The study on which this article is based aimed to discover the meanings of international education at the high school level from the perspective of students and parents in Japan and Indonesia. Two research questions are addressed: How do Indonesia and Japan balance their international education policy in relation to the need to foster globally…

College-bound students in Japan undergo a process of intense preparation known as "examination hell." An extreme manifestation of "examination hell" is the "ronin" phenomenon. Typically 30% of students choose the "ronin" option under which they spend years in addition to high school preparing for the next…

During the last 50 years, private "feeder" schools in Japan came to dominate entry into elite colleges. Intense organizational competition shaped the organizational environment and changed the pathways available to social elites. Compared to Japan, elite private feeders in the US have failed to dominate pathways into elite colleges. In…

In Japan, after-school schools prepare students for admittance to "right" colleges. Japanese families spend about $240/month per child for supplementary instruction five days a week and half-days on Sunday. Cram-school teacher salaries range from abysmal to over $400,000 a year. Only few universities are considered first-rate by…