class ScalaGeneric { var s: java.util.Set[String] = _ } trait ScalaGeneric2Trait { var s: java.util.Set[String] = _ } class ScalaGeneric2 extends ScalaGeneric2Trait object Test extends Application { println(classOf[ScalaGeneric].getDeclaredField("s").toGenericString) // java.util.Set ScalaGeneric.s println(classOf[ScalaGeneric2].getDeclaredField("s").toGenericString) // java.util.Set ScalaGeneric2.s -- should be same as above }