Nearly All Students Report Career Education in Early College Years is 'Useful for Job Hunting and Future,' Showing Huge Educational Effect. 'Broadened Perspectives and Reduced Hesitation' Says 2028 Graduate Survey

Gakujo Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Chuo-ku, Tokyo) conducted an internet survey on "career education (career formation support provided by universities and companies)" during their first and second years of university, targeting university and graduate students scheduled to graduate (complete) in March 2028. When asked if there was any change after participating in career education, most students answered that they started thinking about their future careers and themselves. It also affected their attitude towards learning at university, revealing that career education serves as an opportunity to think about oneself, the future, and learning, and has an extremely large educational effect. When asked if they think university career education is useful for their job hunting and future, almost everyone answered "I think so" or "I somewhat think so." Many positive opinions about career education were gathered, such as "I was able to realize how my learning and efforts at university will be utilized after entering society, which leads to motivation," "I learned unknown knowledge and methods, which broadened my perspective for future actions and reduced my hesitation," "From a situation where I didn't know left from right, it became a gentle first step to think about my future career," and "I was able to know how seniors at the same university proceeded with job hunting."

[TOPICS]
(1) Most participating students answered that they started thinking about their future careers and themselves, showing a large educational effect.
(2) Almost all answered "I think it is useful for job hunting and the future," with voices like "My perspective on future actions broadened, and my hesitation decreased."

[Background of the Survey]
The Industry-Academia Council on the Future of Recruitment and University Education categorized internships into four types in its 2021 report "Industry-Academia Collaboration Initiatives in Student Career Formation Support," implemented from the class of 2025. "Career education" is positioned as Type 2, an education mainly for lower-grade students to "think about their own careers (view of occupation and work)," and companies and universities were requested to actively implement and expand it. To explore the current state of career education and students' perceptions, we surveyed students scheduled to graduate (complete) in 2028.

(1) Most participating students answered that they started thinking about their future careers and themselves.
When students who participated in career education during their first and second years were asked if there was any change after receiving it, the most frequent answers of "I think so" and "I somewhat think so" combined were "Opportunities to think about the future increased (career awareness)" at 98.8%, followed by "I started thinking about my own interests and concerns (self-understanding)" at 97.7%. Most participating students answered that they started thinking about their future careers and themselves.

Furthermore, "I became conscious of my strengths and weaknesses (basics of self-analysis)" reached 84.7%, and "I started thinking about the meaning of learning at university (connection between learning and career)" reached 80.0%, affecting their attitude towards learning at university. It was found that career education in the lower grades has an extremely large educational effect, such as providing an opportunity to think about oneself, the future, and learning.

On the other hand, although "The image of working in society became concrete (job understanding)" reached nearly 60% at 58.8% in total, only 17.6% answered "I think so," showing that the results regarding job understanding were limited compared to other items. Issues seem to include implementing programs that involve companies and connecting them to work experiences in internships during the third year.