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Paper short abstract

This study examines how international student mobility (ISM) affects labour market outcomes and life satisfaction among Japan’s post–ice-age generation, highlighting gendered differences and the potential of ISM to support more equitable life-course trajectories.

Paper long abstract

As transnational human capital gains importance in Japan’s globalizing economy, international student mobility (ISM) has been widely promoted as a strategy to enhance individual careers through the acquisition of global skills and competencies. Existing research, however, has focused predominantly on economic returns, paying limited attention to broader individual outcomes and to gendered inequalities in the effects of ISM. This paper addresses these gaps by examining the impact of ISM on both labour market outcomes and life satisfaction among the so-called post–ice-age generation—cohorts entering the Japanese labour market after 2004.

Integrating perspectives from job competition theory and well-being research, we analyse whether and how ISM enables younger Japanese adults to deviate from traditional, gender-stereotypical life-course trajectories. Using longitudinal data from the SSJDA Panel (2021–2025), we assess gender-differentiated returns to ISM with respect to earnings-related outcomes and subjective life satisfaction.

The results indicate that ISM of substantial duration (but less than one year) is associated with higher labour market outcomes and greater life satisfaction for both men and women. At the same time, the magnitude of these effects is significantly larger for men, pointing to the persistence of gender inequality in the translation of transnational experiences into labour market and well-being returns. Nevertheless, the findings also suggest that ISM may support more progressive and gender-equitable work and family orientations, offering an alternative pathway to the traditional gendered life course in Japan.