Declining Academic Autonomy Under Neoliberal Reforms: Lessons from Japanese Higher Education After Incorporation

This chapter discusses the change of governance caused by the revision of School Education Act (SEA) in 2014. The revision of SEA proposed to empower the University President and disempower the Faculty Meeting which had formerly been the major mechanism for protecting collegiality in Japanese universities. Faculty members are being regarded like other organizational members employed in other public sectors or as school teachers. In addition, the declining collegiality and academic freedom may harm the quality of teaching and research because of decreased academic compatibility. Managerial reforms place too much emphasis on the close relationship between university and industry, and while this lead to a useful partnership between the university and industry, in the long run it may lead to decreased academic competitiveness.