How Today’s Students Are Making Their College Years Count

Faculty's Column (Early-Career) January 27, 2026

TAKASAWA Yojiro Assistant Professor of the Faculty of Economic Sciences

Back when I graduated from university in 2005, the term “slightly bad-boy middle?aged man” was apparently very prevalent, but now it’s 2026. Do you know what current university students are interested in, and what kind of campus life they are actually living?

Of course, just as in the past, each student studies different subjects, has different interests, and shapes their university experience in their own way. However, the expectations for university students today, which reflect the current society, are placed on everyone equally.
For example, the business world demands an ever?expanding and never-ending list of contemporary skills, mindsets, and experiences such as knowledge and skill in data science, the hard-earned practiced ability to collaborate with people of different nationalities and backgrounds, and a whole range of abstract skills such as “the skills of problem?finding and problem?solving.” Meanwhile, especially in regional areas facing population decline and the outflow of young people, local companies, municipalities, and employment support organizations are desperately seeking ways to connect with university students, hoping to revitalize their communities and encourage students to work and settle locally. These expectations are already shaping students’ daily lives by appearing in university curricula, invitations to participate in off?campus programs, and the increasingly early and routine nature of job?hunting. Naturally, these trends are also linked to the educational reforms happening in elementary, junior high, and high schools.

The preface was long-winded, but the point is that my research explores how university students who are no longer living in a so?called “ivory tower” make sense of their own university years, how they construct their own unique life on campus, and how they transform those experiences into learning and personal growth.

When we look not from the perspective of educational institutions but from the perspective of individual students, we see that the few years of university life consist of far more than the learning opportunities provided in classrooms and laboratories, and that their time is filled with many other elements as well.

経験の図
Examples of the Diverse Experiences That Shape University Life

When we look specifically at how students connect with society, we see that not only do they continue to participate in long?standing extracurricular activities such as clubs, groups, and part?time jobs, but more and more students are also engaging in project?based programs offered as co?curricular activities (initiatives organized by the university with clear educational intentions, even though they do not award academic credit) and, in addition, many students now take part in a wide range of off?campus activities and communities where they interact with working adults, local residents, and students from other universities. Since the COVID?19 pandemic, the shift to online formats has further expanded access to meetings and events beyond physical constraints which, as a result, have made richer and more diverse resources and opportunities more available to students for learning and personal development than ever. Of course, universities themselves now offer many fieldwork?based classes and collaborative projects with local companies as part of the formal curriculum.

Many students engage in several of these activities simultaneously. Alongside their classes and coursework, they often belong to multiple communities at once, taking on various roles so it is not uncommon to hear students say they feel overwhelmed by how busy they are. In the field of university learning research, there is a concept known as “learning bridging,” which refers to “connecting learning across multiple contexts.”
I do not believe that learning in the classroom and the insights gained through extracurricular activities are entirely separate. In fact, I frequently interview students, and I have heard countless stories about how the knowledge, ways of thinking, interests, and attitudes and habits they developed in one setting carried over into another, shaping who they became. I also conduct research on how these university experiences relate to the abilities that students demonstrate later as working professionals.

Recently, drawing on this line of research, I launched a podcast that introduces the diverse ways that today’s students, living with remarkable drive and curiosity, make use of their university years. I hope the program will also reach high school students who are beginning to imagine what it means to spend the coming era as a university student. Moving forward, I plan to further expand these outreach efforts.

Podcast
Podcast Program: “University Student Interviews”

Profile

TAKASAWA Yojiro

Assistant Professor of the Faculty of Economic Sciences

Ph.D. Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Economic Sciences (in charge of the Regional Leadership Studies). Specializes in higher education studies. Research focuses on students’ diverse learning and growth, and their transition into society. After working in the private sector, serving as NPO staff, and operating as an independent professional, he joined Niigata University in 2013 and has been in his current position since April 2023.

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*Article content and profile information are current as of January 2026.