The percentage of female faculty members in higher education in Japan is low by global standards, but a joint survey by The Asahi Shimbun and Kawaijuku Educational Institution showed a willingness to change.

According to a summary by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Japan’s ratio of women faculty in higher education was 30 percent in 2020, the lowest among 38 comparable countries.

The joint survey was conducted from June to August this year and asked 778 universities nationwide about “positive corrective measures” to increase the percentage of female faculty members.

Of those, 643 universities, or 83 percent, responded, with 40 percent of the responses expressing a positive attitude toward increasing the number of female faculty members.

According to the education ministry’s basic school survey for fiscal 2022, the percentage of female university faculty members was 26.7 percent.

The breakdown was 32.4 percent for assistant professors and 34.0 percent for lecturers.

Among positions for younger people, more than 30 percent were female.

On the other hand, only 18.8 percent of professors and 13.9 percent of university presidents were female.

The higher the positions were, the lower the percentage of women.

NATIONAL UNIVERSITIES LAGGING BEHIND

Particularly low are the national universities. The percentage of female faculty members was 19.1 percent, about 8 percentage points lower than that of universities as a whole. The percentage of female professors was 11.6 percent, and female presidents was only 4.7 percent.

At national universities, 42 percent of students study in the fields of science, engineering and agriculture, more than double the number of such students at public and private universities.

Science, engineering and agriculture are fields in which the percentage of female students is low and fewer women go on to become faculty members in those fields.

Therefore, the ratio of female faculty members in these fields is lower than the average of public and private universities.

The Japan Association of National Universities has set a goal of increasing the percentage of female faculty members to 20 percent for presidents and vice presidents, 20 percent for professors and 30 percent or more for associate professors, by fiscal 2025.

The joint survey also showed a positive attitude toward the promotion of women among national universities, with 86 percent saying that they have increased or are aiming to increase the number of female faculty members from the previous year.

Among professors and associate professors, 34.2 percent of national universities (13.8 percent of national, public and private universities as a whole) reported that they “increased” the percentage of women professors and associate professors in fiscal 2023, compared to fiscal 2022.

The joint survey also found that 25.0 percent (7.0 percent of national, public and private universities as a whole) said they “are considering increasing” the percentage.

Among the universities that had no plans to change, a certain number said their decision was because they already had a high percentage of female faculty members.

PATHS TO IMPROVEMENT

As of 2023, the ratio of female faculty members (excluding assistant professors and assistants) at Tohoku University was 14.4 percent, about the same as the national university average.

When Tohoku University became the first university in Japan to establish a Gender Equality Committee in 2001, the percentage of female faculty members there was less than 3 percent.

It was the 90th lowest of the 99 national universities.

The first step toward increasing female staff members was to add women’s restrooms, which were few and far between at the time.

Subsequently, the university continued to improve the environment, including the opening of a nursery.

To actively recruit women, in 2018, the university announced in its recruiting guidelines that women would be given priority in hiring when choosing between male and female candidates of equal ability.

At the same time, the presence of female researchers was made more “visible” within the university. In fiscal 2017, the university established the Murasaki Sendaihagi Award honoring female researchers.

Care was taken to ensure that there was no bias in the number of men and women featured in the campus newsletter.

In 1991, the percentage of female students was 10 percent among undergraduates and less than 10 percent among master’s and doctoral students. But by 2008, more than 20 percent of students in both categories were women.

Last year, the university’s School of Engineering, which had only two to three female professors among its approximately 120 members, conducted an open recruitment for women-only professorships. The program has produced positive results, including the hiring of three new professors.