Japan to conduct survey to boost number of women in science

June 25, 2019

Tokyo--Japan's Cabinet Office will conduct a nationwide survey of female junior high and high school students and their parents to consider ways to boost the number of women studying and working in science.

Female students in Japan often steer clear of majoring in science. The Cabinet Office hopes that the involvement of more women will help bring about new innovations.

The survey, which will take place later this year, will cover participants at symposiums the Cabinet Office plans to hold in 10 cities across Japan, starting in August, to draw attention to careers in science.

The survey will ask how the participants came to know of the symposiums and whether the mindset of their parents changed after the symposiums.

According to an education ministry survey, women accounted for 35.2 pct of medical and dentistry faculties at universities in fiscal 2018, which ended last March, 27.8 pct of science faculties and 15 pct of engineering faculties.

The Cabinet Office's 2019 gender equality white paper said the proportion of women unable to choose a satisfactory academic path due to opposition by their families was greater than that of men.

The agency plans to provide municipalities with the results of the planned survey to help them hold events that encourage women to join the sciences. It also hopes to change the way parents think.

However, the Cabinet Office has had difficulty attracting participants for symposiums in the past. One of the symposiums brought together only some 30 people, short of the agency's goal of 100 people.

The first challenge for the survey will be whether the Cabinet Office will be able to collect enough answers. Jiji Press