TITLE:
The Impact of COVID-19 on Research Productivity of Postgraduate Students in Japan: Based on the Cross-Sectional Survey
AUTHORS:
Yuanyuan Shi, Wenjing Zhang
KEYWORDS:
COVID-19, Postgraduate Students, Research Productivity, Japan
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Social Sciences,
Vol.10 No.9,
August
29,
2022
ABSTRACT: Globally the students’ life and study have been affected by the
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This study aims to explore the current
report and seeks to explore how the Pandemic impacted doctoral students’ research
productivity in Japan by examining the following research questions: How have Covid-19
and the related measures impacted the postgraduate students’ research
productivity, and research engagement time, delay graduation in Japan? And how
has Covid-19 impacted their research activities specifically, including
conference participation, research meeting, attending lectures, entering
laboratories, using the library, conducting outdoor surveys, international
exchanges, and delayed graduation? A sample of 5091 Japanese doctoral students
completed an online survey including measures for the perceived impact on
research productivity, completion of graduation degree, the changes in research
engagement time, and research output during the COVID-19 pandemic. 50% of
doctoral students on average said that COVID-19 and its response affected the research
productivity as a whole temporarily, and the impact on research productivity
was acceptable. One-fifth of them reported that their research time has
decreased to 80%. More than 60% of doctoral students reported that they
expected it would take a longer time to complete their degrees. More than
two-thirds of the students reported that visiting certain countries and regions
(69%) and invitations from certain countries and regions (60%) are still an
unacceptable impact on research productivity. Based on these results, several
policy implications are discussed to help graduate students adapt to recent
university changes.