Fostering Learner Agency through Career Building

Despite the gradual disappearance of lifetime employment and on-the-job training over the past three decades, and due, in part, to limited career guidance at the high school level, many Japanese students, upon entering university, have yet to seriously consider career options that they may wish to pursue, and after graduation, approximately 30% quit their first job within three years. In an effort to counter this trend and to address other challenges posed by changes involving recruitment guidelines which took effect earlier this year and the impact of COVID-19, this paper outlines a 3-year collaboration between the author and Ms. Hiroko Deguchi, a career consultant in the Career Development Office of Aoyama Gakuin University, to facilitate a broader community of practice among teachers, learners and career development professionals for the purpose of increasing university students' awareness of and participation in career development and job-hunting opportunities. Fostering learner agency through career building was the focus of a workshop at the annual JALT Conference in 2020, given by the author and Ms. Hiroko Deguchi, a career consultant in the Career Development Office of Aoyama Gakuin University (Deguchi & Bollinger, 2020). This paper provides a synopsis of some of the ideas and information presented in the workshop, including challenges currently facing university students, ways to foster learner agency, and a brief overview of our 3-year collaboration, involving efforts to facilitate a broader community of practice among teachers, learners, and career development professionals for the purpose of increasing university students' awareness of and participation in events and opportunities related to career development and preparation for job hunting.