GRSJ224/discrimination of women in the Japanese Workforce

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Background

Japan is considered one of the top OECD countries in economic development, technological advancements and boasts a prolific tourism industry, yet is ranked one of the lowest countries for gender parity on the Gender Inequality Index[1] and ranked 110th out 149 countries on the World Economic Forum’s Gender Gap Report 2018[2]. At a deeper glance, the Japanese work force consists disproportionately of males, with 71.2% of all Japanese men aged 15 and older participating in the labor force in 2018, compared to just 52.5% of women[3]. In the same year, women represented only 44.1% of the entire labor force.[4]

Discrimination

Within the labor force itself, its composition sees men holding most of the professional, high paying jobs and women highly concentrated in part-time, low-paying jobs[5]. Although women achieve higher levels of education on average[6], gender equality remains low in the labor market and employment of women still face vast stereotypes and differences compared to men. These contrasting statistics shows that there are underlying systemic inequalities for women perpetrated by traditional gender norms, institutions and policies that enact boundaries for women in Japan to achieve gender equality.

Gender Roles in Family

Discrimination of women in Japan runs deeper than just in the workforce, gender norms permeate deep into society and shape family roles, personal interactions and the educational system. Women are confined to traditional gender roles that perpetuate expectations of a timid, obedient, stay-at-home wife and a ‘bread-winner’ husband. At the same time, Japan is rooted in a deep historical “paternalistic societal structure[7]” that shapes “attitudes toward the role of women[8]” in a light that reinforces their traditional role in society. Given this, women are pressured to stay at home or are discouraged to find work at the expense of the man’s reputation in fear that he is perceived to not provide enough for the family or take care of his family well enough. The responsibility of child-rearing is also placed on the mother, and with a “lack of support in child-rearing from… [husbands][9]”, women cannot afford to sustain careers or work consistently.

Women in the Workforce

The normalized gender roles for women translate to the labor market, where women face high levels of job insecurity, discrimination and sexism within the realm of the working class as low paying jobs are usually temporary, have high turnover rates and do not provide any benefits. For example, “women are less likely to be employed than men and those who do work typically earn much less than their male counterparts[10].” Women also face inequalities in pay, "the gender pay gap is closely linked to men being more often in regular employment than women, with greater access to employer-provided training and benefits, as well as age and tenure-related pay increases.[11]" This places women in Japan at large disadvantages and limits job prospects as well as potentially cap earnings.

Tokyo Medical University Scandal

In 2018, headlines exposed[12] that the pass ratio for female students applying to Tokyo Medical University along with many other medical universities were fraudulent, embroiling them in a scandal that highlighted inequalities and discrimination against women. The universities rigged test results by altering the outcomes and scores so that women who did meet qualifications and passed the test were failed and rejected from the admissions process. This was due to the belief that women are more likely to leave the profession[13][14] and workforce to start families, and therefore, acceptance was preferential towards men. This scandal was shocking for the world and exposed not only extreme institutional discrimination but because women were directly “stripped of their right to seek entry to the medical profession[15]”, which infringes on the freedom of women.

Economic Impacts

The lack of women in professional and educated jobs due to systemic barriers causes the Japanese production possibility frontier to be severely under-performing, as there is untapped potential in is valuable resource. On top of this, both women and men in the workforce work extremely long hours[16] which decreases productivity and acts as a deterrent for women to join in the first place. However, "Japan is looking to women to offset its shrinking labor force[17]" as its projected to decrease over the next two decades[18] due to the systemic barriers placed on female workforce participation.

  1. ↑ "Gender Inequality Index". Wikipedia.
  2. ↑ HAYASHIKAWA, MAKI. "Japan's systemic barriers to gender equality". Japan Times.
  3. ↑ "Women in the Workforce – Japan: Quick Take". Catalyst.
  4. ↑ "Women in the Workforce – Japan: Quick Take". Catalyst.
  5. ↑ "Women in the Workforce – Japan: Quick Take". Catalyst.
  6. ↑ "Women in the Workforce – Japan: Quick Take". Catalyst.
  7. ↑ JOHNSTON, ERIC. "Women in Japanese politics: Why so few after so very long?". Japan Times.
  8. ↑ JOHNSTON, ERIC. "Women in Japanese politics: Why so few after so very long?". Japan Times.
  9. ↑ "Tokyo medical school 'changed test scores to keep women out'". The Guardian.
  10. ↑ "Japan Policy Brief" (PDF). OECD.
  11. ↑ "Japan Policy Brief" (PDF). OECD.
  12. ↑ HAYASHIKAWA, MAKI. "Japan's systemic barriers to gender equality". Japan Times.
  13. ↑ Murakami, Yumiko. "Japan needs gender equality". Science Mag.
  14. ↑ HAYASHIKAWA, MAKI. "Japan's systemic barriers to gender equality". Japan Times.
  15. ↑ "Tokyo medical school 'changed test scores to keep women out'". The Guardian.
  16. ↑ "Japan's systemic barriers to gender equality". Japan Times.
  17. ↑ "Women in the Workforce – Japan: Quick Take". Catalyst.
  18. ↑ "Women in the Workforce – Japan: Quick Take". Catalyst.
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