大学院留学生の「優秀性」に関する研究

The policy of accepting international students in Japanese universities has been implemented since the 1980's. However, despite this length of time and that the numerical goal to accept 100,000 international students was nearly achieved in 2002, issues related to the quality of students remain largely unexamined. Sound and effective policy would attract higher caliber students, and accepting them would bring benefit to Japanese universities in the forms of higher quality research and enhanced international competitiveness. This paper examines the characteristics of excellent international students studying at Japanese universities. In so doing, the characteristics of excellent students and how such students can be attracted to Japanese universities is considered, an endeavor which may serve to guide the examination and improvement of current policy. Two different questionnaire surveys, one for university professors experienced in advising international students and another for international students, were conducted by the Task Force on Strategic Policies for International Students to critically examine the suitability of current policies in attracting and accepting excellent scholars from abroad. Based on these surveys, characteristics of excellent international students are examined from three different perspectives : the country where students are from, availability of scholarships, and the character and nature of students. Survey results led to three main findings. First, students form Germany, the United States, and India are considered to be excellent international students. Second, there are no significant differences on availability of scholarship among nations ; in other words, students receiving scholarships from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Science, Sport and Technology are not always considered to be excellent students. Third, characteristics of excellent students include high motivation, strong sense of purpose, strong interest in Japan, and a willingness to accept advice from advisors.