Coming Innovation in Higher Education Research

Abstract

　 Higher Education Studies in Japan have undergone substantial development in the past forty years. One may argue that it is firmly institutionalized as an academic field. Institutionalization, however, may entail stagnation. What are the possibilities to introduce innovation? This paper examines the concept of innovation (Section 1), traces the past development of higher education studies from this perspective (Section 2), examines the problems brought about by the past innovation and subsequent institutionalization (Section 3), before exploring the directions and conditions for innovation of the field towards future (Section 4).