The Internal Organization of Japanese Universities

A Quantitative Analysis of Diversification and Change

Abstract

　 This paper aims to clarify, on the basis of quantitative data, diversification and change in the internal organization of Japanese higher education.

　 Currently, Japanese higher education institutions are facing a major challenge in the form of transforming themselves into autonomous bodies within the context of increased freedom from governmental control. The reform of internal organization is a primary topic, exemplified in such ways as the transformation of faculty organization and the re-distribution of decision-making authority. In this current Japanese context, there is a need for a greater accumulation of research on Japanese higher education management and organization, on both a theoretical and experimental level, but a sufficient quantity of research has not yet been carried out.

　 In the light of this situation, this paper describes changes in the composition of departments, faculty organizations, decision-making authorities, institutional goals and roles, and their relationship to Japanese higher education institutions on the basis of various kinds of quantitative data. In fact, it is already possible to see continuous increase and various changes in internal organization. Those internal organizational changes, however, have had only a relatively minor effect on institutional goals and roles, which were more highly affected by the traditional, static hierarchy of Japanese higher education in terms of such factors as history, size and market evaluation. The span of change is still so short that as a result of limited data, it is impossible to be precise about the exact effects. Hence there is a requirement for long-term and observation in order to give greater substance to researches on Japanese higher education management and organization.