Compiler: Yuji KATO
[The article below is the same as the article that appears in the nineteenth issue of the CGS Newsletter.]
What kind of support services should ICU provide to parents and caregivers? CGS organized a round-table discussion for students, faculty, and staff to share their ideas on this issue. Excerpts from their discussion are presented below.Participants (in alphabetical order, without titles): Juliana BURITICÁ (ICU PhD student), Junko HIBIYA (ICU President), Natsumi IKOMA (CGS Director), Yuji KATO (CGS staff member), Miho MATSUZAKI (CGS research institute assistant), Kana TAKAMATSU (CGS steering committee member).
Support for Student Parents and Caregivers
Hibiya: In 2000, ICU changed its leave of absence fee, which was 1/3 of the tuition fee, to an enrolment fee of just 30,000 yen per term. One reason for this change was our concern for students who take a leave of absence for medical reasons. They tend to return too soon, causing their illness to flare up again, and are then forced to drop out altogether. We also considered study abroad cases that didn't fit into the exchange student category. I think we have managed to make it easier for students to continue their studies or research and take a leave of absence if they need to, whether it be for childcare, nursing care, or other reasons. With regard to childcare, the University is planning to build a childcare center on campus eventually. But how about students with caring responsibilities, such as those caring for elderly relatives or other dependents who have an illness or disability? What kind of support could we provide for them?
Matsuzaki: In addition to promoting understanding on the campus as a whole, we need to foster an environment where students feel more comfortable discussing these issues and asking for advice. Students with caring responsibilities tend to be overlooked, and they often don't talk about their problems because they find it too hard to explain. At first it might just mean missing a class or two, but as their dependent's illness progresses, the student caregiver's burden grows heavier until they are forced to give up attending class altogether. Even if caring responsibilities can be balanced with studies at university, it is harder to balance them with work. Students with caring responsibilities need to deal with tuition fees and juggle course schedules, and they need help thinking about their careers after graduation. Students who end up not talking to anyone about their caring responsibilities often don't get any careers guidance either. Even if ICU can't provide any direct assistance, it would be good if the University could at least refer such students to other support services off campus.
Hibiya: Yes, we should deal with the issue of careers guidance immediately. We must raise awareness and understanding within the University concerning the reality of students in these situations.
Ikoma: Even being able to talk to someone who understands can be helpful. But our campus doesn't even facilitate that kind of support yet. We have the same problem when it comes to pregnancy and childbirthstudents feel isolated because of the University's lack of understanding.
Pregnancy and Childbirth Support
Buritica: I gave birth to a daughter in December 2015 during my doctoral studies. I've been using the nursing room and the counseling services on campus, but I feel like my supervisor is the only one I can really talk to about pregnancy or childcare issues. It's hard to talk to anyone else on campus about it. When I found out my baby's delivery day would clash with my course registration dates, I applied for an extension for the registration, citing "giving birth" as my reason on the application form. But the office staff told me to change it to "research purposes." It was like they were telling me that a normal/ideal student is one who isn't pregnant. I might be progressing more slowly than some other students, but I haven't given up my studies. Any student can go through periods when they might not be able to study or research for whatever reason.
Ikoma: The problem is that the University doesn't understand that students do sometimes get pregnant and give birth.
Takamatsu: I remember another international graduate student who wanted to give birth back in her home country, so she asked if her final thesis examination could be conducted via video conferencing, but her request was denied. She was able to sit the examination ahead of schedule and leave the country in time for her baby's delivery, but she was forced to rush to meet the new deadline.
Hibiya: The new internet-based conferencing system that we've installed at ICU could be useful in such situations. We will certainly look closely into making the system more flexible to accommodate these cases.
Takamatsu: There are also cases where students have almost lost their scholarships. Most scholarship organizations base their funding systems on current university policies and regulations. So if more universities start to recognize the existence of student parents and caregivers, I think that the scholarship systems will change accordingly.
Ikoma: That means besides students' gender, sexuality, and nationality, we also need to think about their diversity in terms of age.
Takamatsu: According to OECD data from 2008, diversity in nationality and in age is a feature of the new generation of university students worldwide. So it's even more essential now for universities to recognize that there are students who are parents or caregivers.
Hibiya: Japan managed to achieve a 50% university advancement rate in 2009, but since then the numbers have leveled off. If we can tap into those diverse age groups, our universities will certainly evolve.
The Lack of Childcare Facilities
Takamatsu: The severe lack of childcare centers in Japan is often hard for people from other countries to understand. I was recently pleased to hear from a Thai higher education institution where I'm planning to conduct research in a few years that bringing children would not be a problem, and that I could make use of the childcare facilities and residences on campus. At the same time, they sympathized with me, noting that "childrearing must be very difficult in Japan." So our problems with childcare centers seem to be well known overseas.
Hibiya: Yes, it must be quite a difficult cultural adjustment for parents who come here from overseas.
Ikoma: ICU faculty members have also been unable to find a daycare center for their children, even when both parents are working full time. Even if they live on campus and work so close to home, they are finding it very difficult to adjust their schedules to fit in with childcare.
Takamatsu: I was also unable to get a daycare place for my child. Of course, for faculty like us, as long as we're prepared to take on a greater financial burden, it's not like we have no other options to public childcare centers. But for students, it's much more difficult. Students usually can't afford to adjust their budgets so much. They are also lower down the priority list for admission to childcare centers, and most dormitories don't admit students with children. That's why childcare facilities in higher education institutions are indispensable.
Buritica: My daughter was also rejected in the first-round selection for public childcare centers. The day after I got the news, I went to the ward office in tears. I told them, "I'm a foreigner and I don't have any relatives in Japan to rely on," and "The points system for childcare centers is really complicated and it's so hard for me to write documents in Japanese." One of the staff there empathized with my situation and helped me. I had to quickly submit a new application form, which required a letter from my supervisor. Even though it was a Sunday night, my supervisor kindly invited me to her home and signed the letter for me. Thanks to their help, my daughter now goes to a childcare center, even though it's a part-time one with fewer hours.
Ikoma: Juliana was very lucky, but only as a result of special consideration. There's also the case of a Nepalese graduate student who came here with his partner. They had to leave their child with his parents back in Nepal because ICU doesn't have any childcare facilities or a dormitory for students with children. We really need to build childcare facilities and dormitories on campus that can accommodate such needs.
LGBT Viewpoints
Kato: In the near future, ICU will probably need to deal with the issue of accommodation for same-sex partners with children. There are residential facilities for the faculty, but for students it is more difficult. The Sibley House dormitory accepts married students, but its regulations regarding male couples are vague to say the least. Even if two men were permitted to share an apartment in the dormitory, they wouldn't be allowed to have a child, would they?
Hibiya: In Dialogue House, we have had couples with children and same-sex couples without any problems. We are also considering LGBT issues for the new dormitory that is currently under construction.
Ikoma: It has been reported in the media that "ICU's new dormitory will have an LGBT-friendly floor." Is that accurate?
Hibiya: In our press conference, we explained that the dormitory will have "a new floor that won't divide students based on gender," and that "the new floor will accept everyone, so of course it will also be LGBTfriendly." We never actually called it an "LGBT floor."
Ikoma: That's good to hear. The label, "LGBT floor," might in fact reinforce prejudices and make it more difficult for LGBT students to take advantage of the dormitory.
Kato: Every year students have been choosing to enter or transfer to ICU because they've heard about CGS, pGSS, and our system that allows transgender students to change their school records. The same students, however, are becoming disillusioned after experiencing discrimination on campus. Isn't it time for the University to take a serious look at the fact that it has denied - and is still denying - the human rights of LGBT students, faculty, and staff?
Ikoma: ICU as a whole really needs to be much more diverse in its approach to diversity. We hope that the University can enact change positively and swiftly in this regard.
Hibiya: Although we can't commit to a definite date, we certainly do hope to set up a childcare center on campus.
Ikoma: Thank you very much for your time today.