sought to clarify this issue through quantitative analysis, employing a questionnaire survey, and qualitative analysis based on interviews conducted at 17 companies. The findings clearly showed stagnation in hiring of mid-career human resources and increased preference for hiring of new graduates. As the globalization of business progresses, Japanese companies are hiring a growing number of international students and personnel with high levels of language proficiency, but they still make recruitment of new graduates the mainstay of their hiring practices.

As to why companies gravitate toward hiring young people fresh out of school, the so-called ‘white cloth’ analogy holds that these new graduates are the equivalent of white cloth that can be dyed any colour, and are thus preferred by companies seeking to imprint their in-house standards and corporate culture. The results of the author’s analysis point to the validity of the ‘white cloth’ analogy. While corporations are likely to hire more mid-career human resources as the economy improves, it appears that they will continue to rely primarily on hiring of new graduates to meet their human resource needs.

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This publication is part of an [Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation] APEC project, Quality in Higher Education: Identifying, Developing, and Sustaining Best Practices in the APEC Region (HRD 04/2010). The goals of the project are to identify definitions of quality and quality assurance in higher education in the APEC region, share exemplary practices and developments, identify common elements, and initiate a foundation for continued discussion about quality and sustaining quality practices in the region. As part of this project, papers from practitioners throughout the APEC region were presented at a conference in Honolulu, Hawai'i from August 4-6, 2011. The papers presented throughout these proceedings include research and analysis by practitioners and scholars throughout the APEC region that describe quality assurance activities, and examine case studies and best practices.

Abstract from publisher's website.

Papers in this volume include: Trends in quality assurance in the broader Asia-Pacific region: potential for a regional strategy? / Antony Stella; Quality assurance: internal and external approaches / John N. Hawkins; Understanding quality in higher education in the Andean sub-region / Mario F. Letelier, Rosario Carrasco and Claudia A. Oliva; The Canadian way of quality assurance / Alex Usher; Quality assurance and transformation of higher education: the Mexico experience / Javier de la Garza Aguilar; The phenomenon of academic ranking of world universities model: future directions / Nian Cai Liu; Rankings: help or hindrance to quality assurance?: from a perspective of Asian accrediting agencies / Angela Yung-chi Hou.

How might university rankings contribute to quality assurance endeavors? / Deane Neubauer; Enhancing quality of higher education: approaches, strategies and challenges for Hong Kong / Ka Ho Mok; Massification and quality assurance in Korean higher education: market competition and government policy / Sunwoong Kim; Russian universities in the world race to the top: what can be learned so far? / Olga Bain; Quality assurance and quality improvement of higher education institutions: Vietnam exemplar / Tran Thi Bich Lieu and Nguyen Kim Dung; Thai experience with quality assurance / Rachavarn Kanjanapanyakom; Managing quality in technical education: Brunei Darussalam's perspectives / Ashri Ahmad; The National University of Singapore's (NUS) mission to be a leading global university / Tan Eng Chye.

Evaluating third party evaluators' role in assuring global equality among premiere Japan Universities / Rie Mori; Project 985 and Project 211: the innovative measures in improving the quality of higher education in China / Zhu Yiming; Higher education in New Zealand: the rigour-relevance gap and the example of CANZ being internationally excellent by being locally relevant / Sally Davenport and Roger Wigglesworth; Globally competitive universities / Edilberto C. de Jesus; APEC quality in higher education meeting the role of the federal government in quality assurance in US higher education / Eduardo M. Ochoa; US accreditation and the influence of European quality assurance / Linda K. Johnsrud; Quality assurance and qualification recognition of higher education in APEC: status and comparison / Molly N. N. Lee; Quality assurance of cross-border higher education in China: international perspectives, national policies, and institutional practices / Zhou Nanzhao; Conference summary and reflections / Ralph A. Wolff. Show less

This book examines the changing array of risk and opportunity that young people face in transitions from school to work. The contributions consider how social, psychological, economic and cultural factors affect young people's attempts to control their lives, respond to opportunities and manage the consequences of their choices, in the context of global, social and economic changes in labour markets. International in its scope and including a range of disciplinary, multi-disciplinary, methodological and theoretical perspectives, the book combines case studies from Europe with studies from the USA, Canada, South Africa, the Caribbean, India, Japan, Russia, Australia and New Zealand, all examining the structural forces that affect the choices young people are able to make.

The contents are: Introduction / Karen Evans and Helena Helve; 'Perspectives on employment transitions and wellbeing changes during economic recession' contains the following chapters: School to work transitions and wellbeing in a changing labour market / John Bynner; The assumption of adult roles in the UK, the USA, and Finland: antecedents and associated levels of well-being and health / Ingrid Schoon and John Schulenberg; Finnish young adults' financial well-being in times of uncertainty / Mette Ranta; 'Agency vs. structure': a view of youth unemployment during the current recession in Finland / Jaana Lahteenmaa. 'Biographical negotiations from youth to adulthood' contains: Trajectories from youth to adulthood: choice and structure for young people before and during recession / Rosalind Edwards and Susie Weller; Inventing adulthood: young people growing up in Northern Ireland / Sheena McGrellis and Janet Holland; Regional identities, future expectations and work values / Arseniy Svynarenko; From higher education to working life: work values of young Finns in changing labour markets / Helena Helve.

'New career aspirations, life chances and risks' contains the following chapters: Youth transitions and wellbeing: the impact of austerity on black youths living in urban 'black neighbourhoods' / Tracey Reynolds; Academic burnout and engagement from adolescence to young adulthood / Katariina Salmela-Aro; Gender differences in achievement and social strategies, areas of work life, and burnout at the early career stage / Hely Innanen and Katariina Salmela-Aro; The role of school engagement in young people's career development and mental well-being: findings from two British cohorts / Helen Cheng and Ingrid Schoon; 'Activating events' in adult learners' lives: understanding learning and life changes through a retrospective lens / Karen Evans and Edmund Waite. 'Wider international perspectives on youth, working life and wellbeing' contains: Young adulthood in Australia and New Zealand: pathways to belonging / Johanna Wyn; 'Ring of fire or a puff of (commentators') smoke?': youth, unemployment and transitions in Gauteng, South Africa / David Everatt; School to work transition and youth views on labour in Japan / Tomokazu Makino; Russian youth in the labour market: education, employment, work transitions and well-being / Julia Zubok; School to work transition in India / Vinod Chandra. 'Commentary' contains: The importance of work transitions in late-modern contexts / James Cot. Show less

Continuous learning over the life course is necessary to effectively compete in a knowledge-based global economy. Shifts in the age structure of the US labor force combined with increased labor force participation among older adults add to the importance of gaining a better understanding of how adult education and training (AET) influences labor market outcomes for middle-aged and older workers. This study used data from the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) and the Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) to examine the relationship in the US between participation in AET programs and employment, labor force participation, income, and net worth for adults aged 45 to 65. Participation in an AET program in the 12 months preceding the survey significantly improved the log odds of both employment and labor force participation and significantly improved the log odds of moving up one income quintile. Lower income groups and the unemployed were less likely to participate in AET than higher income groups and the employed. [The authors] also compared outcomes of AET participation in the US with those in Germany, Japan, Sweden, and the UK and examined policies for lifelong learning in those countries. Show less

This article outlines issues surrounding the workplace circumstances of employees of intermediate age, who act as the linchpin of enterprises' human resources. In Japanese companies there is significant correspondence between age and rank due to seniority-based promotions, meaning that in effect intermediate age (for the purposes of this article, age 35-49) is often synonymous with intermediate rank (i.e. 'middle management'). These employees tend to be extremely overworked, and it is predicted that this situation will grow even more severe in the future. Excessive workload may be caused by a shortage of employees of intermediate age, or may arise when there are a sufficient number of employees at this age/rank but an insufficient number of younger workers, or even when there are more employees of intermediate age than required, but an insufficient number of both younger and middle-aged or older workers. Under such circumstances employees of intermediate age must handle tasks that ought to be performed by their juniors or seniors, and this results in inadequate time left over for training their juniors or subordinates, which in turn causes a high rate of turnover among younger workers. The problems of employees of intermediate age influence other age groups as well and affect the entire workplace. Behind this problem lies a backdrop of uneven age distribution, a primary cause of which is the widespread curtailing or suspension of hiring of new graduates at many companies in the past. As a result, workplaces today need a sufficient number of new graduates to fill the gap, but discussions or negotiations between labor and management to determine what this 'sufficient number' might be only take place at around 16 per cent of enterprises. Human resources are the bedrock on which businesses are built, and today there is an urgent need to consider this issue from a long-term perspective.

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As the popularity of work-integrated learning (WIL) grows, there is a need for standard and more quantitative methods for evaluating the features of WIL over time as well as between different institutions and over national frontiers. Regression analyses examined WIL's effects on academic performance in the final year of university from data obtained in Japan (2008, 2009, and 2010 graduates) and Hong Kong (2010 graduates). Independent variables included first year [grade point average] GPA, gender, and faculty/school membership. While the WIL systems differed in the two different institutions, both displayed some effects of WIL on final year GPA - Japan for 2008 and 2009, but not 2010 (student participation versus none). For the Hong Kong sample, final year GPA related to the learning outcomes reported by students from their WIL experiences. The results are discussed in terms of the connections between academic learning and WIL, and potential implications for international comparative research.

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Under the recent state of higher education, 'Outcomes Assessment' has become a familiar term in Japan as in other nations all over the world. However, actual conditions of outcomes assessment and its contribution toward educational improvement are not always obvious. Thus, this article attempts to clarify: (1) Japanese higher education reforms since the 1990s focusing on assessment and evaluation; (2) the influence of reforms on outcomes assessment implemented by higher education institutions; (3) how much the results of outcomes assessment are used in self-reviews of undergraduate education; and (4) whether application of outcomes assessment contribute to educational improvement. The results of national survey conducted in Japan reveal that assessments are clearly being carried out, but may not have been supporting the improvement of education.

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This study examined the relationship between career mentoring and work engagement from the mentor perspective, by estimating work meaningfulness as a mediator. The research model used quantitative survey data from 309 employees who mentored their junior colleagues in the on-the-job training programmes of Japanese companies. The results demonstrated that career mentoring had an indirect effect on the work engagement of mentors by enhancing the psychological meaningfulness of their work. In addition, learning goal orientation positively influenced career mentoring; this may subsequently facilitate the work engagement by increasing the perception of the meaning of work. Learning-oriented individuals who act as mentors find psychological meaningfulness in their work, which in turn enhances their work engagement. By setting acceptable meaningful goals for mentoring programmes, practitioners can minimize the negative outcomes of mentoring. The results contribute to the existing literature by examining how mentoring experiences affect the behaviour of mentors.

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It is no longer sufficient for higher education providers to solely focus on fostering academic research communication skills in their doctoral candidates, as a broader skillset is needed to communicate research effectively to diverse audiences. Such knowledge mobilisation facilitates research impact beyond academia and is linked to funding opportunities and career advancement. This paper draws upon qualitative interview data from 30 early career researchers (ECRs) based in both Australia and Japan, exploring how their experiences during doctoral candidature prepared them to produce research outputs for both academic and non-academic audiences. It also sought to capture their perceived overall knowledge and skills in producing these academic research outputs for diverse audiences.

Findings suggest that preparedness for producing research outputs for the academic community during doctoral candidature are shaped by supervision, self-direction and experience. Far less support for producing research outputs for non-academic users may be provided during doctoral candidature. ECRs' perception of capability for academic research output production stems from benchmarking against personal prior performance, and colleagues in the field. Capability for non-academic research output production may be much lower than for academic research output production, with ECRs' professional experiences beyond academia supporting development of these skills.

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This paper examines the short-, medium- and long-term impacts of the 1996 Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, which, like the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, inflicted devastating damage on the labor market of the disaster-affected areas. This analysis might help us draw up a long-term vision of the reconstruction of the eastern Japan areas devastated by the Great East Japan Earthquake. To sum up our findings, regarding part-time workers, the number of new vacancies increased in the short-term while the number of new job seekers declined and the number of job placements also dropped steeply. The number of job placements rebounded substantially in the medium term but fell back later. Regarding full-time workers, it was empirically observed that the growth in the number of job placements declined steeply even though the growth in the numbers of new job seekers and new vacancies rose or remained flat compared with the pre-earthquake level. This is presumed to be due in part to a mismatch between labor supply and demand. The number of job placements for full-time jobs recovered by 1999 (in the medium term) but declined later.

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