{"id":13417,"date":"2023-03-17T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-03-17T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blccj.or.jp\/?p=13417"},"modified":"2023-03-17T16:04:56","modified_gmt":"2023-03-17T07:04:56","slug":"article-on-our-womens-day-event","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blccj.or.jp\/ja\/news\/article-on-our-womens-day-event\/","title":{"rendered":"Article on our Women’s Day event"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Embracing equity: Japan\u2019s slow path to female advancement<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n
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Written by Sterling Content
\nMarch 17, 2023<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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#EmbraceEquity was the theme of International Women\u2019s Day 2023 (IWD 2023), but the latest international survey has delivered some grim reading for female economic advancement in Japan.<\/p>\n

Japan\u2019s slow progress towards gender equality was highlighted by a March 2023 World Bank report, which found the nation ranked a lowly 104th among 190 countries and territories, the lowest of the 38 OECD members. Among the OECD\u2019s 34 high-income economies, Japan was the only one lacking laws on sexual harassment in the workplace, while lagging in employee pay, the survey found.<\/p>\n

Japan\u2019s international ranking has declined in recent years, sliding from 74th in the World Bank\u2019s 2020 report to 80th in 2021 and 103rd in 2022.<\/p>\n

In 2020, 9.9% of seats in the Diet were held by women, and the female share of senior and middle management was 14.7%, according to the report. This is despite previous targets by the Japanese government, such as increasing the number of women occupying \u201cleading positions\u201d to 30% by 2020.<\/p>\n

In a bid to address these differences and achieve positive change, the BCCJ joined with the Belgian\u2013Luxembourg, French and Spanish chambers of commerce in Japan to host an #EmbraceEquity event, held on IWD 2023 in Tokyo.<\/p>\n

Addressing the issue of workplace equality was a distinguished panel of female speakers, comprising Croda Japan President Junko Kubokawa; YSLA Architects CEO Natalia Sanz Lavina; Kyowa Industrial President and CEO Hiroko Suzuki; Sales Project Director \/ Head of Osaka Expo 25 at GL Events Japan Anne-Line Rey; and Mitsubishi Chemical\u2019s Chief HR Officer, Tomoyo Hiraoka.<\/p>\n

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Equity and equality<\/h3>\n

Croda\u2019s Kubokawa kicked off the event by explaining equity in terms of women\u2019s empowerment. It can be considered the practice of implementing strategies and measures to compensate for women\u2019s historical and social disadvantages. In short, equity can lead to equality.<\/p>\n

Kubokawa said organisations need to strike the right balance between flexibility and being \u201cfair\u201d to other employees.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe try to be as flexible as possible \u2026 we want people to be in the office 60% of the time \u2026 but when you go too far [with flexibility], where\u2019s the fairness for those complying with the company rules? We want people to have opportunities \u2026 But there is no black and white,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

GL Events\u2019 Rey said the world is \u201cfar from embracing [gender] equity,\u201d in part because of the challenges in understanding the concept and how it is not encouraging inequality, but also because people find it hard \u201cexplaining what they need to thrive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mitsubishi Chemical\u2019s Hiraoka said female staff don\u2019t want special treatment and stressed the importance of overcoming \u201cunconscious bias\u201d in decision-making, such as assuming that a mother with young children would not like a global role requiring early morning or late-night conference calls.<\/p>\n

Kyowa Industrial\u2019s Suzuki said she has provided opportunities for women, including some in the Philippines and India, to be trained in-house if they are interested in manufacturing, as the company is \u201cconstantly short of workers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hiraoka said her company had ended tanshin funin, the traditional Japanese practice of dispatching male staff to locations away from their families for extended periods.<\/p>\n

\u201cEmployees can turn down the opportunity [for transfer] without any issue,\u201d she said, adding that younger male employees show less interest in solitary transfers as they feel a \u201cstrong responsibility to support their spouse and children\u201d compared to older male workers.<\/p>\n

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Challenging stereotypes<\/h3>\n

Suzuki admitted she had experienced work challenges, including one occasion when she pitched to a Japanese male CEO of a big company.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did all my networking and finally called \u2026 I started explaining my name and our company and he just hung up. I was kind of shocked. But I think he hadn\u2019t experienced [dealing with] a female president before,\u201d she said. \u201cAfter that I let a manager call him and finally got to talk to him. There was a culture \u2026 although I don\u2019t think this will happen in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Similarly, Lavina said she is typically the only female on construction sites, which in Japan are typically staffed by men who have never been led by women. \u201cI have to be sensitive of that,\u201d she said, adding that usually they are very kind and the atmosphere \u201cmay be softer\u201d when she is present.<\/p>\n

Rey added that, in Japan, senior titles are respected, regardless of gender: \u201cIt\u2019s hard to get into a position, but once you\u2019re there, people won\u2019t doubt you or that you can do the job. I haven\u2019t always had the same experience with my foreign counterparts,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Lavina said gender stereotypes need to be challenged not only in the workplace but in other social settings, including education, to foster a different mindset.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t expect change if basic education isn\u2019t changing,\u201d she said. \u201cI saw a leaflet about kids being welcomed home from school by their mothers at 3pm; this needs to change.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Driving change<\/h3>\n

Asked about the World Bank report, Hiraoka said change would require concrete measures, such as requiring a proportion of female executives or implementing specific key performance indicators (KPIs) on female advancement.<\/p>\n

Kubokawa said \u201cauthentic leadership\u201d is needed \u201cto translate ideas into something meaningful and inclusive for the organisation. What gets measured gets done; it\u2019s important to set numerical targets and KPI\u2019s and explain why the KPI is there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Can Japan rise up the international equality rankings and achieve the vision of Womenomics as espoused by former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe?<\/p>\n

With Japan\u2019s birth rate continuing to decline, and amid estimates by Goldman Sachs that closing the gender gap could boost Japan\u2019s gross domestic product by nearly 13%, there are reasons aplenty why Japan needs to #EmbraceEquity.<\/p>\n

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Original webpage<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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