The quantitative increase in psychologists in postwar Japan was investigated by focusing on the distribution of psychology faculties in universities and graduate schools. The status of psychology in the new teacher-training system was acknowledged as the institutional basis for this increase. The growth in the number of universities, graduate schools, faculties, and association memberships related to psychology was analyzed. The results indicated that the initial basis for the increase was the new university curriculum of teacher education, which stipulated that educational psychology and related subjects should be compulsory. As a result, new jobs for psychologists were created in most universities. The establishment of graduate schools was another factor that contributed to the increase in psychologists because it provided psychology researchers for newly established universities. In particular, since the 1990s, graduate schools offering courses in clinical psychology and educational psychology have contributed to the increase in psychologists. The meaning of this increase in psychology in Japanese universities during the current period of university reform is discussed.
The 75 Year History of the Japanese Psychological Association was published in November, 2002 (Japanese Psychological Association[JPA], 2002). The membership of this academic society, which had long played a central role in Japanese psychology, started with approximately 200 members when it was founded (JPA, 1980). By March 31, 2002, its membership had reached 6522 (JPA, 2002). This article examines this quantitative increase in psychologists3 in postwar Japan. An investigation of the members' affiliations indicated that the total number of faculty, students, and graduate students accounted for more than approximately 60% of the total membership in each survey (JPA, 2002). Because most of the other members belong to public or private research institutes and are likely to have majored in psychology in the university, it is possible to investigate the quantitative increase in psychologists in relation to the increase in the number of universities in Japan.
A new educational system, based on the principles of democracy, was established in Japan as a result of educational reforms following World War II. The school system, which had been modeled on the German, was extensively changed to the American model. A large number of universities and graduate schools were set up under the new system, which led to an increase in both student and faculty numbers. In order to understand how the number of psychologists increased in postwar Japan, it is necessary to understand how and why psychology was required to be taught in universities, how psychology departments were organized, and how university teachers trained their students. This paper examines the institutional basis for the increase in psychologists and offers a perspective on the status of psychology, as well as on the teaching of psychology, in Japanese universities today, by focusing on the distribution of psychology faculties in universities and graduate schools. First, the institutional reasons that have contributed to this expansion are discussed. This is followed by a discussion of the overall trend of this expansion with reference to statistical data.
Establishment of new universities and psychology education in postwar Japan
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In this section, the status of psychology in university curriculums is described in relation to teacher education. The new educational system required that at least one national university offering a teacher-training course be established in each prefecture (Kaigo, 1969). Other universities were also permitted to train teachers, which provided a training course that accorded with the Law for Certification of Education Personnel (1949). The Enforcement Rules on the Law for Certification of Education Personnel (1949) provided that educational psychology and adolescent psychology be made compulsory subjects for those aspiring to teacher certification for junior high schools and high schools. Child psychology, in place of adolescent psychology, was made compulsory in curriculums for elementary school teachers. As a result, universities with teacher education programs were required to prepare curriculums in educational psychology, adolescent psychology, and child psychology.4 With the establishment of these universities, there was a rapid increase in the demand for faculty members specializing in educational psychology. Occasionally, graduates who had majored in other fields of psychology in prewar universities were also employed to satisfy the shortages of qualified faculty members (Fumino, 1998). Clearly, the establishment of teacher education programs in all universities, as well as the realization that mastering psychology was important, led to the increased demand for university faculties specializing in psychology and related subjects.5 Many New Universities6 also founded graduate schools to further train graduates to become psychology researchers. Many students who attended graduate schools became faculty members at their own or at other, older, universities. The next section will consider the institutional factors related to the increase in the number of psychologists, with reference to statistical data.
Statistical analysis
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We estimated the incidence of the following categories as described below.
Number of universities
This was estimated from the List of Japanese Universities (Japan University Accreditation Association [JUAA], 2002).
Number of graduate schools
The number of graduate schools established each year was estimated by using the List of Japanese Universities (JUAA, 2002). Then, department names that included the word psychology were counted as a graduate school. In addition, all the departments listed in Understand Psychology: The New Issue (Asahi Shimbun, 2003) were also counted as a graduate school. Graduate schools with different departments or courses of psychology were counted separately.
Number of psychology faculty members
This was estimated from the Faculty Members' List In Japanese Universities (1959, 1979, 2002) when the name of the department or subject under which a faculty member was registered contained the word psychology; in the case of teacher education, when the name of the subject contained the words psychology and education, or adolescence, or child; and in the case of social psychology, developmental psychology, and clinical psychology when the name of the subject contained the words, social and psychology, development and psychology, and clinical and psychology, respectively.7
Establishment of universities and the increase in psychology faculties
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Changes in the number of universities and in the membership of the Japanese Psychological Association (JPA), the Japanese Association of Educational Psychology (JAEP), and the Association of Japanese Clinical Psychology (AJCP) from 1948 to 2002 are shown in Figure 1. These associations were established in 1927, in 1959, and in 1982, respectively. As can be seen from this figure, the number of universities increased rapidly in the 1960s, approximately 20 years after the inception of the new university system.
This expansion was the result of both the baby boom and the high rate of economic growth in postwar Japan. In the mid 1960s, the then Ministry of Education planned to increase the number of universities (mainly private universities), in order to supply human resources for science and technology and to meet the rapidly increasing number of university applicants (Osaki, 1999). Figure 1 shows that the number of universities continued to grow steadily between 1970 and 1985. The membership of the JPA reflected this growth by increasing after 10 years.
Another spurt of rapid growth in the number of universities can be seen in the late 1980s. It can also be seen from Figure 1 that the membership of the JPA grew more rapidly than that of universities during this period. As can be seen from Figure 1, the faculty and students, who are the main source of JPA membership, increased as a result of the increasing number of universities.
According to Table 1, among all universities, more than 70% had psychology faculty members in each period, indicating that these faculty members were in most newly established universities. In 1959, 10 years after the inception of the new university system, as many as 71% of universities that had psychology faculty members had psychology faculty members engaged in teacher education. This percentage had decreased to 50% in 2000. Of all psychology faculty members, the number engaged in teacher education, which was 51% in 1959, had fallen below 30% in 1979 and 2000. Taken together with the figure for psychology faculty members, these findings suggest that psychology faculties that are engaged in teacher education have not been distributed in newly established universities.
To examine the relationship between the development of different fields of psychology and the distribution of psychology faculties, the number of faculties in selected fields of psychology as a proportion of total psychology faculties in Japan were compared (Figure 2). As can be seen from Figure 2, the percentage of educational psychology faculties, which accounted for the majority of psychology faculty members engaged in teacher education, was higher in each period compared with faculty members in other fields; but this decreased from 1959 to 2000.8 The percentage of faculties in social psychology, developmental psychology, and clinical psychology increased, particularly during the 1990s, reflecting institutional developments in these fields represented by the growth in the capacity of psychology departments and courses. In particular, the percentage of faculties in clinical psychology shows remarkable growth in 2000. This reflects developments in clinical psychology during the previous 10 years, such as the establishment of a system to certify clinical psychologists (Azuma & Imada, 1994). These findings suggest that the curriculum of teacher education, in which educational psychology and related subjects were compulsory, formed the basis for the increase in the number of psychologists and ensured teaching posts in psychology at universities during the approximately 10 years after the inception of the new university system. However, the employment of psychology faculties for teacher education decreased.
Establishment of graduate schools and the increase in psychologists
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To examine the increase in the number of graduate schools in detail, graduate schools were counted by their origin as well as by the total number (see Figure 3). Graduate schools built over preexisting faculties of education were counted as courses in educational psychology. Those offering courses with names containing the words "clinical" or "counseling" were estimated as offering courses in clinical psychology. Other graduate schools were estimated as offering courses in psychology.
It can be see from Figure 3 that the total number of graduate schools related to psychology has grown consistently from 1950 to the 1970s. Moreover, the rate of growth has increased since the 1980s with particularly rapid growth since the 1990s. Figure 3 makes it clear that courses in educational and clinical psychology have been the main contributors to this growth. Therefore, it is possible to partially attribute the rapid increase in psychologists since the late 1980s (Figure 1), which is not fully reflected by the increase in universities, to the growth of graduate schools.
Courses in psychology steadily increased from 1950 to the 1990s because universities with departments and courses in psychology established graduate schools to train psychology researchers. Some students who finished graduate schools found work in the faculties in newly established universities or older universities that needed new staff due to the expanding number of students. Since the 1990s, there has been a particularly rapid spurt of growth in the number of graduate schools. This growth spurt has been created as a result of the former Ministry of Education increasing graduate schools as a part of university reforms started in the late 1980s. Universities with newly founded departments of psychology and universities that have never offered psychology courses have established graduate schools. Since the 1980s, universities with faculties of education were dominant in establishing new graduate schools (educational psychology in Figure 3). The main purpose of the establishment was to supply recurrent education for teachers. This was one of the policies of the former Ministry of Education. Faculty members of educational psychology and child psychology began training psychology researchers at graduate schools. This contributed to the rapid growth in the number of JAEP members seen in Figure 1.
Courses in clinical psychology have also increased rapidly since the 1990s. Most of these courses are offered in newly established graduate schools of universities that had not previously offered psychology courses. These graduate schools have been established as a result of the demand for training of counselors and therapists, due to the increasing number of students who wished to enter these professions. The demand for clinical psychologists is reflected in the extraordinary increase in the membership of the AJCP, which easily exceeds the number of the JPA, as seen in Figure 1.
Discussion
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The results of analyzing the quantitative increase in psychologists in relation to their distribution among psychology faculties in postwar universities and graduate schools in Japan indicated that the initial basis for this increase was the new system of teacher education in universities. Educational psychology and related subjects were made compulsory in teacher-training courses at that time, suggesting that theoretical and practical knowledge of psychology was considered essential for the professional development of teachers.
What is the contribution of the growth outlined above to the field of psychology in present-day universities? University reforms undertaken since the late 1980s are large-scale reforms that will dramatically change the role of universities in Japan. Recent government support of educational institutions, the introduction of the program of Centers of Excellence, among others, demand that universities conduct world-class research.
University reforms have been severely affected by the declining birthrate in Japan. Due to this, national and private universities are underutilized and face serious problems of survival. National and public universities are currently reorganizing themselves into independent corporations. All universities recognize the importance of maintaining high student enrollments and are undertaking measures that aim at making universities more attractive to students. The rapid growth of graduate schools offering courses in clinical psychology since the 1990s is a consequence of measures taken by universities that are striving to survive.
Universities in postwar Japan have already accomplished their fundamental obligation of providing citizens with equal opportunities for higher education. Higher education in many countries is entering the era of "universal access" from "mass" (Trow, 2000). Japanese universities are also entering the era of "postmassification" that has followed "massification," including quantitative expansion (Arimoto, 1997). Universities will be required to play two roles in the future: as institutions conducting highly professional research, and as institutions providing an attractive curriculum that accommodates the various needs of students. Because of the above circumstances, the significance of psychology research and education are also under review. Educational psychology and clinical psychology are now in demand because these fields engage in actual practice. They will be evaluated in terms of the extent to which their findings contribute to solving practical problems. In this sense, of the two modes of psychology (Sato, 2002), mode II rather than mode I will grow in importance, along with the fields of education and mental health.
The increase in the number of psychologists and the basis of growth outlined here needs to be described in more detail. Future studies should address issues such as: the role Japanese psychologists played9 in teacher education reforms at the inception of the new education system; the social evaluation of psychology at that time; and economic constraints. Moreover, the growth in the number of psychologists in Japan must be compared with growth in other fields.
Table 1. The distribution of members of psychology faculties among universities
1959
1979
2000
PTE/PF (%)
51
28
20
Upte/Upf (%)
71
56
50
Upf/Total (%)
70
78
76
PF, psychology faculty members; PTE, psychology faculty members engaged in teacher education; Upf, universities that have PF; Upte, universities that have PTE.
