How do international faculty at Japanese universities view integration?
Speaker: Dr. Lilan Chen
Thursday January 29, 2026
12:00 to 13:30
PCN 2012 6445 University Blvd
Abstract:
This talk focuses on how international faculty at Japanese universities view their integration. It is based on an exploratory study with 40 full-time international faculty hired in Japanese universities with various backgrounds. The key findings indicate that international faculty perceived their integration as a beneficial longstanding two-way process of acquiring equality, developing engagement, and forming a feeling of attachment towards Japan. Meanwhile, their actual practices of integration appear to be diverse, which can be summarized into three broad categories, namely, preventive, occasional, and promotional. The study suggests a disjunction between international faculty’s attitudes and their actual practices of integration, which is influenced by the overall host environment at the macro level, work roles at the meso level, and personal intention, migratory origin and histories, and previous experience in Japan at the micro level. The study offers both theoretical and practical implications for advancing understanding of the integration of international faculty at Japanese universities and for improving institutional practices to better support them.
Bio:
Dr. Lilan Chen is an Assistant Professor at The University of Osaka, Japan. She is interested in research topics concerning the internationalization of higher education, and diversity, equity, and inclusion in Japan’s higher education landscape. Her recent research focuses on the experiences of international students, international academics, early-career researchers, and female academics.
RSVP:
https://ubc.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6RysJvAzQR06jaK