It sounds like you're looking for an English translation of our previous discussion about the challenges and solutions in the Japanese engineering sector, particularly concerning the shift from procedural to object-oriented programming. I'd be happy to provide that for an English-speaking audience.
Addressing the Engineer Shortage in Japan's Engineering Field: Problems and Impacts
Japan is facing a significant and growing shortage of engineers in its engineering field, a problem that is expected to have wide-ranging and serious consequences in the future. Here's an overview of the issues and their specific impacts on various sectors:
Problems in the Engineering Sector Regarding Engineer Shortage
Declining Birthrate, Aging Population, and Population Decrease:
Shrinking Workforce: The declining birthrate leads to fewer young people, directly reducing the pool of individuals entering engineering. This is a fundamental factor in the decreasing absolute number of future engineers.
Retirement of Skilled Engineers: Experienced engineers with decades of accumulated knowledge and skills are retiring. Often, this valuable expertise isn't adequately transferred to younger generations.
Youth Disinterest in STEM and Engineering Fields:
Lack of STEM Education Interest: Compared to other developed nations, Japan's investment and interest in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) education from elementary to high school levels is often criticized as insufficient.
Misconceptions about Engineering: Engineering careers are sometimes perceived as "unglamorous," "tough," or "low-paying," discouraging young people from choosing them.
Strong Liberal Arts Preference: A higher proportion of students opt for liberal arts fields in university, leading to relatively fewer students pursuing science, and particularly engineering, degrees.
Work Environment and Compensation Issues:
Normalized Long Working Hours: Many companies in the engineering sector face chronic long working hours due to tight deadlines and diverse project scopes.
Stagnant Wages: Despite requiring highly specialized knowledge and skills, compensation often doesn't reflect the value of engineers' contributions, leading some to consider moving to other fields.
Lack of Attractive Career Paths: A clear path for engineers to specialize and advance their careers isn't always available, which can demotivate younger professionals.
Intensifying Global Competition:
Brain Drain: Highly skilled Japanese engineering talent is increasingly moving abroad due to better compensation and more attractive research and development environments offered by foreign companies.
Difficulty Attracting Foreign Talent: Challenges like language barriers, cultural differences, and living conditions often make it difficult for Japan to attract top engineering talent from overseas.
Impacts on Various Sectors
Manufacturing Industry:
Decreased International Competitiveness: Core industries like automotive, electronics, and precision machinery will struggle with new product development and production technology improvements, leading to a decline in international competitiveness.
Stagnation of Innovation: Delays in R&D for new technologies and the promotion of smart factories using AI, IoT, and robotics will hinder productivity improvements.
Difficulty Maintaining Quality: The slow transfer of skills from retiring veteran engineers could make it harder to maintain product quality, potentially damaging brand image.
IT and Software Industry:
Delayed Digital Transformation (DX): Highly skilled IT engineers are essential for DX across all industries. A shortage will significantly slow down the digitalization of businesses and society as a whole.
Increased Cyber Security Risks: As cyberattacks become more sophisticated, a lack of cybersecurity experts will heighten risks for corporate and national critical infrastructure.
Stagnation of New Service Development: The development of new services and platforms leveraging cutting-edge technologies like AI, big data, and cloud computing will stagnate, costing economic growth opportunities.
Infrastructure and Construction Sector:
Difficulty Maintaining Aging Infrastructure: Japan's infrastructure (roads, bridges, tunnels, water supply, etc.) built during rapid economic growth is aging. Its maintenance, repair, and renewal require a vast number of engineers. A shortage could compromise infrastructure safety.
Delays in Disaster Prevention and Mitigation: In a disaster-prone country like Japan, robust national development and rapid recovery require civil engineering and construction specialists.
Stagnation of Smart City Development: Smart city initiatives relying on IoT sensors and AI also cannot be realized without engineers to design, build, and operate them.
Medical and Healthcare Sector:
Delays in Medical Device Development: With an aging society, the development of advanced medical devices and diagnostic equipment is urgent, but a shortage of bio-medical engineers will impede progress.
Slow Adoption of Remote Medical/Care Systems: Building remote medical and care systems utilizing ICT requires professionals with both IT and medical expertise.
Energy Sector:
Delays in Renewable Energy Adoption: Achieving a decarbonized society requires expanding renewable energy sources like solar, wind, and geothermal. A shortage of related engineers will slow this adoption.
Stagnation of Next-Generation Energy Technology Development: R&D for next-generation energy sources like hydrogen and nuclear technology could also be delayed due to engineer shortages.
Defense and Security Sector:
Decreased Defense Technology R&D Capabilities: Developing and maintaining cutting-edge defense equipment requires highly skilled engineers. A shortage could impact Japan's defense capabilities.
Vulnerability in Cyber Defense Capabilities: To counter nation-level cyberattacks, training specialized cybersecurity engineers is crucial.
The Mission of Universities in the VUCA Era
In this VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity) era, universities bear an increasingly critical mission. The focus must shift significantly from traditional "knowledge transfer" to "nurturing individuals who can pioneer the future, adapt to change, and solve societal problems."
The Mission of University Educational Institutions in the VUCA Era
The mission of universities in the VUCA era primarily consists of the following three pillars:
Creating and Utilizing Knowledge to Pioneer the Future:
Creation and Integration of Comprehensive Knowledge: Moving beyond specific specialized fields to integrate diverse forms of knowledge from humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences, thereby creating "comprehensive knowledge" that generates new value. This enables multifaceted approaches to complex societal challenges.
Promotion of Cutting-Edge Research and Social Implementation: Universities must deepen research in advanced technologies like AI, IoT, biotechnology, and renewable energy, and rapidly disseminate their findings back to society. Research and development should always consider social implementation.
Cultivating Data Science and AI Literacy: In an era where data-driven decision-making is required in all fields, universities must strengthen literacy education so that students acquire fundamental knowledge and application skills in data science and AI.
Developing Individuals Who Adapt to Change and Live Autonomously:
Fostering Self-Directed Learning Capabilities: It is paramount to cultivate students' "self-directed learning capabilities", where they can autonomously identify problems, gather and analyze information, and derive solutions. As knowledge quickly becomes obsolete, it's crucial for students to acquire the attitude and skills for lifelong learning.
Cultivating Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving Skills: Universities must foster critical thinking skills to see the essence of things without being swayed by superficial information, and problem-solving skills to approach complex issues from multiple angles and lead them to solutions.
Nurturing Proactiveness and Creativity: Beyond just completing assigned tasks, students should develop the proactiveness and creativity to autonomously create new value and contribute to society.
Acceptance of Diversity and Collaborative Skills: In an increasingly globalized world, students must learn to respect and cooperate with people from different cultures and with varying values, fostering "diversity acceptance" and "collaboration skills."
Strengthening Resilience: Nurturing the mental fortitude (resilience) to recover flexibly and move forward positively when faced with unpredictable difficulties.
Contributing to Local and International Society Through Social Collaboration:
Deepening Industry-Academia Collaboration: Universities must work closely with businesses and industries to reflect societal needs in education and research, and to act as a hub for returning research outcomes and human resources to society. Promoting joint research and internships is essential.
Contribution to Local Communities: Actively engage in solving challenges faced by local communities, becoming centers for regional revitalization. Universities should increase opportunities for students to interact with their communities, fostering a sense of local contribution through practical learning.
Building Global Networks: Strengthen collaborations with overseas universities and research institutions, promoting international joint research and student exchange. This aims to cultivate globally-minded individuals and contribute to solving global-scale challenges.
Promoting Recurrent Education and Adult Learning: Provide opportunities for working adults to relearn and update their skills, supporting their professional development to adapt to changing times. Universities are increasingly required to strengthen their function as "lifelong learning centers."
Cultivating Self-Directed Learning for Industrial Strength
To enhance Japan's industrial strength, it's crucial for both working professionals and students to continuously acquire new knowledge and skills through self-directed learning. In today's rapidly changing world of technology and society, relying solely on previously acquired knowledge and skills is insufficient; continuous learning and self-renewal are essential.
The Importance of Self-Directed Learning Capability
Self-directed learning involves not just passively receiving knowledge, but actively setting goals, gathering and analyzing necessary information, devising solutions, and then executing and evaluating them. This ability is vital for several reasons:
Adapting to Technological Innovation: Cutting-edge technologies like AI, IoT, big data, and renewable energy are evolving daily. To keep up, continuous acquisition of the latest knowledge and skills is necessary.
Adapting to a Rapidly Changing Society: With shifts in industrial structures, diversification of work styles, and globalization, individuals need the capacity for self-transformation to build careers and contribute to society.
Driving Innovation: Individuals who learn autonomously and approach problem-solving with out-of-the-box thinking are the ones who will create new value and services, driving innovation.
Individual Career Development: By proactively designing their career paths and acquiring necessary skills, individuals can increase their employment stability and market value, rather than solely depending on a single company.
Current Challenges
Challenges in Learning Awareness and Motivation:
Resistance to "Reskilling": Generations accustomed to lifetime employment and seniority-based wages may have a weak inclination towards "learning" after entering the workforce, sometimes asking, "What's the point of learning now?"
Difficulty Securing Learning Time Due to Busyness: Especially for working professionals, daily tasks often consume most of their time, making it hard to set aside dedicated learning periods.
Lack of Awareness of Learning Necessity: If it's unclear how specific learning will benefit one's job or career, motivation to learn can be low.
Passive Learning Habits in Students: Exam-centric education can lead students to be accustomed to solving given problems, often hindering the development of self-directed learning habits where they actively pose questions and seek knowledge.
Challenges in Learning Environment and Opportunities:
Shortage of High-Quality Learning Content: There's sometimes a lack of systematically organized, high-quality learning content, especially in cutting-edge specialized fields and practical skills.
Cost Burden of Learning: Retraining at universities or specialized institutions can be expensive, leading some to give up due to financial reasons.
Challenges in Evaluating/Visualizing Learning Outcomes: If it's unclear how newly acquired knowledge and skills will translate into corporate evaluation or career advancement, the incentive to learn diminishes.
Lack of Mentors/Coaches: A shortage of mentors or coaches who can provide guidance on learning direction and methods often makes it difficult to pursue self-directed learning.
Challenges on the Corporate Side:
Insufficient Investment in Human Resource Development: Some companies, prioritizing short-term profits, don't invest enough in training programs, allocated learning time, or financial aid to support employees' self-directed learning.
Lack of Mechanisms to Utilize Learning Outcomes: Even when employees acquire new skills, there may be insufficient opportunities to apply them in actual work or a lack of proper evaluation and placement systems.
Corporate Culture Issues: A corporate culture that doesn't actively encourage learning new knowledge and skills, and taking on challenges, can stifle employee motivation.
Proposed Solutions
To cultivate self-directed learning capabilities and foster a culture of continuous learning throughout society, individuals, educational institutions, corporations, and the government must collaborate on multi-faceted initiatives.
Engaging Individuals (Raising Awareness and Motivation):
Promoting Career Development Awareness: Enlighten individuals about the importance of proactively shaping their careers in an "era of 100-year lifespans."
Visualizing Learning Benefits: Clearly demonstrate how acquiring new knowledge and skills leads to increased market value, career advancement, higher pay, and improved job quality, using concrete examples.
Sharing Success Stories: Share successful personal stories of individuals who learned actively and transformed their careers, inspiring others to learn.
Providing Learning Method Guidelines: Offer guidelines and tools for self-directed learning, such as goal setting, information gathering, time management, and output creation.
Role of Educational Institutions (Fostering Self-Directed Learning in Students):
Implementing Project-Based Learning (PBL): Through problem-solving based learning, allow students to experience the process of independently identifying problems, gathering and analyzing information, and devising solutions.
Promoting Active Learning: Increase active learning formats in classes, where students engage in discussions, presentations, and collaborative work, fostering critical thinking and communication skills in addition to knowledge retention.
Enhancing Learning Commons: Establish learning spaces where students can freely discuss and collaborate, and where learning advisors are regularly available.
Utilizing ICT for Personalized Learning: Introduce adaptive learning systems powered by AI to provide optimal learning content and feedback tailored to each student's progress and understanding.
Connecting with Career Education: Strengthen career education that helps students concretely envision future career paths and enhances their awareness of independently learning the necessary knowledge and skills.
Corporate Support (Supporting Adult Reskilling):
Enhancing Reskilling Support Programs:
Securing Learning Time: Create environments that facilitate learning time through flex-time systems, remote work arrangements, and sabbatical leave for long-term training.
Learning Cost Subsidies: Expand subsidy programs for qualification acquisition, external training courses, and online course fees.
Enriching and Diversifying In-house Training: Systematically develop in-house training programs on the latest technologies and business skills, making them easily accessible.
Introducing Recurrent Education Leave: Implement leave systems specifically for recurrent education to support long-term learning.
Evaluating and Utilizing Learning Outcomes:
Introducing Skill Maps and Career Paths: Clearly define necessary skills through skill maps, guiding employees on what to learn. Establish evaluation systems where learning outcomes lead to career advancement and salary increases.
Promoting Reskilling: Actively implement reskilling programs that help employees reacquire necessary skills to take on new roles and responsibilities.
Facilitating Knowledge Sharing: Create opportunities (study groups, internal social media, etc.) for employees to share what they've learned and the skills they've acquired, enhancing the organization's overall learning capacity.
Transforming Corporate Culture:
Fostering a Culture of "Challenging Without Fear of Failure": Cultivate a corporate culture that accepts failures in the process of learning new knowledge and putting it into practice, viewing them as learning opportunities.
Leadership by Example: When management actively engages in continuous learning and demonstrates this attitude to employees, it boosts the organization's overall learning motivation.
Role of Government and Local Authorities (Developing Societal Learning Infrastructure):
Supporting Learning Content Development: Collaborate with universities, companies, and research institutions to support the development of high-quality online learning content and e-learning materials in cutting-edge fields like AI, IoT, and renewable energy.
Expanding Learning Cost Subsidy Systems: Expand existing systems (e.g., specialized practical education training benefits) and create new subsidy programs to financially support adult reskilling.
Developing Learning Outcome Evaluation and Certification Systems: Consider establishing public certification systems to objectively evaluate knowledge and skills gained through reskilling, which companies can reference for hiring and placement.
Information Provision and Matching: Develop information platforms and expand career counseling services to help working professionals and students find suitable learning opportunities and career paths.
Promoting DX and Reskilling Support: Introduce efficient learning systems utilizing digital technology and consider legal frameworks or tax incentives to support reskilling.
International Collaboration: Refer to advanced recurrent education and self-directed learning support initiatives abroad, and strengthen international collaboration.
Overcoming the Transition from Procedural to OOP
The transition from procedural programming to object-oriented programming (OOP) is often a significant hurdle for many learners. This "shift in mindset" can be particularly challenging. Here's a detailed explanation of how to effectively address it.
Why is the Transition from Procedural to OOP Difficult?
Let's first understand why this transition is so challenging:
Fundamental Difference in Thinking:
Procedural: Focuses on "what to do and how to do it" (the flow of execution). Code runs sequentially from top to bottom, solving problems by calling functions (procedures). Think of it like following a recipe step-by-step.
OOP: Focuses on "what exists" (data and operations on that data). It models real-world entities (objects) within the program, and these objects interact by sending messages to each other to solve problems. This is more like a collaborative cooking process where each ingredient (object) has specific properties and actions (methods).
Increased Abstraction: OOP abstracts and structures complex real-world concepts into classes and objects. Understanding this concept of "abstraction" and designing appropriately can be extremely difficult initially.
Multitude of New Concepts: Learners encounter many new concepts at once, such as classes, objects, instances, encapsulation, inheritance, and polymorphism, which don't exist in procedural programming.
Perception of Increased Code Volume: For simple tasks, procedural code often appears more concise, making it hard to see the benefits of using OOP.
Specific Strategies for Mastering OOP
To bridge this gap, I recommend the following steps:
1. Thoroughly Grasp Concepts
Start by accurately understanding what each concept means.
Class and Object (Instance):
Example: Understand that "Car" is a blueprint (class), and individual "Toyota Cars" or "Honda Cars" built based on that blueprint are objects (instances).
A class is a blueprint; an object is a concrete realization created from that blueprint.
Encapsulation (Information Hiding):
Example: When you press a car's accelerator, the speed increases, but you don't need to know the complex internal mechanisms. Encapsulation is about exposing only the necessary operations to the outside while hiding the complex internal workings. This improves code maintainability.
Understand the meaning of access modifiers like "public" and "private" and why they are necessary.
Inheritance:
Example: Define common functions (drive, stop) in a "Car" class (parent class), and then "Passenger Car" and "Truck" classes (child classes) inherit those functions while adding their specific features (carrying passengers, transporting cargo). This enhances code reusability.
Polymorphism:
Example: Imagine an "Animal" class with a "makeSound" method. A "Dog" class inheriting it might "Woof," while a "Cat" class might "Meow." Polymorphism means the same instruction (method call) results in different behaviors depending on the type of object. This allows for flexible program design.
2. Practice with Small Examples and Iteration
Once you understand the concepts, start writing code hands-on.
Practice Modeling Real-World Objects:
Initial Examples: Begin by defining simple, everyday things as classes, such as "Point (x, y coordinates)," "Rectangle (width, height)," "Person (name, age)," or "Book (title, author)." Think about their properties (attributes) and methods (operations).
Practice: Write actual code like
class Point { public int x; public int y; public void move(int dx, int dy) { ... } }.
Refactor Procedural Code to OOP:
Take simple programs you previously wrote procedurally (e.g., a calculator, a simple game) and consciously rewrite them using an OOP approach.
As you do this, constantly ask yourself: "Can this be an object?", "What properties and methods should it have?", "Where can I apply encapsulation?" It's okay if you don't get it perfectly at first; trial and error are part of the learning process.
3. Learn Design Patterns and Principles (Intermediate Level)
Once you've grasped the basic concepts and can write some code, deepen your knowledge for better OOP design.
SOLID Principles:
These are five fundamental principles of object-oriented design. Adhering to them helps you write code that is maintainable and extensible.
Learn about each principle (Single Responsibility Principle, Open/Closed Principle, etc.) and consider how you can apply them to your own code.
Design Patterns:
Learning well-known patterns, such as the Gang of Four (GoF) design patterns, provides "best practices" for common design problems.
For example, understanding "Factory Pattern" or "Singleton Pattern" can lead to more elegant code.
However, don't try to memorize everything initially. It's sufficient to look them up when you need them.
4. Utilize Appropriate Resources and Communities
The learning environment is also crucial for sustained progress.
Selecting High-Quality Resources:
Utilize easy-to-understand books for beginners and online learning platforms (Udemy, Coursera, etc.). Resources with abundant diagrams and animations are particularly helpful for understanding abstract concepts.
Choose materials that not only explain syntax but also thoroughly address "why OOP is necessary" and "what its benefits are."
Leveraging Online Communities:
Engage with technical communities and forums like Stack Overflow, GitHub, and Qiita. Ask questions and read others' code to deepen your learning.
Asking questions when you're stuck is effective; you might gain new perspectives from others' answers.
Pair Programming / Collaborative Development:
Code with a friend or collaborate on simple projects to share knowledge and hone practical skills. Exposure to others' thought processes can deepen your own understanding.
5. Be Patient and Persistent
Mastering OOP is like a marathon; it won't happen overnight.
Accept that it Takes Time: This isn't something you can fully master in a few days or weeks. Understanding concepts and practicing them requires sustained effort over time.
Build Small Successes: Instead of aiming for perfect code, focus on writing "working" code first, and then gradually apply OOP principles. Accumulate small successes.
Always Ask "Why?": Don't just write code; constantly ask yourself questions like "Why do I need this class?" or "Why should this method be placed here?" This leads to deeper understanding.
Conclusion
The transition from procedural to OOP involves more than just learning new syntax; it's a paradigm shift in thinking. While it may seem difficult at first, you can certainly overcome it by understanding concepts with concrete examples, repeatedly practicing, and persistently resolving questions.
By proceeding steadily, step by step, you'll be able to leverage the powerful design principles of OOP and develop larger, more maintainable programs. Good luck with your learning journey!
0 件のコメント:
コメントを投稿