Ministry data shows full extent of job-insecure researchers

A majority of Japanese researchers in universities and research institutions grapple with unstable employment, according to a report by the Ministry of Education published this month.

The report revealed the results of a survey by the ministry covering more than 8,300 faculty members and researchers working on fixed-term contracts and 853 institutions in the 2023 academic year that ended in March last year.

While only 9% of the total who responded to the survey were able to gain full-time employment after applying for permanent positions after completing 10 years of employment, the majority – 80% – were employed via contracts on projects supported by public or private subsidies. Almost one in six researchers, or 13.7% of respondents, lost their jobs after the project ended.

Public subsidies generally cover five-year project terms that can be extended for a similar period. The latest survey indicated that some 9.2% of researchers, or 757, had their jobs terminated just before the 10-year threshold for permanent employment, while more than three-quarters (77.4%) remained on fixed-term contracts or had no confirmation of their next employment despite being eligible for permanent positions.

Flexible employment

The Mainichi Shimbun newspaper also found, via a freedom of information request to the ministry, that the highest number of faculty and researchers whose contracts were terminated just before reaching the 10-year mark were at Japan’s most prestigious universities.

These include the University of Tokyo and University of Osaka, with 92 individuals terminated in this way at each institution. A total of 69 were terminated at Tohoku University and 65 at Kyoto University.

It is the first time the breakdown by university has been revealed.

The top reason for extending fixed-term contracts and not converting them to indefinite employment cited by 60% of almost 500 institutions in the survey was the need to improve the education and research environment through flexible employment.

This was followed by 53% of institutions who responded by saying continued employment should only be for those who demonstrate a certain level of performance based on evaluations over a specific period.

Akiko Takami, an official in the human resources policy division at the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, told University World News that national universities will be requested to take “appropriate action”.

She pointed to the 2014 Labour Contract Act that extended from five years to 10 years the period of employment after which contracts must be converted to indefinite-term contracts or permanent positions.

“Japanese researchers overwhelmingly seek work stability, reflecting [Japan’s] domestic labour culture that is based on full-time labour,” she explained. The 2014 law also permits applications after five years of fixed-term contracts to convert to permanent positions, regardless of employers’ wishes.

“The situation is particularly distressing for young researchers [under 40 years],” said Takami. Separately from the survey, in a message to young researchers in January, the ministry acknowledged that this category was not always conducive to conducting research with a “clear and secure outlook on … career paths”.

Pursuing individual choices

But the ministry report also pointed out that fixed-term posts rather than permanent employment can also help young researchers advance in directions they seek individually.

“From the surveys we see that young researchers employed in academia are engaging in activities to take on new challenges, change their positions and environments and eventually gain stable posts when they age,” said Takami.

However, Professor Shun Ishihara, head of the Department of Sociology at Meiji Gakuin University and an expert on university governance, told University World News the government’s policy that aims to raise competitiveness among researchers was not contributing to quality education.

“The popularity of hiring [based on] temporary employment status represents weak support for researchers in universities. The lack of stability for this sector is a threat to the growth of university higher education,” he said.

Ishihara also referred to the public financial crunch linked to steadily reduced public subsidies for university research. Total funds for the 2024 academic year were a little over JPY1 trillion (US$6.926 billion) – a 13% drop compared to the 2004 academic year when Japanese national universities were converted into public corporations.

The result has been growth in universities competing for funding, he explained, adding this does not support researchers. Japan, a country “that values employment stability, is not the United States, where job mobility is accepted,” he pointed out.

Still, the ministry is pursuing an aggressive policy to increase the proportion of doctorate holders as a percentage of the population so their expertise and transferable problem-solving skills can create new knowledge, according to the government’s 2024 “Doctoral Human Resources Action Plan – Get a PhD”.

The plan envisages a society where PhD holders are not only in academia but also active in diverse fields such as job-based research internships, promoting doctoral talent in industry, and comprehensive industry-academia collaboration.