Chika Ezure faced gender bias from her own family when deciding to do a master's degree at Japan's top-ranked university. After arriving on campus, she realised the resistance she faced as a woman was commonplace.
She was surrounded by men: just one in 10 researchers at the prestigious University of Tokyo are women, and one in five students.
The figures are stark but perhaps not surprising in a nation where women leaders are rare in business and politics -- including just two out of 20 ministers in the new cabinet.
But faculty members who have had enough recently launched a poster campaign highlighting sexist remarks made to female scholars, calling out the university's gender imbalance.
"I prefer cute, silly girls over smart ones" and "you're a girl, so local college is good enough" were among the comments, described as "headwinds" by the campaigners.
Ezure, who is studying the use of technology in women's healthcare, faced similar attitudes when applying for the course -- even from her family.
"My parents said to me, 'what's the point of a girl going to graduate school?'" the 23-year-old told AFP, describing their reaction as "very disappointing".
"But they say boys should definitely take the opportunity. I have a brother, and I was shocked to discover it's him they want to invest in," she said. "It's not fair."
At the University of Hong Kong, 55 percent of students are women. The rate is 48 percent at the National University of Singapore, and 42 percent at Seoul National University.
All three lead the ranking tables in their country or territory.
Gender bias begins early in Japanese education, Ezure said.
A cram school teacher once told her "girls don't need to be good at maths" and she ended up focusing on humanities, despite later becoming interested in programming.
"I felt disempowered. I'm not sure if they were just trying to be kind, but I felt they were denying my potential."
The University of Tokyo poster campaign was based on a survey with nearly 700 staff and students, male and female.
"I read stories from students still scarred by these negative words, who had to change their career path because of them," said Asuka Ando, a project researcher at the university's office for gender equity. "I thought, 'this has to end.'"
The posters have sparked discussion online, with many commenters supporting the idea but some saying women do not apply for top universities, or are just not that clever.
Manaka Nagai, a French language major at Sophia University, said the University of Tokyo campaign made her realise that some remarks can be a double-edged sword.
"I used to think comments such as 'you can bring your female perspective' were positive," instead of highlighting the stereotypical differences between the genders, she said.
The situation at other Japanese universities is mixed -- but some with a more equal gender balance do not have a strong focus on science subjects.
Japan ranks lowest in 2022 data from the OECD group of developed countries for the number of women students enrolled in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics bachelor's programmes.
That is despite Japanese schoolgirls' performance in science and maths being among the highest of the OECD countries.
A scandal erupted in 2018 when the private Tokyo Medical University admitted it had deliberately lowered the entry test scores of women applicants.
The bar was raised because faculty members thought women doctors cannot work long hours, an internal probe found.
A government investigation prompted by the revelations found three other institutions had kept women out in similar ways.
Hiyori Sahara, a 20-year-old student at Tokyo University of Agriculture, told AFP she "takes it as a compliment" when people are surprised that she studies science.
"They don't mean it in a negative sense -- it's just that there are more men" in the sector, she said.
But during her schooldays, Sahara picked up on a more subtle bias.
"In my advanced high school classes, the teachers were mostly men and they often prioritised boys, picking them to answer questions," she said.
Japan is trying to improve its gender gap in leadership positions, with the country placed 118th out of 146 in the 2024 World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap report.
"There are many hurdles" to overcome, said Ginko Kawano, a professor in charge of gender equality promotion at Kyushu University.
If children are regularly exposed to gender-biased remarks, there is a risk they will internalise "the idea that girls do not have to study or go to university", she said.
Kawano called the poster campaign "groundbreaking".
"It's a message to women that they don't have to see such comments as normal," she said.
© 2024 AFP
47 Comments
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kurisupisu
Japan is a little bit misogynistic but so what?
Hervé L'Eisa
Of course the opportunity should be equal, regardless of gender, race, religion, etc.
But be honest, how many women want to be and are capable of being a firefighter? Should the fire departments also be "urged" to be staffed by 50% women?
Academia doesn't require the physical stamina of jobs like firefighting (as an example), but it's an individual choice.
Let's no ignore the shrinking and graying population with the birthrate well below the replacement rate of 2.
purple_depressed_bacon
It's unfair and appalling that such a mindset still exists in the 21st century but unfortunately for women in Japan, the chokehold of misogyny and patriarchy is still disappointingly strong, and I doubt it'll ever change.
リッチ
As long as the hours put in, productivity produced, profits etc are the same, and overall contribution is the same the. Everyone who be paid the same. Now if things are equal with profits and commitment and time, well that’s the difference. See this same argument with women’s sports but sadly women’s sports don’t earn the money that men’s sports do so there is a price gap which is based on business mind set.
Aly Rustom
Women at Japan's top university call out gender imbalance
Good for them.
Kurisu
This story reminds me of the Tokyo Medical University scandal from a few years back, in which the test results of female applicants were reduced by as much as 20%.
Meiyouwenti
Being a student of Japan’s top university, Ms Ezure is already privileged. Stop whining and try to excel in the field of your major.
Moonraker
In my experience, women are smarter than men. And it seems more obvious now in countries where there is more equal opportunity and girls regularly out-perform boys. Men seem to be desperately holding on to their former privileges in some spheres and countries by sophistry and denigrating women, even with remarks such as highlighted in this article, but given an equal playing field in education it would be men crying out for special assistance after a while. Men really need to be pulling their socks up instead of spending ridiculous energy on keeping women down. We need all the talent we can muster to get us through the hard times which, let's face it, have been mostly created by inept men.
carpslidy
Most master's degrees are a waste of time anyway
virusrex
That is not what privilege means, if you have to make double the effort to reach the same place only because you are a member of a group (no difference in capacity) then even if the person is at that position there is no privilege involved.
JeffLee
Aren't admissions overwhelmingly based on entrance exam scores?
owzer
as the article correctly points out, men tend to like the sciences more than women. So it goes without saying there will be more men there. Any time a woman is there it will be out of the ordinary. No problem with pointing that out.
and few people, men included, really need a masters degree.
Jim
Absolutely correct! Yours is the most sensible, factual and best comment I’ve seen in a while here on Japan Today comments section!
wallace
The scandal of the female medical students.
"The ministry has found that at least three universities rigged their tests for female examinees. An official at one of the universities explained to The Asahi Shimbun that the school uniformly deducted points from the scores of women, saying the goal was to limit the number of female students to about 30 percent."
https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15192292#:~:text=The%20ministry%20has%20found%20that,students%20to%20about%2030%20percent.
proxy
@Moonraker
In countries where there is more equal opportunity people self sort so in the Nordic countries, the majority of nurses are still woman.
In North America, the education system, particularly at the elementary level is made up predominantly of woman and the system now has a strong anti-boy bias. It is problematic as the percent of post-secondary graduates that identify as male is only 40%. There is a generation of young men who were pushed down by the female dominated education system who will forever be excluded from high paying jobs.
Japan needs to improve and has an opportunity to create a system that truly offers equality to all students.
Some dude
A spokesman for Tokyo university commented "This accusation is unfair. A significant majority of our cleaning staff are women".
Some dude
The scandal of the female medical students.
"The ministry has found that at least three universities rigged their tests for female examinees. An official at one of the universities explained to The Asahi Shimbun that the school uniformly deducted points from the scores of women, saying the goal was to limit the number of female students to about 30 percent."
I remember telling a (female) friend of mine about this. She's from Sweden. You can fairly well imagine her reaction.
Jimizo
What a waste.
Getting as many of your best and brightest into STEM is important. You may not achieve a 50-50 split but there is clearly a problem here. Other countries clearly do better.
collegepark30349
I work at a women's university. About 70% of the teaching staff and 90% of upper-level administration - vice-presidents, deans, department chairs - are male. On the other hand, most of the office work is done by women...
factchecker
as the article correctly points out, men tend to like the sciences more than women. So it goes without saying there will be more men there. Any time a woman is there it will be out of the ordinary. No problem with pointing that out.
Yes, you can't force someone to study what they're not interested in. Success should be based on achievement, not DEI quotas.
OssanAmerica
Japan and South Korea are terrible in this respect because of the long history of patriarchy reinforced by confucianism. But most of Asia still drags behind the West. About the only good thing one can say is that they are better than the Taliban.
Jennie
Yawn, like men here are any better. It’s the mentality of settling that’s an issue.
Moonraker
My heart bleeds. Such weakness. Men bellyaching after years of privilege is laughable. Yet there are still boys who prevail in spite of your allegations. How come? I had mostly female teachers in elementary school and I am glad I did because the males were mostly inept and in some cases violent. So what if nurses are still women in Nordic countries? It just shows their adaptability.
Moonraker
That is for those who do them to decide; not you. Some may like learning. Not everything is done for instrumental or economic reasons, thank god.
BertieWooster
Do they count "trans-women" in these statistics?
Sven Asai
Reminds me of hammering the STAP research for keeping iPS over water. There are surely many similar cases throughout all faculties.
Seigi
Women in Japan should go to graduate school and be leaders in the business world. It's amazing when we see high achievers who are women - single women with great feathers on their cap! We need more single women, not mothers, not homemakers.
ThonTaddeo
I attended, and graduated from, the university being discussed, and am a man. My department had a roughly equal gender balance, but there were plenty of other departments, such as law and engineering, where men outnumbered women 90-10.
The entrance examinations do not allow for gender discrimination as the graders only see the examinees' numbers, not names, but at the postgrad level there are in-person interviews to get through, so Id be interested to see if more women than men are being denied at that stage.
One thing I often felt as a foreigner, which I think also resonates with women, was that outside the university you would occasionally meet people who begrudge you your place there, insinuating if not outright saying that a Todai degree doesn't give you any advantages or let you into any of society's inner circles, so why are you taking a place from a Japanese person? I was there for the education and research, not as a springboard to a corporate boardroom or political position, but there were a few students -- and these are pretty much always male -- who attend these top-class unviersities not for the education, but for the connections and the status. Female friends of mine have heard the same thing, only with "Japanese man" being what their position would supposedly be better spent on.
(What these pragmatic bigots are not generally aware of is that nobody is stealing a seat from anybody else these days: the number of seats per department was set decades ago in an era with a lot more young people, and since the 1990s plenty of postgrad seats have gone unfilled for lack of qualified applicants. So no foreigner or woman is taking anything from anyone.)
One proposal that was being floated back in the day was that the affiliated nursing school, which is as overwhelmingly female as engineering and law are male, be fully integrated with Todai and give them the same degrees. The campuses on Hongo are right next to each other and really there's no reason not to do this.
I'd also be interested in the ratios at the postgrad level, where the "stepping stone to power and influence" crowd is gone and everybody is there for the research only.
kohakuebisu
That's very poor from Ezure's parents if they favour their son and not her.
My viewpoint as a father is that if my daughters don't get an education or professional qualifications, they'll be dumped into 1200 yen an hour part time work if they ever have kids, the fate that meets most female office workers who do not have professional qualifications (like accounting, real estate, shakai hoken bookkeeping, etc. that let people switch jobs) It is becoming increasing important for women to financially contribute to the family. Very few men can afford a spouse who does not earn.
itsonlyrocknroll
Just a level playfield, in all opportunities life has to offer, schooling, employment, political representation. health provision.
Regardless of gender, disability, education, racial orientation, religious beliefs, importantly, I believe prevalent in Japan society cultural relativism, all from cradle to grave.
No tokenism, no quotas. al based purely on merit, achievement.
Start from this minimum point, a basic human right!
shogun36
A male dominated college/university?
Who would want to go there?
Way too many dudes.
kohakuebisu
Great comments from ThonTaddeo about the gap between what perceive as Todai and what Todai actually is.
The point about "immigrants taking stuff away from locals" is also well made. The presence of international students with different perspectives and backgrounds is likely to conversely strengthen the institution and improve the education of the Japanese students there more than the presence of more Japanese people would.
itsonlyrocknroll
When gender equality is sincerely appreciated,
Class, privilege, elitism, entitlement, favouritism will be more of life/societies struggles irritations we all have or will face.
It that not the challenges that ultimately make communities stronger?
proxy
@Moonraker
Your heart should bleed for the elementary school boys who are not part of any "patriarchy."
Equality, if you have any sense on what that means, does not mean punishing innocent boys because of what a 90 year old might have thought.
Mike_Oxlong
Why do people rail against nature? Men and women have on average have different interests. Of course there are exceptions, but trends are clear in aggregate. Any individual is free to pursue what suits them. This shouldn't be hard.
Moonraker
@proxy
I just don't believe your characterisation of a deliberately anti-male school system. But it's funny how men finally show an interest in alleged biases when they can characterise themselves as victims. It's funny how when they are clearly shown to be wanting on so many scales they blame the system rather than themselves yet have no interest in blaming the system (they created) when it is others who are losing out. I am a male and I can see how utterly deficient so many of us are when our privileges are removed and how much we really howl about it. Man up! Deal with it. Be smart. Be magnanimous.
MilesTeg
Women only account for 20% at Tokyo U while women account for 42% at Seoul Nat't U. That's more than double. You have no reason to talk about Korea. The good thing is Japan is better than the Taliban in this respect and others when it comes to women.
rainyday
I'm a graduate of a different university, but also one of the former Imperial universities. At our university engineering and some of the hard sciences had massive gender imbalances in both students and faculty. In the faculty of law and other social sciences though the student body was closer to equal (though the faculty members there were mostly male, probably 80-20 split or so).
Mike_Oxlong
Where are the female oil rig workers? Construction workers? Truck drivers? Plumbers? What about the 3K professions frightens them off?
Raw Beer
Equality of opportunity: good
Forced equality of outcome: not good
Negative Nancy
Every year, elemnetary school students are polled to find out what jobs they are interested in. Every year, the girls overwhelmingly opt for patissier, kindergarten teacher, hairdresser and so on. Very few, even in those formative years, show much interest in getting one of the jobs that actually make the world go round. On the other hand, men are conditioned to believe that they have a responsibility to financially take care of their family and they are rejected by society if they do not. There is massive pressure for men to succeed in their vocation, and I'm sorry but women don't have that.
Its not politically correct to say so, but I'm sick to death of woe-is-me attitudes and blaming everyone else. If you want to suceed, you don't rely on society or the system or the institution to reach out and help you, you do it YOURSELF.
Incidentally, if you're at Todai, you're already reaping the benefits of either hard work and dilligence in spite of the odds, or you are in a position of priviledge and have absolutely no right to complain at all.
Mike_Oxlong
I'd love to see some electric utilities lineswomen repairing the grid after a typhoon. Or see some women building the next Costco. Putting in some waterworks and sewer lines. Repairing the roads. Growing our food. I think that NZ navy captain sure blazed a trail for all women. She must surely be a perfect representation of what they can achieve.
Jimizo
Huge demand for that in Japan of course.
Again, this misses the point.
Having your best and brightest in STEM benefits the country.
Gender studies, literature, economics and all that are all well and good but an environment which puts your best brains off from entering the sciences and engineering is not a good environment.
Other countries do better.
Do better.
wallace
Mike_Oxlong
You are outdated. In other countries, there are many female engineers, lineswomen, civil engineers, etc. In Japan, I have seen female engineers, nuclear and civil. 80-year-old women farmers operating huge farm machinery.
Nihon Tora
In the UK now it's close to 60% females in universities overall, but you'd never know it. All you hear about is that there are slightly fewer women in one or two STEM subjects and how biased it all is against women.
There isn't any discrimination against women in UK universities - the reason that there are more male physicists than female ones is the same reason there are more female Taylor Swift fans than there are male ones - it's just fashions and trends. Physics is just not a cool subject among women in the same way that Taylor Swift is not a cool artist among men.
The comments made toward those women at Tokyo University are clearly wrong; it shouldn't happen and they are right to call it out, but I doubt that that is the reason why there are so few women at Tokyo Uni.
Why did they make the decision to do that? Just because they were sexist and biased against women? There was a reason for it - the graduates from the university then become doctors there, the hospital would spend several years, time and money, training them up after graduation only for the females to go and get married and retire to raise children. It still isn't right of course, but what can they do? Maybe look into ways to change to make it easier for women to balance working and raising children etc., but doing that is hard and it still probably wouldn't have a huge effect. They'd have to change attitudes in the whole of Japanese society. I think that was a pragmatic decision, not an idealistic one.
Jimizo
Why?
I’d like to see more very intelligent women making important innovations and breakthroughs in science and research.
An environment where that talent isn’t flourishing is detrimental.
It’s actually stupid.
wallace
These days you see many young Japanese women driving very large trucks. Cut as a daisy.