Joint Japan/World Bank Graduate Scholarship Program 2020 Annual
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JOINT JAPAN/WORLD BANK GRADUATE SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM 2020 ANNUAL REPORT February 2021 FY2020 ANNUAL REPORT JAPAN/WORLD BANK GRADUATE SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM TABLE OF CONTENTS Overview: Japan’s Investment in Human Capital in Partnership with the World Bank……….......3 Outreach and Selection of the 2020 Cohort of JJ/WBGSP Scholars……………………………….5 Administration of the Scholarship Program.…….……………………………………………………11 Annex 1: JJ/WBGSP Application and Selection Processes……...……………….………………..12 Statistical Tables……………………………………………………………………………….………. 14 Annex 2: JJ/WBGSP Preferred Programs, 2020….………………………………………………..28 Annex 3: Main findings from the JJ/WBGSP 2020 Tracer Study………………………………….30 2 FY2020 ANNUAL REPORT JOINT JAPAN/WORLD BANK GRADUATE SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM I. Overview: Japan’s Investment in Human Capital in Partnership with the World Bank Japan's commitment to invest in human resources in developing countries is rooted in its own experiences after World War II. The country's startling postwar economic growth and its fundamental transformation from World Bank recipient to major World Bank donor were grounded in the rapid growth of its broad human resource base. This distinct development pathway has led Japan in its desire to support the poorest countries in their endeavors to enhance the expertise and skill levels of aspiring practitioners and leaders and to contribute to policy reform for economic growth and social development. Japan has partnered with the World Bank in support of this development objective over the years, including through two programs administered under the Japan-funded and World Bank– administered Policy and Human Resources Development Fund (PHRD): (i) the Japan Indonesia Presidential Scholarship Program (JIPS), which closed in FY2017 and (ii) the Joint Japan/World Bank Graduate Scholarship Program (JJ/WBGSP), which remains active. JJ/WBGSP scholars with professors after receiving their diplomas from Yokohama National University, 2020 Joint Japan/World Bank Graduate Scholarship Program (JJ/WBGSP) JJ/WBGSP, which started in 1987, targets mid-career professionals working in development fields. The program provides financing for professionals to study abroad for up to 24 months. To date, the program has awarded over 6500 scholarships across 160 countries. Approximately every three years, the World Bank administers a survey of alumni to track their professional achievements and development impact after they complete their JJ/WBGSP-funded studies. The JJ/WBGSP awards scholarships through three subprograms: (a) the Preferred Program, (b) the Partnership Program, and (c) the Japanese Nationals Program. 3 This Annual Report updates activities under the JJ/WBGSP from January to December 2020 Preferred Program: Eligible developing country nationals who are admitted to one of these programs can apply for a JJ/WBGSP scholarships through an open call held once per year. The highest qualified scholarship applicants are selected, considering gender and geographic distribution of the scholars’ home countries. With the number of eligible scholarship applicants being always significantly greater than the number of scholarship awards granted, a preferred master’s degree program is not guaranteed to receive a JJ/WBGSP-awarded scholar. As a result of the Request for Proposals (RfP) process that was launched in 2020, 30 Preferred Programs were selected. Out of these 30 preferred master programs, 29 agreed 1to participate with the JJ/WBGSP (See Annex 2). Partnership Program: Partner universities short-list JJ/WBGSP scholarship applicants from their pool of admitted students and send the shortlist to the Secretariat. The nominees are invited to apply for a JJWB scholarship and their applications are reviewed and scored by a pool of external assessors. In 2020, each Partner Program could receive up to five JJWB scholars. In 2020, there were 10 partnership master’s degree programs for which JJ/WBGSP scholarships were available for scholars starting their programs before July 2021. These programs are located in 10 universities, which include: • five in Japan—the University of Tokyo-Graduate School of Public Policy, Yokohama National University, the University of Tsukuba, Saitama University, and the Graduate Institute for Policy Studies; • three in the United States—UC-Berkeley, Brandeis University and Williams College2; • one university in Africa - Université Félix Houphouët Boigny Abidjan-Cocody in Côte d'Ivoire. • one university in Europe— University of Clermont Auvergne-FERDI in France Japan Nationals Program: Per current JJ/WBG policies, up to 15 scholarships are set aside every year to finance a master or PhD degree for Japanese nationals for up to two years, and there is no restriction on their choice of university, as long as the graduate program focuses on a development topic and the host university is outside of Japan. Annex 1 provides details on the application and selection process under these three subcomponents. 1 Yokohama National University – Taxation Program declined the Preferred Program status and requested to be removed from the list of 2020 Preferred Programs. 2 With all the disruptions resulting from the Covid19 pandemic, Williams College decided not to enroll a 2020-21 class. Instead, they will offer to defer enrollment for all admitted students for the following session beginning in August 2021. 4 II. Outreach and Selection of the 2020 Cohort of JJ/WBGSP Scholars Overview Due to the pandemic, as well as due to administrative changes in the process and timing of selecting universities, the selection cycle was delayed, contributing to a lower number of students being enrolled. These shortcomings are being address in preparation for subsequent selection cycles. Partner universities: Out of the 85 nominees shortlisted by Partner Programs, only 64 applied, out of which 47 were eligible. As a result, most partner universities received fewer scholars than expected. Preferred programs: Similarly, for preferred programs, the Secretariat received last year 3,235 applications, out of which 957 were eligible. This year, only 1,711 applications were submitted (almost half of last year), out of which 233 were eligible. Table 1: Status of Awardees AWARDED SCHOLARS STATUS Partner Japan Preferred Active Total Deferred Declined Withdrawn Terminated Retired Program Nationals Program Cohort 2017 102 15 91 208 0 7 17 5 5 174 2018 82 13 43 138 3 4 10 2 1 118 2019 62 8 56 126 57 1 12 4 1 51 2020 52 15 41 108 853 19 3 1 Figure 1. JJ/WBGSP Preferred and Partnerships Awards, 1988-2020 400 350 Partnership Programs 70 300 77 87 104 Preferred Program 250 74 285 200 82 63 83 112 91 67 236 150 67 93 65 80 81 74 60 97 26 46 60 48 265 254 94 23 142 100 0 108 168 61 150 120 136 90 62 0 1… 103 108 52 50 85 79 99 205 105 104 109 79102 96 107 127 100 68 91 43 56 41 Number of Scholars of Number 0 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 3 Out of the 85 active JJ/WBGSP scholars, 12 are currently studying online because of the Covid19 pandemic 5 Japanese Nationals Program: Outreach and Selection The new team of the Joint Japan/World Bank Graduate Scholarship Program Secretariat took the helm of the program in mid-March 2020, a couple of weeks before the selection process officially launched. Due to this, the Secretariat was unable to work extensively with the World Bank Tokyo Office and the DEC communications team to promote the program. For the first year, internet search was not the main way through which finalists heard about the program. Five out of the fifteen finalists heard of the program through a previous call for applications and four heard from a current/past scholar. This suggests that a lot could be done to promote the program if the alumni network was strengthened. Finally, three finalists heard of the program through an internet search, and three others from the World Bank Tokyo Office. Just like in 2019, this year 41 Japanese nationals applied to the program, of which 16 applicants were eligible. For the first time in three years, the Scholarship Program received more eligible applications from men than women. This year, only three of the sixteen eligible applicants are women. Eligible applicants this year also continued the trend of applicants’ preferences to study in the US and the UK. Eligible applicants have only applied for a scholarship in universities in these two countries. The 16 eligible applications were evaluated according to the Secretariat’s standard procedure of two reviewers scoring each application on a scale of 1 to 10, considering three main factors and the degree of cohesion among them: (i) Quality of Academic Experience and Recommendations (20% weight) (ii) Quality of Professional Recommendations (20% weight) (iii) Quality of Professional Experience (20%) (iv) Commitment to International Development Career (40% weight) Partner Program: Outreach and Selection Outreach With all the disruptions resulting from the COVID19 pandemic, the World Bank could not engage into any outreach efforts this year. Selection In 2020, the World Bank signed agreements with nine partner universities for one year. Out of the nine Partner Programs, only eight4 supplied enough eligible applications for the awarding of JJWBGSP scholarships for the 2020 cohort. 4 The list of nominees received from University of Tokyo included seven persons, and only four of them were from eligible countries 6 Preferred Program: Outreach and Selection Outreach The 2020 call for applications for scholarships