Women hold only 5.9% of director-level jobs in Japanese gov't

Women held just 5.9 percent of director-level jobs in the Japanese government's offices in Tokyo in fiscal 2020, underscoring the country's slow progress in closing the gender gap in the workplace.

I would hope the best qualified people would be put int here high-level positions. Regardless of their gender.

Female worker in Japan will be demoted once they'll be after maternal leave. Even their female coworker won't try to understand woman who need to leave early since need to pick up her toddler in child care.

https://japantoday.com/category/features/kuchikomi/social-isolation-spreading-in-japan

Don’t all the best females get out of Japan?

And 99% of my female students and friends say they don't want to hold positions of management or higher. They say it's not worth the aggravation and amount of time necessary to put in and would prefer to spend time with their kids and friends and enjoy life stress free.

Japan by far the worst among the Group of Seven industrialized nations

this seems to be a very redundant statement around here.

> Women held just 5.9 percent of director-level jobs in the Japanese government's offices in Tokyo in fiscal 2020, falling short of the government's target of 7 percent.

Wow! 7 percent is the goal?

Talk about shooting for the moon.

Are you sure Japan is ready for such extremes?

Many of my women (gender alert!) clients in top managerial positions say that they would have preferred to stay at home and dedicate themselves to their families full-time. They say it's just not worth the stress and that they never had the time to worry about such issues as gender equality.

I don't know what's worse. Japan's ranking in English ability or gender equality. The only competition is North Korea.

Women held just 5.9 percent of director-level jobs in the Japanese government's offices in Tokyo in fiscal 2020, underscoring the country's slow progress in closing the gender gap in the workplace.

I would hope the best qualified people would be put int here high-level positions. Regardless of their gender.

I would hope so too. Women are just as capable of doing that kind of work as men are, so one would think that a system designed to have the most competent people in those roles would achieve something close to gender parity.

The fact that it instead results in 94% of positions being held by men suggests that they system is rigged to give less-able men jobs ahead of women who would be more competent in them.

This frustrates me. Actually it outrages me. I work in a university. With each year's graduating class I see many women in the top echelon of performers, yet I know that 5-10 years from now many of them will be toiling away in lower ranked positions while men graduating way lower than them who I know to be less talented will in all likelihood be way more advanced in their careers. This is a broken system. Its not just harmful to women, its harmful to society as a whole since it denies us the benefit of their talents and potential. This should piss people off way more than it does now.

If French women hold 43.4% of the positions in the companies’ Boards of Directors, and Japanese 5.3%, the problem in obviously not to put the most competent person to do the job. Once the education gap is filled, and that’s the case almost everywhere now, women have simply the same capacity as men to occupy those jobs - unless society explicitly stops them from or asks them to also do a zillion other things and structurally makes it impossible.

The reference to taking care of kids makes even less sense, since France has the highest birth rate in Europe and Japan one of the lowest anywhere.

Health and welfare system, corporate and work culture, low childcare costs and high public spending on families, including supporting men who take care of children, might help. And maybe setting a goal that doesn’t clearly say you don’t actually want to aim for equality.

Only a short question….Would you prefer to remain number three economy or more make it in the rankings like those countries that have successfully abolished gender (or any other) gaps? I mean, you can’t probably have everything maximized at the same time, you know. Or to illustrate it, take a map and wander to your goal. Then you reached that one goal for enjoyment, but can’t see of course all the other sightseeing spots on the map.

It's probably even lower in the private sector. And why is the target 7% instead of 50%?

You are correct. Only 3.7% of directors on corporate boards in Japan are women.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0889158318300455

@Commodore Perry

I would hope the best qualified people would be put int here high-level positions. Regardless of their gender

They won't even put the best qualified candidates into medical school. Do you really think they will do the same for Government jobs when Japan has such a strong top down culture? Think of how many male doctors couldn't even make it into medical school unless they purposely failed female students. Think of the Cyber security chief that didn't know how to use a smartphone or computer. Does that really sound like "best qualified people?"

Gender gap in the workplace...

This statistic is meaningless without the counter data showing how many women actually want, aim for and actively seek a top-managerial position in Japan. And that has nothing to do with skill. They may have the skill but not the willingness or desire for a director-level job.

As do some men as well, who might have enough skill or expertise but aren't willing or don't aim for that goal. Thus inevitably some people who do not necessarily have the best skill or expertise but are willing and seek the position eventually get it.

This is more an affront to the system of things that makes it impossible or just unappealing for some people to aim for those positions, say for women wanting to be mothers as well, or men not willing to subject all of their time to the every need of the company.

If conditions changed, how many women would be willing and desiring for such positions, and against that how many women actually get those jobs.

Those should be the statistics that matter.

Now onto the gap itself, it's not a problem or a bad thing per se that there is a gap, and that should be carefully thought and acknowledged as well. Men and women are different, and different jobs in different companies and fields call for different skill sets and abilities, even at same level positions across different industries.

For example, in high paying jobs, although not flashy as a "director-level" position, but there is deep sea fishermen, or high rise construction workers, oil rig workers and even less glamorous (and less pay) firefighters, etc... what is the percentage of women there?? do we want or care for that gap to be closed??

Just because there is a gap doesn't mean it needs or wants to be filled, we should be smarter than this.

If woman is skilled and willing and seeks a high level position she should be able to apply and afforded every same opportunity to be evaluated and considered and eventually granted the position provided she covers the requirements, period. And conditions (child care, guaranteed rest days and controlled overtime, etc) should be in place for ANYONE wanting to do so to be able to apply. THAT is what matters. Not an isolated statistic that doesn't say a meaningful thing.

Chikatilo, you are talking too much common sense, you wont get far with that.

I am still waiting for the article about the super low percentage of female ditch diggers, for some reason its just not on the radar....I wonder why.........

JJ JetplaneToday  04:18 pm JST

They won't even put the best qualified candidates into medical school. Do you really think they will do the same for Government jobs when Japan has such a strong top down culture? Think of how many male doctors couldn't even make it into medical school unless they purposely failed female students. Think of the Cyber security chief that didn't know how to use a smartphone or computer. Does that really sound like "best qualified people?"

Totally agree with you. And I only visit female doctors because of your first point.

But--I am just saying I want the best-qualified person in these director positions. Not saying the best-qualified are in those slots.

There will come a time when things such as gender do not matter. Japan is 30 years behind the US, and the US is 20 years away from getting where it should be.

Based on comments, it appears women don't want these positions due to time away from family, etc., thus 5.9% might be appropriate.

But Abe promised....

Also notice the glaring absence (seemingly) of women commenting here. They just don't care about these jobs that much in this country. A big reason should be the conditions under which those positions have to be performed in this country. Covid has done away with the frequent company upper echelon "nomikai" and going to the hostess bars, and so on. But still not the most appealing conditions. Conditions need to change, then maybe some more women could see themselves as being part of that group of people.

@Commodore Perry

The US was at the right spot in generating an providing equality of opportunity.

Now the leadership and the mass culture seems hell bent of equality of outcome and are pushing quota agendas on every position even awards like the Oscars are forcibly representing so called "minorities" in the awarding, not just the inclusion to the competition, but actually forced to pick a winner from those. And job positions are also being filled by race, gender, etc quotas. So much for putting the best qualified people period in the position.

It is the end of the US as a powerhouse. The fall will be an ugly one.

ChikatiloToday  11:11 am JST

It is the end of the US as a powerhouse. The fall will be an ugly one.

Thankfully, the US has many qualified minorities so if there is a decline it will be drawn out snd slow. Unless of course somehow the current VP were to takeover Biden's spot--then we are in big trouble.

But actually the way things are going there US will have a republican president next election, so that should help reverse this insane trend.

If Japanese companies actually want to welcome and include more women, they will need to change many things about their corporate culture. It would mean actively recruiting and headhunting women, offering female students internships, creating mentorship programs, making pregnancy harrassment or demotion have major consequences, being more flexible in terms of work hours, increasing the number of paid sick days for childcare, among other things they can do.

They simply do not care or do not want women as their equals enough to make some real changes. Actions speak louder than words, and in this case, their inaction is deafening.