Since September 2015, Kuniko Ishiguro has been an Associate Professor of Management at the Institute of International Strategy (IIS) at Tokyo International University, where she has been teaching various business/management related courses. Her research interests include the development of human resource management strategies, sociology of work, career development, organizational behavior, and gender relations in organizations. She is especially interested in comparing Japan and other developed countries.
After obtaining extensive professional experience in the area of human resource management in global business, she commenced her postgraduate studies in 2002 at the School of East Asian Studies of the University of Sheffield, UK. She gained an MSc in East Asian Business (2003) and a PhD in East Asian Studies which focused on sociology of work and gender issues in Japan (2008). Upon completion of her PhD in Sheffield, in 2009 she gained employment as a Research Associate at the University of Tokyo’s Institute of Social Science. While there, she worked as a managing editor of the Social Science Japan Newsletter, and carried out editorial work for the Social Science Japan Journal (a refereed journal on Japanese studies published by the institution in collaboration with Oxford University Press). Before joining the IIS, she was appointed to the International Business Course of the Faculty of Foreign Studies at Bunkyo Gakuin University as an Assistant Professor in April 2012, and as Associate Professor of the Faculty of Foreign Studies and Graduate School of Foreign Studies (2014). At Bunkyo Gakuin University, she contributed to the university as a faculty member in the areas of research, teaching and administration. She delivered various courses for master’s, undergraduate and junior college students, including the following: ‘Diversity and Business’; ‘Business Administration’; ‘International Business Studies’; ’Business Planning’; ‘Business Case Method’; ‘Asian Society and Market; ‘Graduate Research’; ‘Global Stage’; and ‘Japanese Business’. In addition, from Autumn 2010, she designed and started teaching a course titled ‘East Asian Business’ (lecturing and tutoring) at Musashi University, Tokyo, to foreign students through the medium of English (until Autumn 2014).
Her research interests lie in changes in the labor market and employment practices, and their interrelations with individuals’ lives. She is especially interested in ways gender relations and social class in the society affect both companies’ behavior and individuals’ career development. She has been rigorously conducting research, and presenting the findings to international audiences. Moreover, with the aim of understanding the effects of gendered social culture and social class, as well as the state’s roles, she broadened her research scope and has been conducting international comparative studies since 2010. Her research has been highly recognized, and she has gained funding for her research from sources including two JSPS Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (Kakenhi, 2010-12 research no. 22510283, and 2013-2015 research no. 25360046). Using mainly life-history approach and in-depth analysis on employment systems in companies, she has been conducting field research in European countries.

• ＜Refereed Articles＞
  
• Cho, H., and Ishiguro, K (2015) “Organizational Strength and Individual Career: A Qualitative Study on Individual Career Formation in the Newspaper Industry”. International Journal of Innovation, Management and Technology, Vol. 6 (4): 309-315.
  
• Ishiguro, K., and Cho, H. (2014) “Shinbunsha niokeru Kyaria Keisei: Asahi Shimubunsha・Mainichi Shimbunsha no Kyaria Shōshinsha Kyaria no Tenkai ni Kansuru Dēta karano Kōsatsu (Career Formation in the Newspaper Industry: Cases of Employees’ Career Promotions at Asahi Shimbun and Mainichi Shimbun)”. Journal of Japan Society of Directories, Vol. 12: 32-42.
  
• Matanle, P., Ishiguro, K., and McCann, L. (2014) “Popular Culture and Workplace Gendering among Variety of Capitalism: Working women and their Representation in Japanese Manga”. Gender, Work and Organization, Vol. 21: 472-489.
  
• Nemoto, K., Fuwa, M., and Ishiguro, K. (2013) “Never-Married Employed Men’s Gender Beliefs and Ambivalence Toward Matrimony in Japan”. Journal of Family Issues, 34: 1673-1695.
  
• Ishiguro, K. (2008) “Japanese Employment in Transformation”. Electronic Journal of Contemporary Japanese Studies.
  
• ＜Articles in University Journals (Kiyo)＞
  
• Ishiguro, K. (2015) “Josei Kigyōka no Genjō to Nihon no Kigyō Shakai – Yobiteki Chōsa (Present Status of Female Entrepreneurs and Japanese Corporate Society: Preliminary Analysis)”. Journal of Bunkyo Gakuin University, Department of Foreign Languages and Bunkyo Gakuin College, No. 12: 153-170.
  
• Ishiguro, K. (2014) “Furansu Kigyō ni okeru Kanrishoku eno Josei no Shōshin nitsuiteno Kōsatsu (A Study on Women's Career Paths into Management in French Companies)”. Journal of Bunkyo Gakuin University, Department of Foreign Languages and Bunkyo Gakuin College, No. 13: 47-62.
  
• Ishiguro, K. (2013) “Creating an Analytical Framework for Women's Career Development: Towards an International Comparative Study”. Journal of Bunkyo Gakuin University, Department of Foreign Languages and Bunkyo Gakuin College, No. 12: 153-170.
  
• Ishiguro, K. (2012) “Josei Kanrishoku no Kyaria Keisei：Jirei karano Kōsatsu (Case Studies on Female Managers’ Career Development)”. GEMC journal, No.7: 104-128.
  
• ＜Book Chapters＞
  
• Ishiguro, K., and Matanle, P. (2013) “Sararīman Manga ni Hyōshō sareru Danjo no Raifu Kōsu: 『Shima Kōsaku』『Sararīman Kintarō』Shirīzu karano Kōsatsu (From Salaryman to Manager, and OL to Housewife: Representation of Working Men and Women’s Life Course in Japanese Salaryman Mangas, Shima Kōsaku and Saralyman Kintarō)”. Pp.103-132 in Tanaka, H., Iwata-Weickgenannt, K., and Godzik, M. (eds.) Raifu Kōsu Sentaku no Yukue: Nihon to Doitsu no Shigoto・Katei・Sumai (Beyond a Standardized Life Course: Biographical Choices about Work, Family and Housing in Japan and Germany). Tokyo: Shinyō-sha.
  
• Ishiguro, K (2012) “Japanese Employment in Transformation: The Growing Number of Non-regular Workers”. Pp. 179-213 in Iles, T., and Matanle, P. (eds.) Researching Twenty-First Century Japan: New Directions and Approaches for the Electronic Age. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.
  
• Ishiguro, K (2011) “Changes in Japanese Companies’ Personnel Management Practices relating to Female Employees: from the Early 1980s to the Early 2000s”. Pp.129-163 in Horn, S. (ed.), Emerging Perspectives in Japanese Human Resource Management. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.
  
• ＜Research Report＞
  
• Ishiguro, K. (2006) “Research Report: Generating Equal Employment Opportunities for Female Managers: Balancing Work and Life in 21st Century Japan”, Social Science Japan, 34: 19-21.