Female passers of Japan government job exam top 30 percent

June 25, 2019

Tokyo--Women accounted for 31.5 pct of those who passed Japan's career-track national public servant examination in fiscal 2019, topping 30 pct for the first time, the National Personnel Authority said Tuesday.

Of the 1,798 total passers, 567 were women. The share exceeded by 4.3 percentage points the previous record high struck in the previous year.

"Following seminars for female students and other efforts, the share of women in all applicants increased, shoring up the number of female passers," said an official of the government agency.

The total number of applicants stood at 17,295. This means one in every 9.6 applicants passed the exam.

Applicants from the University of Tokyo numbered 307, accounting for the largest part of all passers. Kyoto University came second with 126 passers, followed by Waseda University with 97 passers.

Passers from the University of Tokyo, a prestigious national university, decreased by 22 from the previous year to the lowest level on record dating from fiscal 1998.

Many students seem to have been lost to the private sector, where hiring interest remains strong, according to the agency.

Successful applicants will be employed in spring 2020 if they pass interviews from Wednesday. Jiji Press