The Multi-dimensional Effect of Family Income on Opportunity Equality of Access to Higher Education in Japan

Communication University of China, School of International Studies, Beijing, China

^* Corresponding author: 2020216143010@cuc.edu.cn

Abstract

Opportunity of access to higher education is related to personal development, as well as to the future status of the individual in the social hierarchy. Therefore, to ensure the opportunity equality of access to higher education is very important and has been a research focus. However, the existing research on the deep causes affecting the opportunity equality of access to higher education is still limited. As a supplement, this paper takes Japan as the research object, analyzes the current situation of higher education enrollment in Japan from three dimensions of material value, cultural value and thinking value, and finds out that there is also the problem of inequality of access to higher education in Japan. Through the analysis of survey data and qualitative analysis, the paper finds out that educational resources, comprehensive quality, cultural atmosphere of growth environment and students’ thinking patterns are all important factors leading to such inequality, and these factors are all related to family income. Therefore, it can be inferred that family income affects the opportunity equality of access to higher education from multiple dimensions in Japan. In order to promote the equality of access to higher education, this paper puts forward some countermeasures to reduce the influence of family income. In the material dimension, it should improve the existing scholarship structure and increase its popularization rate, reduce the part-time job restriction, and alleviate the imbalance of educational resources caused by income difference. In the cultural dimension, it is necessary to balance the differences in the cultivation of comprehensive quality in different schools and families, and create a proper cultural atmosphere of growth environment for students through various methods. In the thinking dimension, families and schools should make more efforts to cultivate the educational thinking of students.