How disadvantaged are students from English taught undergraduate programs in Shinsotsu really?

3 comments

1. This is a copy of your post for archive/search purposes.

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   **How disadvantaged are students from English taught undergraduate programs in Shinsotsu really?**

   Hi there, I’m quite curious about what do Japanese employers (or foreign MNCs’ Japan offices) think about foreign students who graduated from English taught undergraduate programs in Japan.

   More specifically, what are the prospects of those who graduated from Todai, Kyodai, Waseda or Keio’s English taught programs. These schools do carry a lot of prestige in their names but I’m wondering if doing a course in English in these schools will be a disadvantage (let’s say comparing with those who graduated from less prestigious universities but studied a Japanese taught STEM undergraduate program).

   I’m pretty sure a lot of Japan-based employers love graduates who are bilingual (or business level) in Japanese and English, but honestly I don’t think achieving business level Japanese requires studying in a Japanese taught undergraduate program for 4 years.

   What are your thoughts on this?

   Btw, I’m not in the midst of deciding between an English and Japanese course. So please just comment however you like!

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2. I recently graduated from an English humanities program from one of the universities you listed. Virtually all my friends and acquaintances (both Japanese and foreign) have landed positions in very prestigious companies ranging from consulting, finance, manufacturing, and IT. I am going to start working in a big Japanese company in less than a week.

   The two consistent factors among all of them were that they spoke Japanese at near-native or at least proficient levels, and that they were engaged in some sort of activity like volunteering, long-term internships, or clubs. Name value carries a lot of weight in shukatsu here, so going to an “elite” university in Japan will be very advantageous, especially if you’re looking to work in Japan after graduating. I will say that the further you go away from Japan, the more difficult it gets trying to sell your degree. A English program degree from Sophia may do you good in Asia, but will probably get you passed up in Europe or North America.

   My own perception is that unless you are proactive in learning Japanese outside of university classes (like joining clubs, doing part time jobs, etc.), English-based programs would most likely not give you much growth in Japanese skills. These programs act like mini-English bubbles, and the diverse nature of the student body means that you can very well spend four years doing nothing but hanging out with other English speakers. It was these kind of students that generally struggled if not outright failed to land a job during shukatsu. My university had Japanese classes for international students, but they were quite lacking in rigor and most of the students didn’t really take them seriously.

   TLDR: Foreigners graduating from English programs are seen quite favorably by Japanese companies, **IF** their Japanese is up to standard.

3. Most the English program students in my class at Todai struggled to find work and most are planning on doing a masters in another country because of this