Poster 3:

Impact of Defining Ikigai in Developing Future-Ready University Graduates with Self-Leadership Skills

Deborah Hall   Heriot-Watt University, Malaysia

To prepare graduates for an uncertain world, educators need to develop students who are adaptable, resilient, and self-driven. This study investigates the impact of discovering ikigai to give a strong sense of purpose. This is a key component of our comprehensive year-1 undergraduate students’ development program on selfleadership. The results demonstrated benefit in defining “ikigai” (a Japanese term meaning one’s “reason for being”). Students reported they had learned key skills in selfleadership, even when delivered as emergency remote learning during the pandemic. This favorable outcome was accompanied by a very high satisfaction rate measure by Net Promoter Score of 73.9%.