Almost all students answered that early career education is "useful for job hunting and the future," showing a major educational effect. Voices include "Broadened perspectives for future actions and reduced hesitation" [Survey of 2028 graduates]

Gakujo Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Chuo-ku, Tokyo) conducted an internet survey targeting university and graduate students expected to graduate (or complete their studies) in March 2028 regarding "career education (career formation support implemented by universities and companies)" during their first and second years of university. When asked if participating in career education brought any changes to them, almost all students responded that they started thinking about their future careers and themselves. It also influenced their attitude towards learning at university, revealing that career education serves as a catalyst for thinking about oneself, the future, and learning, and has an extremely large educational effect. Regarding whether they think university career education will be useful for their job hunting and future, almost everyone answered "I think so" or "I somewhat think so." Many positive opinions were gathered regarding career education, such as: "I could realize how my learning and efforts at university will be utilized when I enter society, which leads to motivation," "I learned unknown knowledge and methods, broadened my perspective for future actions, and my hesitation decreased," "From a situation where I knew nothing, it became a gentle first step to think about my future career," and "I was able to know what kind of actions seniors at the same university took to proceed with their job hunting."

[TOPICS] (1) Almost all participating students answered that they started thinking about their future careers and themselves. A large educational effect. (2) Almost everyone answered, "I think it will be useful for job hunting and the future." Voices include, "Broadened perspectives for future actions and reduced hesitation."

[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 Collaborative Initiatives in Student Career Formation Support," and implemented them starting with the graduates of 2025. "Career education" is positioned as Type 2, mainly as education for lower-grade students to "think about their own careers (occupational views and employment views)," and active implementation and expansion were requested of companies and universities. To explore the current state of career education and students' reception, we surveyed students scheduled to graduate (or complete their studies) in 2028.

(1) Almost all participating students answered that they started thinking about their future careers and themselves. We asked students who participated in career education during their first or second year if there was anything that changed after receiving career education. The most common responses combining "I think so" and "I somewhat think so" were "Opportunities to think about the future increased (career awareness)" at a total of 98.8%, followed by "Started thinking about my own interests and concerns (self-understanding)" at a total of 97.7%. Almost all participating students answered that they started thinking about their future careers and themselves. Furthermore, "Became conscious of my strengths and weaknesses (foundation of self-analysis)" reached a total of 84.7%, and "Started thinking about the meaning of learning at university (connection between learning and career)" reached a total of 80.0%, influencing their attitude towards learning at university. It was found that early career education has an extremely large educational effect, serving as a catalyst for thinking about oneself, the future, and learning. On the other hand, although "The image of working in society became concrete (job understanding)" reached nearly 60% with a total of 58.8%, those who only answered "I think so" remained at 17.6%, showing that the results regarding job understanding were limited compared to other items. Implementing programs involving companies and connecting them to work experiences in 3rd-year internships seem to be future challenges.