2007 Volume 30 Issue 1-2 Pages 35-44
The purpose of this paper is to analyze what most Japanese junior faculty are concerned with and how much they perceive having supports provided to them by their institutions. Two surveys were conducted, a quantitative survey for 103 junior faculty through the internet, and a questionnaire survey for all higher education institutions in Japan. Our analysis found that the courses that are provided by colleges do not meet the needs of junior faculty. There are considerable gaps between services provided by universities, standards of the universities, and the needs of junior faculty. While junior faculty are mostly concerned about their teaching skills, colleges or universities do not provide substantial enough supports to improve instructional skills; instead, they provide overview or introductory orientation courses about their institutions. These place an emphasis on explanative facts rather than teacher training, and smaller departments tend to have difficulty providing any supports for junior faculty at all. Areas which need intensive training are in high demand, therefore, a way to support faculty in smaller institutions should be established.
