To more effectively advance diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts in Japan, greater scholarly attention should be directed toward those underrepresented groups directly. Adopting autoethnography as an analytical methodology, this study examines the identity trajectory of an international junior female faculty. Drawing on Identity Trajectory Theory and an intersectional perspective, the study analyzes the author’s diary entries from August 2022 to July 2025. The findings reveal the professional identity progression of the author across five phases: exploration, contraction, construction, consolidation, and development. This trajectory highlights the interplay between maintaining individual positionalities, fulfilling institutional responsibilities, responding to national priorities, and pursuing international aspirations, underscoring a dynamic tension that has continually tested professional resilience while shaping identity. The analysis underscores both the challenges and opportunities encountered by international junior female faculty in Japan. Theoretical and practical implications, therefore, are provided to better support these groups and to advance DEI efforts in Japanese higher education contexts.
Lilan Chen (Wed,) studied this question.