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It has always been said that in Japan, "it is hard to get into college, and easy to graduate". By contrast, US universities are characterized by the Japanese as
by hkmurakami 11y ago
It has always been said that in Japan, "it is hard to get into college, and easy to graduate". By contrast, US universities are characterized by the Japanese as easy to get in, hard to graduate.
The accuracy of above statements aside, it is true that generally speaking, Japanese students study much much harder in High School than in College, because the College you get into traditionally determines much of the rest of your life. So the stereotype is that students cram to get into great schools, then party for 4 years because their grades don't matter in landing employment.
Within this general stereotype, there is a further stereotype that the students in science and engineering slave away in the labs while the humanities students have a jolly good time in the social culture group "circles".
Given the hierarchy of stereotypes above, it isn't a big surprise to me if the humanities are seen by some as "glut" that can be cut, since government is subsidizing student partying. But it's surprising since the lawmakers should predominantly be from these exact programs being cut.
- TazeTSchnitzel 11y agoIsn't the old system of guaranteed employment starting to break down, too?
- ekianjo 11y agoNo, not really. I mean, the % of folks with a guaranteed job BEFORE they graduate is going down a bit, but still higher than anywhere else in the world.
- hkmurakami 11y agoIn certain spots, yes. Vulnerable industries like semiconductors, IT vendors, and household electronics look like they are in trouble. However, that has meant that students flock to industries where said lifetime employment is still a rock. The #1 destination is Import-export trade companies (Mitsubishi Shouji being the top dog there), followed by ad agencies Dentsu and Hakuhodou, then super high quality industrial companies such as Toyota, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Utilities, etc.
- ekianjo 11y ago> It has always been said that in Japan, "it is hard to get into college, and easy to graduate". By contrast, US universities are characterized by the Japanese as easy to get in, hard to graduate. I can confirm that it is the case. Once you get it, it's like vacation. 20 hours max of classes per week, no homework, no practicals, it's relax time and that's when they take a side job to make money since they have so much free time. Japan's Universities level compared to how much they cost is completely laughable, The whole education is done by private companies once the new graduates enter the workforce, since they know close to nothing.
- hkmurakami 11y agoWell the cost is about $8k/year at Tokyo University, which is way cheaper than any reputable university in the United States. I've been at one of the largest companies in Japan as a new grad, and I agree that in some ways they pick up the slack, but their internal training systems can be pretty broken and inefficient as well.
- ekianjo 11y ago> Well the cost is about $8k/year at Tokyo University, which is way cheaper than any reputable university in the United States. That's because the US system is completely broken and makes it easy to borrow instead of making it easy to pay, which drives the prices upward on and on without any limit in sight, as long as you can borrow (thank the Fed for their interest rates policies!). > their internal training systems can be pretty broken Agree it's not perfect, but at least they learn by doing real work. I have seen new grads jump form a "zero level" to "someone I could recommend to work with" within a couple years at a company.
- hkmurakami 11y agoAgreed on both counts. I do wish that HR departments in Japanese megacorps actually gave a damn about matching undergraduate backgrounds to assignments though. So much waste there.