The United States is not the only country that has undergone a history of female empowerment issues. Since 2006, Japan’s prestigious Tokyo Medical University has been marking down test scores of female applicants to keep the ratio of women in each class below 30%. Their defense? That unlike their male counterparts, women are more likely to drop out and have children. However, female physicians end up quitting mostly due to poor treatment by their employers; the workplaces are rarely family friendly and women must keep up with long, tiresome shifts that prove to be inflexible for those who are pregnant or raising children. Not only do Japanese favor male doctors, but companies also consistently support male candidates when they recruit university students. If the problem persists, Japan could be left with a massive shortage of doctors, potentially limiting its people’s access to medical cures and causing a deterioration of the population. In fact, Japan could see its working age public shrink to 48 million by 2060. Although prime minister Shinzo Abe says that he’s working to bring millions of more women into the workforce to balance out Japan’s steady declination of labor, improvements have not been made. According to the World Economic Forum, the latest gender gap index ranks Japan in 114th place out of 144 nations, a slide of 23 places over the last 10 years. In addition, the number of female Japanese doctors fall less than half of the OECD average of 46%. It has been said that more female role models could improve the situation, but Abe’s influence over politics could make it quite difficult for that to occur.
It’s so disappointing to see that gender inequality still persists to this day. Talented, ambitious women who could truly make an impact on their country are being chased away by toxic discrimination. It doesn’t make any sense that Abe wants to work to steer Japan away from labor shortage issues, but isn’t taking all of the necessary steps to get there. His decisions illustrate that he is not truly dedicated to making the change, and simply wants a country dominated by male individuals. According to the article, Seiko Noda, one of Abe’s two female cabinet workers, declared her desire to overthrow the prime minister in a leadership contest next month. However, she has almost no chance of winning. It’s very brave of Noda to go through with this undertaking, especially when all odds seem to be against her. More women must act like Seiko Noda for the voices of Japan’s female society to be heard and for their intentions to be recognized. Someday, I want to work in the medical field and hope that my gender does not halt my ability to reach my potential and be respected.