A Comparative Analysis of the Diversification of University Admissions Systems: A labor market-based assessment (Japanese)

This paper examines all types of admissions systems currently in place in Japan, and evaluates their relative performance in the labor market using graduate income. In particular, by comparing the relative performance of admission systems requiring academic testing against that of those that do not, the consequences of the rapid diversification of university admission systems seen from the mid-1980s onwards are evaluated. The analysis of the survey responses indicates that the average income for graduates who had enrolled in universities via systems requiring academic testing is statistically significantly higher than for graduates of universities not requiring academic testing as part of the admissions system. Moreover, the income difference was greater among science graduates than humanities graduates. It is without doubt that the impact of the diversification of university admissions systems should be examined from multiple angles, but the findings of this research suggest that graduates who were subject to academic testing as part of the admission system to their respective universities are assessed higher in the labor market.