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Tokyo Medical University has been at the center of multiple scandals this summer, but the one that’s getting the most attention is the recent revelation that, since 2010, the school has been lowering the entrance exam scores of female applicants to its Department of Medicine by 10 to 20 percent. Allegedly the private school’s admissions administrators were worried that female students who went on to become doctors would be more likely to quit their job than their male counterparts, and sought to keep the proportion of women in incoming classes at 30 percent or less.
The prospect of women leaving the workforce, either temporarily or permanently, due to marriage or pregnancy has long been pointed to as a reason Japanese companies are more willing to promote men, but an educational institution systematically and secretly denying entrance to female applicants in this manner is something that hasn’t come to light before. Yet while Tokyo Medical University’s actions have brought a storm of controversy down on the school, a survey by Japanese Internet portal Joy.net found a surprising amount of understanding from an unexpected group.
Joy.net conducted a survey of Japanese female doctors, asking for their opinion on Tokyo Medical University’s test score tampering, and the breakdown of the 103 responses it received were:
● I can understand it. – 13.5 percent
● I can partially understand it. – 51.4 percent
● I can’t understand it. – 35.1 percent
In other words, the majority of the female doctors, 64.9 percent, could see the logic, in whole in part, behind Tokyo Medical University purposefully trying to limit how many female students it admitted, regardless of their academic merit. Among the comments participants in that segment of the survey left were:
“It’s a fact that when female doctors become pregnant or give birth, the people around them have to pick up the slack, and so there’s no avoiding the need to limit the number of women.”
“I myself limit the amount of work I do so that I can take care of my children, and as a result there are many work-related things I can’t do.”
“It’s a statistical fact that there’s a high turnover rate for female doctors. I think it’s obvious that there should be concern over them leaving for marriage or childbirth, and if they return to their positions, sometimes they can’t work full-time, so I can understand why male doctors would be seen as preferable.”
“I’m the mother of a two-year-old, and I’ve continued working my regular-length shifts…But there are many female doctors who, because of the pressure of the job, want to take pregnancy leave as soon as possible.”
One respondent even went so far as to say that she thinks that women who graduated from Tokyo Medical University will now be thought more highly of, as a result of their having overcome the deck that’s been stacked against them.
On the other side of the debate, the slightly over a third of the respondents who absolutely can’t accept the school’s reasoning voiced opinions such as:
“Many female doctors get married and have children, and though it’s difficult, they continue their careers while raising their kids.”
“Many doctors who are women and get married end up having children, and though it’s hard for them to work while raising their kids, they manage to do both, so I absolutely can’t understand the school’s reasoning, and I don’t want to.”
“The assumption that women quit their jobs because they’re women is outdated. Many male doctors make their wives take on all of the child-rearing responsibilities, and unless we create a working environment where it’s easier for female doctors to return to after taking maternity leave, we’re going to have a shortage of doctors.”
It’s worth noting that while 64.9 percent of the female doctors polled expressed a degree of understanding towards Tokyo Medical University’s actions, that’s not necessarily the same as supporting them. Nevertheless, this is another example that sometimes there’s more than just demographics at play in determining a person’s stance on social issues.
Sources: Joy.net, NHK News Web
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© SoraNews24
42 Comments
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Kaishu
Yes, it's for the betterment of Japan, so we must agree. Maybe, just maybe, I can see their logic but it is pathetic all the same.
TumbleDry
Sorry that giving birth is a hindrance to society and make people busier for a short while.
Cricky
Need better staff management. One person taking leave shouldn't cause much fuss if the workplace is adequately staffed.
Maria
They're not stupid. They understand the argument behind it. Does that mean they agree with it? No. The header is misleading.
Geoff Gillespie
And there in a nutshell we have Japan's problem. Even confronted with something as heinous as this blatant discrimination, people in Japan act as if they are sedated. The timidity of Japanese people is, at times, breathtaking. The shogenai attitude prevails. Maddening...
theFu
To female doctors shouldn't be "productive", is that what the medical school is saying? Did they talk this over with other govt policy makers first?
Blatant discrimination. Those involved need to have their licenses revoked.
FizzBit
without any variants between public and private hospitals or clinics, this poll is meaningless.
With this kind of attitude all across the the Japanese business sector, the nation should expect to continue Its decline on the global economy list.
Kaishu
Maria
They might not be stupid, but their complacency sure amounts to it though. As Geoff said, this shogenai attitude is breathtaking. It's about time people stood up for what is right and just, these institutions will just continue on as normal. Look at what has just happened with Suzuki, Matsuda and so on, and so on.... and in infinite list of scandals.
gogogo
Don't believe this in the slightest. You can make numbers say anything you want.
Yubaru
Great news! The professional women of Japan believe sexism and discrimination against women is, the the majority anyway here, totally logical and ok. Hell read this, she supports my argument!
I am totally sure she had her tubes tied! Nice to see that women themselves crap on each other. Makes it easier for all the guys! Adds more fuel for the politicians who are pushing for women to stay home and have kids!
Banzai! Banzai! Banzai!
(And if anyone believes for a second I believe anything of what I wrote there, you really need to learn about sarcasm!)
SaikoPhysco
LOL! They polled "female doctors", the one's that made it through, how they got through might be questionable though. Why don't they "poll" the one's that were weeded out.
Zack
Understanding it doesn't mean they approve it but they have no option in this male dominating society, and also if "Medical university in Tokyo" manipulate scores, what makes this poll authentic...
Wallace Fred
Sexism is as sexism does. It's equally horrendous that the women are living in a dystopian Stockholm syndrome environment where they actually empathize and support their captors. Truly shameful.
powderb
@saikopsycho
Exactly. If you poll only those who have successfully gone through the system the chances are high you will find someone who agrees with the way the system works.
Having said that, I’ve often been surprised by how many older women in Japan are relatively comfortable with allowing sexist institutions to continue.
Akie
What a joy ! Please let us know the definition of "understand". I understand it doesn't mean I agree with it. The lie couples with "reproductivity" is really funny, isn't it ? Women may have to carry more than one responsibilities than men, but they are more responsible and more accurate than men. What good of men if they make more than 30% errors than women ? The death rate under male doctors is much more than under female doctors, that is unacceptable as I understand it.
Dman112
This is absolutely disgusting. This company must have been paid by the school in the Japan medical society. There should be NO justification for this, this is discrimination plain and simple. Were do we draw the line, justifying not giving women the right to vote, Hispanics test scores lowered, LGBT not allowed to go to school.
THIS IS DISCRIMINATION AND SHOULD NOT BE JUSTIFIED OR TOLERATED AT ALL!!!
Ganbare Japan!
A ratio of 20% female doctors and 80% men is a good balance. In other nations, female Doctors are less. Furthermore, many older patients are reluctant to visit the young female doctor.
I have heard of female Doctors retiring when they have a baby (often husband is a Dr too). So, the adjustment in test scores is a good thing, and will continue I expect.
Wallace Fred
Blind obedience, towing the party line. Can't say I'm surprised. Island mentality is destructive.
Disillusioned
I have only one thing to say to this, "It's 2018, not 1818!"
From my experience, female doctors are much better than male doctors. They are definitely more thorough. Every female doctor I have seen (of the few there are) has offered genuine concern and suggested many alternative treatments. Every male doctor I have seen makes a blatantly obvious diagnosis, prescribes half a dozen different pills and tells me to come back in a month (if I'm still alive).
However, the issue here is not about the quality of doctors. The issue is a so-called 'prestigious' medical school deliberately falsifying grade scores. The students and parents are paying upwards of 150 grand to attend this school and the school fails them based on gender? Could you imagine the uproar if this had happened at Cambridge, Oxford, Harvard or one of the other famous universities around the world? Everybody involved would be fired on the spot and disbarred from ever teaching again. But, in Japan, a few public apologies will suffice as a suitable punishment for fraud. What a joke!
stepoutsidethebox
"I can partially understand it. – 51.4 percent" Meaning yes I can understand that Japan is a sexist place so I expect this. But understand and accept are two different things.
stepoutsidethebox
", people in Japan act as if they are sedated. The timidity of Japanese people is, at times, breathtaking. The shogenai attitude prevails. Maddening..."
Japanese otonashi at its finest.
Steven M. Jankowski
This is a poor sampling. Only 103 female doctors on a single website? One vote is practically one percent!
Oh, but I'm sure they speak for all female doctors!
Pointless.
GW
Folks, the issue of knocking off points aside for a second, I don't understand why many seem surprised at this, it is the SAME with ALL industries that make up Japan Inc!
Women don't climb the ladder much, most of the reasons are directly related to how Japan Inc ""works"" ie. it DOESNT WORK!
Women KNOW & RECOGNIZE this! That is a big reason many aren't interesting in Japan Inc for the long term, can you blame them!
I only blame women & MEN in that neither group can see how dysfunctional & destructive the current ways are, sho ga nai prevails & Japan continues to ROT!
I used to care but have long given up, until the LOCALS give a damn about their society, how companies, govt are run etc why should I. SO I simply do what I can for myself to have as best a work/life balance as possible, luckily I do alright in that regard
In Japan until the powers that be see the things they are getting wrong & attempt REAL change then nothing will change
And I don't have much if any hope of anything real happening.
If I was a J-woman in my 20s I TOO would be looking for a way to simply AVOID the BS that is working life here for BOTH SEXES!! Its an incredibly bad situation nation wide with no relief in sight!
cucashopboy
A ratio of 20% female doctors and 80% men is a good balance.
Ganbare Japan - Care to explain how you arrived at those rather precise figures? Maybe you could cite some sociological or medical papers.
Dman112
Ganbare
Please explain why it is ok to discriminate against anyone.
Madden
Sounds like the news is starting to run damage control to reduce the scandal and remove it from public memory. "See? Even these professional women understand why we did it! It's really not that bad!"
Schopenhauer
I do not know the system of medical colleges in America. in Japan, all medical schools have their hospitals. University hospitals are maintained by doctors graduated from their schools mostly. They keep them at their hospitals to train them and also use them as important human resources to run the hospitals at lower salaries. The hospitals are mostly in the red. State college hospitals receive subsidies from the government to cover the red while private medical schools have to finance by themselves. I understand the situation of private medical universities.
FizzBit
I'd like to see a poll on how many medical students have doctors for parents, or for example, blue collar parents, and asking them if they had a choice or were "directed" into this profession.
wanderlust
In the European press coverage of this isue, they published OECD data which showed female doctors made up more than 50% of the working doctor population in Spain, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Finland; more than 60% in Slovenia, and more than 70% in Estonia. At the other end of the scale were South Korea 22%, USA and Luxembourg, 34%, and Iceland, Belgium, Australia and Switzerland with less than 40%. The weighted average for the 29 countires was 39%.
bogva
Apart from the discrimination what puzzles me more in this case and I don't see it exposed is the fact that the Medical University ALTERED the scores !!!
There were case where the candidate uni students tried to cheat at exam and were arrested.
Now this Uni forged real results and we are talking only about discrimination? This is criminal act and foremost the ones that made the scheme have to be prosecuted immediately!
thepersoniamnow
Hey it takes more than one to tango. Many women here are fine with women being only expected to do so much because they are women.
Often women raise their boys to be spoilt and entitled and teach their daughters to care for them. Most sexist attitudes are still reinforced and taught at home and it’s no big surprise that half of people in their 20s in Japan seem like 50 year olds elsewhere in their mentality.
runner3
First of all this whole story is ridiculas. It's trying to make excuses for the schools criminal actions. Partially understand doesn't mean they agree. Enough said!
Goodlucktoyou
Ever tried to study to be a doctor? It’s a disgrace. Rated 114th in the world for women’s rights.
spektral
yet another contradiction in Japan...
A society that lacks children so let's promote the "have more babies" slogan, then we get a society full of women whose best aspiration in life is to become plain housewives...
I kinda look down a bit on women whose only goal in life is to become plain housewives, however in such a society in which they are not given a chance to do other things and are practically brainwashed into the role, I guess they really can't be blamed...
I wonder if there is another solution rather than forcing people into fulfilling certain roles for everything here...
Yubaru
What's the point in taking a test anyway? Hell let's just base it upon their sex alone, first 8 guys that apply get in, first 2 women, rinse and repeat right?
I suspect your test scores didn't need adjusting at all.
Luddite
Oh, so sexism in society is the fault of women. It's amazing how much discrimination in society is often blamed on those on the receiving end of it.
thepersoniamnow
No luddite
Read what I said, that if you grow up here (did you) gender roles are reinforced by everyone in the family. I said it takes more than one and that their will be changes needed by men and women in their thinking.
Yubaru
Not if you have a foreigner living in the house! My deceased mother in law tried that crap with my sons and daughter.....thankfully they are well adjusted, and grandma lost!
Kag
Regardless of the reasoning tests results should be respected and not altered.
How will you like it if doctors think that people need more exercise and raises everyone colesterol results so people will exercise more.
Altering results is no better than students cheating in exams but the examiners are the cheaters in this case.