Japan seeks to improve salary prospects for PhD graduates

The Japanese government is ramping up its drive to incentivise more students to pursue doctoral degrees by focusing on career pathways, but there are concerns that employers’ attitudes will hold back progress. 

Earlier this year, the government launched a cross-departmental review looking at how to make it easier for companies to hire staff with specialist skills, including investigating the challenges PhD holders have finding jobs. 

The number of students pursuing doctoral degrees in Japan has declined over the past 20 years and the proportion of PhD holders lags far behind that of other developed economies, such as the UK and Germany – a fact the government sees as hampering the country’s global competitiveness. 

Tokyo is keen to change this trend, which is in part due to the poor job prospects for doctoral degree holders, and has introduced measures in recent years including tax breaks for companies who hire them. 

According to local media reports, the government is also expected to set out other recommendations stemming from the ongoing review, including advising employers on appropriate starting salaries for highly skilled workers and encouraging universities to share examples of career development pathways. 

However, employers’ attitudes and traditional expectations around salaries remain a major barrier to progress, according to academics. 

Japan’s seniority-based wage system – which sees wages increase with years of service, rather than expertise – disadvantages PhD holders, according to Futao Huang, a professor in Hiroshima University’s Research Institute for Higher Education. 

“Despite their advanced qualifications, PhD holders begin their careers at an older age and are often placed at entry-level positions,” he said. “This delay means they accrue fewer years of seniority, which directly impacts their salary progression. 

“Employers may hesitate to pay them higher wages immediately due to their lack of work experience relative to their age, even though their qualifications might suggest otherwise.”

In some cases, doctoral graduates are also seen as less adaptable to business needs. 

“Companies tend to prefer to secure talent at an earlier stage,” said Akiyoshi Yonezawa, professor and vice-director of the International Strategy Office at Tohoku University, effectively disincentivising students from pursuing additional qualifications.  

Professor Huang added that corporate mindsets needed to shift towards “recognising the value of advanced research skills”. 

And, while it is too soon to judge the impact of recent policy interventions on Japan’s doctoral system, academics feel there is more to be done to change the culture around PhDs.

“The government controls the number of enrolment quotas even for doctoral programmes,” said Professor Yonezawa. “This makes it difficult for universities to respond flexibly to build and scrap doctoral programmes that are fit for the rapidly changing industrial needs,” such as artificial intelligence (AI).

“If Japanese universities are serious about increasing the number of doctoral students, the government should facilitate market-oriented flexibility in the provision and enrolment of doctoral programmes, as is the case in the US.” 

Other measures to support PhD students could include reducing the “financial burden” of doctoral education – many argue that stipends are too low – and promoting corporate-academic collaboration, said Professor Huang. 

helen.packer@timeshighereducation.com