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[Info. File] Tripling Support for Doctoral Students to Reach World-Leading Numbers
Based on the MEXT’s "Doctoral Talent Development Plan — Let’s Pursue a PhD"
In March 2024, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology compiled a "Doctoral Talent Development Plan — Let’s Pursue a PhD," which aims to achieve the world's highest number of doctors.
One reason for introducing support for doctoral personnel is that Japan has fewer doctoral degrees per capita than other developed countries. Another is that there is a strong sense of crisis that doctoral talent is not working in diverse social settings, causing Japan's stagnation.
According to Science and Technology Indicators 2023 (「科学技術指標2023」) by the National Institute of Science and Technology Policy (NISTEP), the number of doctoral students obtained per million people in Japan in 2021 is 123. This is less than half of the UK (340), Germany (338), and South Korea (317). Among major countries, since 2000, Japan has been on a decline in the number of doctoral degrees per million people in population.
Source: Compiled by the author from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), Doctoral Talent Development Plan — Let’s Pursue a PhD (文部科学省『博士人材活躍プラン』); underlying data: National Institute of Science and Technology Policy (NISTEP), Science and Technology Indicators 2023 (NISTEP『科学技術指標2023』).
Notably, the number of students advancing directly from a master’s to a doctoral program has fallen by roughly 40%, from 14,280 (FY2003) to 8,777 (FY2024).
NISTEP’s “Follow-Up Survey Starting with Master’s Students (2023)” reports that, after “I want to be financially independent” and “I want to enter the workforce,” leading reasons for choosing employment over a PhD include “I can’t see a stable financial outlook during a doctoral program” and “I’m worried about employment prospects after completion.”
To change this trajectory, the Doctoral Talent Development Plan sets three pillars with concrete targets:
(1) Strengthen graduate education by building hubs that deliver world-class programs, (2) Triple support for doctoral (PhD) students—such as grants and living-cost stipends—relative to FY2018 levels, (3) Promote job-type research internships to support career development.
Numerical goals include raising the ratio of PhD recipients to bachelor’s degree recipients from 2.7% (2020) to 5% (2030) and 8% (2040). For doctoral graduates’ employment, the plan aims to lift the rate from 70% (2023) to 75% and then 80%.
Ultimately, by 2040 Japan aims to reach world-leading levels in PhD recipients per capita—approximately three times the FY2020 level.
Achieving these ambitious targets will also require action in primary and secondary education: cultivating interest in science, expanding inquiry-based learning that develops problem-finding and problem-solving skills, and promoting STEM education from an early stage to grow the pipeline of future doctoral talent.
(Published with additions and revisions in the May 2024 issue of "EN-ICHI FORUM")
