Overview
The Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning (CITL) at the Institute of Science Tokyo is currently developing the Preparing Future Faculty and Professionals (PFFP) Program, a training program aimed at cultivating advanced instructional competencies among doctoral students for teaching in higher education institutions.
This program is designed to achieve a key goal of the Institute of Science Tokyo Fourth Medium-Term Plans1, which emphasizes supporting doctoral students as educators and researchers leading the next generation capable of autonomous and advanced contributions to science and technology. In response to the goal’s evaluation criterion — to establish a training system for all doctoral students who work as teaching assistants (TAs) and start the training program during the fourth period (AYs 2022-2027) of the institutional accreditation — CITL began offering TA-focused training programs in AY 2024.
Preparing Future Faculty (PFF) programs in Japan are roughly divided into two categories; (1) training programs for graduate students aspiring to academic careers, developed as part of faculty development programs; (2) programs to enhance skills as a TA to demonstrate the effectiveness of the TA systems for improving education in universities (Center for Professional Development, Institute for Excellence in Higher Education, Tohoku University, 2015; Konno, 2016; Kato, Kadomatsu, Asayama et al., 2025).
By contrast, PFF programs at research universities in the United States have shifted from short-term, reactive TA training to long-term, structured programs that help graduate students prepare as future faculty (Kira, 2008). In a study supported by Pew Charitable Trusts, Nyquist and Woodford (2000) interviewed 365 professionals working in corporations, government agencies, and nonprofit organizations — common employment sectors for Ph.D. holders. Their findings highlighted that employers tended to require “general teaching skills,” including communication and explanatory skills required for mentoring and supervision.
Reflecting these broader demands from society for reform in doctoral education, PFF programs have evolved to address a wide range of skills beyond university teaching. These include mentoring, coaching, teamwork, leadership, and management. Additionally, the scope of such programs has expanded beyond doctoral students in academic careers to include those enrolled in professional graduate programs, giving rise to initiatives focused on Preparing Future Professionals (PFP) (Kira, 2014).
At the former Tokyo Institute of Technology — now Institute of Science Tokyo — of the 324 doctoral graduates in AY 2022, 167 (51.5%) found employment in academia or industry. Of these, 97 graduates (58%) entered corporate or public sector roles, 41 (25%) were employed at universities, and 29 (17%) joined research institutions, comprising a total of 42% in research-related employment. Meanwhile, 71 graduates (21.9%) reported that they were still seeking suitable employment opportunities (Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2023; Kato, 2024).
This situation reflects a broader issue: even high-qualified doctoral graduates in science and engineering fields often struggle to secure positions that align with their career aspirations. This highlights the need to strengthen career guidance and education within graduate schools and to establish career paths that enable a smooth transitions from TAs to faculty positions (Kato, 2024). In parallel, the introduction of PFP programs aimed at fostering general teaching skills while students are still in graduate school responds to the needs of employers and evolving societal expectations.
Against this background, Institute of Science Tokyo is moving forward with the development of the PFFP Program, which aims to enhance doctoral students’ general teaching skills as well as their capability to teach specialized subjects at universities.
As pilot workshops of the PFFP Program, CITL launched an introductory workshop in October 2024 titled “Introduction to TA,” targeted at graduate students who are new to TA. This session combined lectures with collaborative group work. In February 2025, a workshop for intermediate TAs titled “TA Training (Intermediate)” was conducted, featuring an invited instructor and focusing on communication skills essential for researchers. These efforts aimed to deepen the program’s focus on cultivating general teaching skills.
Based on surveys, interviews, and site visits to domestic and international universities already implementing PFF programs, CITL is working to enhance the PFFP Programs. Our goal is to improve PFFP Programs helping doctoral students step-by-step develop educational skills, including general instructional skills and teaching skills for specialized courses at universities.
Source: Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning, Institute of Science Tokyo (2025). Development of the PFF Program. PFF Program Research Report, pp. 1–2.
CITL Promotion Video
References
- Kadomatsu, S., Asayama, T., Kato, Y., Yamashita, Y., Hatakeyama, H., & Murota, M. (2024). A survey of Japanese universities for designing preparing future faculty programs. (Japanese) Research Report of JSET Conferences, 2024(4), 195-202.
https://doi.org/10.15077/jsetstudy.2024.4_195 - Kato, Y. (2024). Implementation conditions of faculty preparation courses in science and engineering universities: Collaboration between teaching and learning centers and on-campus programs. (Japanese) The Study Meeting Reports of The Japan Association for Educational Media Study, (57), 52-60.
https://doi.org/10.24458/jaemsstudy.57.0_52 - Kato, Y., Kadomatsu, S., Asayama, T., Hatakeyama, H., Yamashita, Y., & Murota, M. (2025). Preparing future faculty program for graduate students in science and engineering: A survey of faculty and staff at other universities’ programs. (Japanese) Journal of Higher Education and Lifelong Learning, (32), 47-57.
https://doi.org/10.14943/J.HighEdu.32.47 - Kira, N. (2008). The present conditions and challenges of training and development systems and preparing future faculty programs for teaching assistants in universities in the U.S. (Japanese) Nagoya Journal of Higher Education, (8), 193-215.
- Kira, N. (2014). A study on phased function of preparing graduate students as future faculty: Implications for Japan from research universities in the U.S. (Japanese) Comprehensive Studies of Education, (7), 1-20.
- Konno, F. (2016). Trend of pre-FD programs for graduate students and Tohoku University PFFP. (Japanese) Bulletin of the Institute for Excellence in Higher Education Tohoku University, (2), 61-74.
- Nyquist, J. D., & Woodford, B. J. (2000). Re-envisioning the Ph.D.: What Concerns Do We Have? Retrieved March 18, 2025, from
https://depts.washington.edu/envision/resources/ConcernsBrief.pdf - Tohoku Daigaku Kodo Kyoyo Kyoiku Gakusei Shien Kiko Daigaku Kyoiku Shien Center [Center for Professional Development, Institute for Excellence in Higher Education, Tohoku University] (2015). Nihon no daigaku ni okeru daigaku kyoin junbi program ni tsuite (Teigen). (Japanese) [Preparing future faculty programs in Japanese universities (Recommendation)] Tohoku University Preparing Future Faculty Program / Tohoku University New Faculty Program Annual Report 2014, 249-254.
https://www.ihe.tohoku.ac.jp/CPD/files/20150428060501.pdf - Tokyo Kogyo Daigaku [Tokyo Institute of Technology] (2023). Tokyo Kogyo Daigaku hakushi koki katei gakusei no shinro. (Japanese) [Career paths of doctral students at Tokyo Institute of Technology] Tokyo Institute of Technology. Retrieved September 30, 2024, from
https://www.titech.ac.jp/student-support/pdf/27a501d421604f888bf5b9afa440ab69-1.pdf
- Medium-term plans are ones for realizing the medium-term objectives, which are targets relating to operational management for each national university corporation in Japan to achieve over a period of six years. See also National University Corporation — Glossary of Quality Assurance in Japanese Higher Education, NIAD-QE. ↩︎