Career Education for First Year Students of Science and Technology to Improve Awareness of Working in Society

Abstract

The Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) proposed the concept of “Bachelor’s abilities” and started a support program known as “university students’ employability” in 2010. In this article, we introduce the contents of this program. In addition, we mention the relationship between this program and the conventional concept of “employability skill”. We also introduce two courses, “career planning” and “career design”, related to this support program for first-year students in the field of science and technology. The aim of these courses is to improve students’ awareness for working in society. A questionnaire survey was conducted in order to understand first-year students’ characteristics. The survey was carried out with more than 2600 students over a period of five years. Survey results revealed that many students had no image of their future at the time of admission to the University. It seems that the obtained data shows the degree of consciousness of the average Japanese student in their first year at university. Through the introduced courses, students were able to consider their own future and discover their own goals and the significance of studying at University.