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<p>This study examines how Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) is institutionalized within the Japanese higher education context. Drawing on governmental policy documents, government-led initiatives, university-level DEI declarations, and the organizational structures and practices of university DEI centers, and adopting a policy enactment perspective, the study provides a multi-level analysis of DEI in Japan. The findings reveal that, in the absence of a comprehensive national DEI policy, the emergence of DEI centers in Japanese universities is not driven by direct policy mandates, but rather by a combination of global norm diffusion, institutional adaptation, and organizational repackaging. Furthermore, the study identifies significant disjunctures between government-level policy discourse and institutional implementation, as well as between DEI rhetoric and its enactment in practice. These patterns suggest that DEI in Japan operates primarily as a localized, incentive-driven normative vision, with limited translation into transformative structural change. This condition can be conceptualized as a form of “symbolic institutionalization,” whereby alignment with global norms is demonstrated at the discursive and organizational levels without being fully embedded in practice. By highlighting the gap between discourse, structure, and practice, this study contributes to the literature on DEI in Japan and offers broader insights into how globally circulating policy ideas are reinterpreted and institutionalized in local contexts.</p>

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From discourse to structure: the symbolic institutionalization of DEI in Japanese higher education

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  • 发表日期：

    2026年6月3日

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  • Lilan Chen

摘要

This study examines how Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) is institutionalized within the Japanese higher education context. Drawing on governmental policy documents, government-led initiatives, university-level DEI declarations, and the organizational structures and practices of university DEI centers, and adopting a policy enactment perspective, the study provides a multi-level analysis of DEI in Japan. The findings reveal that, in the absence of a comprehensive national DEI policy, the emergence of DEI centers in Japanese universities is not driven by direct policy mandates, but rather by a combination of global norm diffusion, institutional adaptation, and organizational repackaging. Furthermore, the study identifies significant disjunctures between government-level policy discourse and institutional implementation, as well as between DEI rhetoric and its enactment in practice. These patterns suggest that DEI in Japan operates primarily as a localized, incentive-driven normative vision, with limited translation into transformative structural change. This condition can be conceptualized as a form of “symbolic institutionalization,” whereby alignment with global norms is demonstrated at the discursive and organizational levels without being fully embedded in practice. By highlighting the gap between discourse, structure, and practice, this study contributes to the literature on DEI in Japan and offers broader insights into how globally circulating policy ideas are reinterpreted and institutionalized in local contexts.