日本人留学生の留学動機に関するジェンダー学的考察

ロンドン大学大学院生を対象とした事例研究

抄録

In this paper, I intend to focus on the factors which motivated Japanese postgraduate students to study abroad, based on interviews with 52 (27 male and 25 female) Japanese postgraduate students.
The number of Japanese undergraduate and postgraduate students who entered British universities totalled 4, 665 in 1996, 544 of whom were postgraduate students atthe University of London. Many male and some female students aim to advance theircareers by studying abroad. However, for other female students, it is the desire to studyor live abroad which is the primary motivation. There are actually a few students whohave used the fact of ‘studying abroad’ as a good excuse for leaving Japan, eithere scaping from work or some disappointment in love.
In general, postgraduate Japanese students study very hard regardless of their aimsafter completing their courses, and often at some cost to their health. As a result, all postgraduate Japanese students appear to be very similar in that they are hard work ingpeople. In reality, however, the meaning of ‘study’ varies greatly among these people. For those who are career minded, studying abroad as postgraduate students opens theway to advancing their careers. For others, studying abroad is a way `to enjoy studying for their own personal-growth'.
However, there are those in this second group who may suffer a breakdown immediate lyafter completing their course. For them, the degree they finally obtain doesnot ensure a passport to enter the outside world, rather it signifies ‘an end’. This means that they have lost the source of concentration and the challenge of ‘hardship’. They may feel extremely lonely and start seeking the next ‘outlet’ which makes themhappy: ‘marriage’ or something other alternative. They are not ready to work due to the influence of the family environment, particularly the close relationship between mother and daughter, and the gender difference seen in the labour market.
I will suggest two ideas: One is that the number of scholarships and grants shouldbe increased to help women strongly motivated but financially unable to support themselves to study abroad. The other is that Women's Studies and Gender Studies should be introduced at the higher educational level to encourage young women to beindepen dently minded and mentally prepared prior to leaving Japan.