The socioeconomic importance and fierce competition related to high school and university entrance examinations in Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea lead students and their parents to seek spiritual support through prayer and religious rituals. Japanese students leave donations and written prayers and promises to the gods at Shinto shrines…

Compares engineering education in Japanese and Australian universities. Discusses departmental structure, funding, teacher-student ratio, undergraduate and graduate curricula, teaching methods, faculty research, entrance examinations, tuition, and employment potential. (SV)

Describes nine categories of criteria used in developing nations to determine high school admission, the most common being competitive examinations and regional or school-level quotas. Discusses attempts to balance academic qualifications and equity concerns in Papua New Guinea and other countries, and dilemmas related to examination biases,…

Uses recent data and new theoretical perspectives to reexamine hypothesized links between academic competition and adolescent suicide in East Asia, particularly Japan. Finds no direct connection, discusses possible indirect effects on individual motives, and suggests a more complicated model. Analyzes how cultural and historical factors may…