Fumiya Uchikoshi
@ufsoc.bsky.social
An expat sociologist in Singapore studying demography and meritocracy. PhD @Princeton, Academy Scholar @weatherheadcenter.bsky.social
For rising job market candidates in the social sciences with an international or area studies focus, I highly recommend taking a look at the Harvard Academy Scholars Program! Application deadline is September 18, 2026. academy.wcfia.harvard.edu
academy.wcfia.harvard.edu
Applications are now open for the second cohort of the Singapore Management University Presidential Early Career Professorship! We're seeking outstanding early-career academics to join SMU as tenure-track faculty. The program offers a named professorship and generous research funding.
Our new study examines how maternal education shapes nonmarital childbearing & family structure among Asian Americans v non-Hispanic Whites. Using national US data, we find important differences by ethnicity, immigrant generation, and interracial marriage. www.rsfjournal.org/content/12/3...
Nonmarital Childbearing and Family Structure Among Asian Americans: The Role of Socioeconomic Status, Ethnicity, and Immigration
This study examines how maternal education shapes nonmarital childbearing and family structure among Asian Americans compared with non-Hispanic Whites. We also assess within-group variation by Asian e...
rsfjournal.org
Pregnancies before marriage tend to be unintended, but this pattern is less pronounced when they occur within cohabiting unions. In East Asia, the simultaneous increase in these two nontraditional behaviors may be consistent with the Second Demographic Transition. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
An alternative perspective on the Second Demographic Transition in East Asia: the relationship between pregnancy intentions and trajectories of cohabitation, marriage, and pregnancy in Japan
The Second Demographic Transition (SDT) has been a key theoretical framework for declining fertility and family changes, often marked by the decoupling of marriage and childbearing. While East Asia...
tandfonline.com
Recently, two papers on Japan's demographic change that I have worked on for years were accepted for publication. One took six years and the other seven, so I am delighted that both have finally found the right home!
These days I’ve been asking around for thoughts on what courses to offer. A historian friend said anything with “sex” or “Hitler” in the title draws students. Interestingly, a retired political scientist told me the same: courses on sex are especially popular with undergraduates.
Thanks to wonderful collaborators, I’ll be presenting two "marriage" papers at ASA 2026: - Native-immigrant intermarriage in Japan (with Hao Liang, Cornell), Aug 8, 10–11:30 AM - College education and social origin homogamy in US (with Lai Wei, HKU), Aug 11, noon–1:30 PM
I’ve been attending PAA since 2018. Looking at the badges over the last five years, I’ve sensed that budget cuts are happening everywhere!
My job market paper has finally found a home. In this paper, we examine the role of fertility desires as a new explanation for the decline in marriage in East Asia, where parenthood is an integral component of normative family expectations. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
<em>Population and Development Review</em> | Population Council Journal | Wiley Online Library
In this study, we propose and evaluate a new framework for understanding “lowest-low” fertility in East Asia, emphasizing the link between the desire for children and marriage. Recognizing that delay....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
From Fumiya Uchikoshi, Ryota Mugiyama, Shohei Yoda, and James M. Raymo - forthcoming in Population and Development Review
SocArXivBot@socarxivbot.bsky.social · 6mo agoRevisiting the Relationship between Marriage and Childbearing in East Asia: The Role of Fertility Desires in Japan: https://osf.io/k5e8m
Korea’s fertility rate is now lower than Japan’s—but why? Our new paper explores how youth labor market challenges, especially male economic inactivity, help explain Korea’s steeper fertility decline. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Why has South Korea’s fertility rate dropped below Japan’s? An exploratory study of youth labor market challenges and family formation
Japan and South Korea experienced a rapid decline in total fertility rates (TFR) until the early 2000s; however, over the past two decades, the two countries have exhibited markedly different trend...
tandfonline.com
Next Monday, Nov. 17, 12-1 pm: Join us to discuss Fumiya Uchikoshi's @ufsoc.bsky.social research, "Navigating Uncertainty: Gendered Aspiration, Meritocracy, and Imagined Futures in Japanese Selective College Admission," moderated by Xiang Zhou. In-person & online: shorturl.at/IIVmI
My talk at the Harvard US-Japan program next month! Navigating Uncertainty: Gendered Aspiration, Meritocracy, and Imagined Futures in Japanese Selective College Admission | Weatherhead us-japan.wcfia.harvard.edu/event/naviga...
Navigating Uncertainty: Gendered Aspiration, Meritocracy, and Imagined Futures in Japanese Selective College Admission | Weatherhead
us-japan.wcfia.harvard.edu
I hadn’t really thought about a book project before, but the current intellectual environment changed my mind. I just completed a proposal and have started sending it to potential discussants. It still feels so unreal.
Sometimes your co-authors are more critical than reviewers (in a good sense)
Excited to be visiting Vancouver tomorrow! I’ll be sharing my book project ideas at the UBC Japan Centre Seminar Series sppga.ubc.ca/events/event...
UBC
sppga.ubc.ca
Meet the 2025–2026 Academy Scholars! Most will be working on transforming their dissertation into a book manuscript or series of articles, while some will be embarking on new writing. Learn more about them and The Harvard Academy at: https://loom.ly/jgRd-yA
The Harvard Academy is now accepting applications for next year’s Academy Scholars Program. The deadline is September 19. Please consider applying! academy.wcfia.harvard.edu/programs/aca...
Academy Scholars Program | Weatherhead
academy.wcfia.harvard.edu
It was such an honor to organize two sessions on Asia at ASA 2025 (Demography and inequality in East Asia and Inequality and diversity among Asian Americans). I was especially pleased that both sessions were very well attended!
Submitted my first job application of the year. Ah yes, I'm officially on the job market...
Thrilled to share that my paper on nonmarital childbearing and family structure among Asian Americans, co-authored with Airan Liu, has been conditionally accepted at RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences
This paper, published in Research in Higher Education, examines how gendered expectations and stereotypes contribute to persistent gender disparities in selective college applications in Japan. link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Gendered Expectations for College Applications: Experimental Evidence from a Gender Inegalitarian Education Context - Research in Higher Education
In Japan, the gender gap in attendance at 4-year universities is narrowing, yet significantly fewer women apply to selective colleges. A growing body of literature suggests that gendered expectations ...
link.springer.com
I'm joining the World Elite Database, a cross-national comparison of economic elites, as a Japan team cordinator!
Paper acceptance from Journal of Asian Studies and Research in Higher Education!
New on Epicenter: On the first day he noticed so few women at his university. Fumiya Uchikoshi set out on a scholarly pursuit to find out why. Read about his investigation of the gender gap at elite Japanese universities. loom.ly/Nq0I5Uo @ufsoc.bsky.social
Epicenter (Harvard Weatherhead Center's online magazine) features my ongoing work on gender gap in selective college attendance in Japan. Many thanks to Michelle Nicholasen for making this happen and Jessica Barnard for interviewing me epicenter.wcfia.harvard.edu/news/2025/04...
High Risk, No Reward: Unpacking Gender Disparities at Japanese Universities | Epicenter
A researcher investigates the reasons behind low numbers of women at elite Japanese universities, and looks at the high-stakes national entrance exam as a possible culprit.
epicenter.wcfia.harvard.edu
I'm presenting my working paper on the role of college education in social origin homogamy at RC28 UCLA!
Looking forward to PAA! My team and I are presenting five papers in total, covering a range of topics on family demography and social stratification including low fertility in East Asia, married women's employment in Japan, and social origin homogamy in the US.
My East Asia low fertility paper has been accepted to ASA Asia/Asian American section session!