Universities should enhance human power

When addressing young people about to enter university, many people say, "You should do everything to your heart's content because you are still young."

That may be true. But it is questionable whether such advice is really helpful, given the fact that many young people today are unable to even set a future vision for themselves. It is sad but I often hear students at Waseda University where I teach say they entered university without knowing what they wanted to do.

"Career education" has become an established term recently at universities. It should be noted, however, that the concept is more than simply providing education and support for students seeking employment. Thinking about one's career is about thinking who one is and how one should live.