Woman Scientists in Japan: Their Situation and Goals

Transcription

1 IUBMB Life, 58(5 6): , May June 2006 Feature Article Woman Scientists in Japan: Their Situation and Goals Noriko Osumi Chairperson of EPMEWSE, Member of Science Council of Japan, and Professor of Division of Developmental Neuroscience, CTAAR, Tohoku University School of Medicine In this report, I would like to introduce a number of the activities that have been undertaken by EPMEWSE, a Japanese volunteer organization dedicated to promoting gender-equal participation in science and engineering, and consider some future directions and goals for woman scientists working in the life sciences in Japan. NETWORKING SCIENTISTS TO PROMOTE GENDER-EQUALITY (EPMEWSE) The number of women who pursue careers in science has increased in Japan in recent years, but the ratio of female professionals still remains far below the international average (Fig. 1). To address this imbalance, EPMEWSE (Japan Inter- Society Liaison Association Committee for Promoting Equal Participation of MEn and Women in Science and Engineering; was established on 7 October 2002, under the leadership of the presidents of the Physical Society of Japan (JPS), the Japan Society of Applied Physics (JSAP) and the Chemical Society of Japan (CSJ). The mission of EPMEWSE is to promote a gender-equal environment and opportunities for networking in science and engineering, and thereby to contribute to Japanese society at large. In 2002, the Japanese Biochemical Society (JBS) and the Molecular Biology Society of Japan (MBSJ) also joined EPMEWSE and by 2006, a total of 46 academic societies in various fields of science and engineering have become members. The Molecular Biology Society of Japan is serving as the secretariat for EPMEWSE for the period. SURVEYING SITUATIONS AND PROBLEMS EPMEWSE has undertaken a range of activities, including several large-scale surveys. The first of these was conducted as Received 5 April 2006; accepted 9 April 2006 Address correspondence to: Prof. Noriko Osumi, Department of Developmental Neurobiology, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai , Japan. osumi@mail.tains.tohoku.ac.jp a research project under the auspices of the Lifelong Learning Policy Office of MEXT (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology). The goals of this survey were to help develop a more accurate understanding of the current life and work patterns of both male and female scientists and engineers in Japan, and to serve as a basis for recommending practical solutions and effective educational activities. The survey was performed with the cooperation of 39 EPMEWSE member organizations, and a standard set of 24 questions was asked of every member. The results gathered from 19,291 responses to the 24 questions were summarized in a report on the MEXT-Commissioned Projects in FY2003 titled, Diverse Visions of Scientists and Engineers in the 21st Century For the Promotion of Gender Equality ( renrakukai/enquete.html), which was published in March The results of this survey shed light on the daily activities and environments of people working in science and engineering, such as their working conditions and family lives. There were wide discrepancies in number of children, positions in the organizational hierarchy, budget amounts, and number of subordinates between male and female researchers (Figs. 2 4), with men, on average, faring better than women in all categories. This survey also revealed differences in the family lives and work environments of those working in various scientific and technical professions irrespective of field; in particular, it highlighted significant differences between academic institutions and private companies in terms of work environment. The issues of postdoctoral employment and job security, problems of growing seriousness associated with the fixed-term employment system that has become increasingly commonplace in Japan over the past 10 years is also pointed to both genders by the results. The dramatically increased success of female workers in the private sector, which appears attributable at least in part to the implementation of the Equal Employment Opportunity Act and the childcare leave system, was also evident from the survey results, san encouraging finding that also provides a valuable basis for recommendations on ISSN print/issn online Ó 2006 IUBMB DOI: /

2 274 OSUMI Figure 1. The ratio of women researchers in various countries (adopted from Diverse Visions of Scientists and Engineers in the 21st Century For the Promotion of Gender Equality ). Figure 2. Average number of children by age group for each type of organizational affiliation (adopted from Diverse Visions of Scientists and Engineers in the 21st Century For the Promotion of Gender Equality ). The vertical axis is the ratio of the respondents with children for that age group to all the respondents, including single members. government policies and the promotion of gender equality in academia. The unusually long hours worked by professionals in science and engineering stand as a testament to their commitment to the advancement of their fields, but that same commitment also means that those professionals have extremely limited free time to enjoy their personal lives or perform volunteer activities, as most of their waking hours are spent at work. This is especially true for life scientists engaged in wet experiments. The survey also revealed a wide gender gap in the perception of the current social system and its amenability to reform; many men think that simply improving the work environment will lead to the solution of the current

3 WOMEN SCIENTISTS IN JAPAN 275 Figure 3. Job position index by gender and age group for each type of organizational affiliation (adopted from Diverse Visions of Scientists and Engineers in the 21st Century For the Promotion of Gender Equality ). Figure 4. Comparison of position index (a number related to the importance of a position in society between 1 and 10), annual budget (available for a project), and number of subordinates (employees working with a person in a subordinate position) between male and female researchers in university (adopted from additional data of Diverse Visions of Scientists and Engineers in the 21st Century For the Promotion of Gender Equality

4 276 OSUMI gender-equality problems, whereas many women think that a change in male (and society s) way of thinking would be necessary. In 2005, a separate survey was conducted by an EPMEWSE Working Group, which focuses specifically on the ratios of women in student and full members in 39 EPMEWSE-member and 11 non-member organizations. The purpose of this study was to determine the actuality and severity of career path obstacles, or what has been referred to as the glass ceiling for female scientists and engineers. There is variation in the ratios of ordinary female members, i.e., postgraduate female members versus female student members. For the purposes of our discussion, let us take JBS and MBSJ as examples. The percentage of postgraduate woman members is 17.5% in JBS and 19.3% in MBSJ, while that of female student members is 35.4% and 30.7%, respectively. This disparity allows us to calculate what we have termed the Gap Index for these two organizations, which is shown to be 2.02 for JBS and 1.59 for MBSJ (Fig. 5). The slightly lower figure for the MBSJ is interpreted as an indication that the female members of that society have overall more opportunities to remain as professionals than do their counterparts in the JBS. Of course, one should consider that this could be a result of JBS having higher full members dues, so that postgraduates are discouraged from continuing their membership. Our analysis also revealed that there was no consistent relationship between the ratios of female postgraduate members and the disparity of female postgraduate/student members. The Gap Index for The Japan Neuroscience Society (JNS) is the lowest (1.45) among all organizations, although it should be noted that, at 19.0% of students and 13.1% of full members, the membership percentages for women in JNS are not high to begin with. Generally speaking, female scientists working in the life sciences seem to be somewhat better off than are those working in engineering in terms of the professional career opportunities available to them. However, it should be noted that this conclusion may be biased somewhat by the inclusion of data taken from organizations in the fields of agriculture and the pharmaceutical sciences, which have much greater numbers of female students. MAKING PROPOSALS TO THE GOVERNMENT Based on above survey results, EPMEWSE has offered a number of suggestions and proposals aimed at improving gender-equality in science and engineering to Science Council of Japan (SCJ), the Ministry of Education, Sports, Culture, Science and Technology (MEXT), and the Cabinet Office of the Government of Japan. These include proposals for providing a childcare leave system suitable for scientists and engineers, for increasing opportunities for female scientists to apply for governmental research grants, and various suggestions for the 3rd Science and Technology Basic Plan ( ) developed by the Council for Science and Technology Policy (CSTP). We are happy to report that, together with other related proposals from scientific societies, such as the Society of Japanese Women Scientists, MBSJ, the Biophysics Society of Japan, and SCJ, some of the recommendations have been reflected in governmental policies in Japan (see below). ENCOURAGING YOUNG GENERATIONS It is important to foster the young generation in any field of science, and there is a real need for role-models for aspiring Figure 5. Variation of gender index among academic organizations in science and engineering fields (modified from Analyses of woman ratio in academic organizations by Working Group of EPMEWS ).

5 WOMEN SCIENTISTS IN JAPAN 277 young scientists to look up to and emulate. As a means of encouraging high school girls to enter into science and engineering, several EPMEWSE members and many volunteers including graduate students and high school teachers held an overnight summer camp at the National Center for Women s Education and Culture (NWEC) in August The participants stayed together and enjoyed lectures, experiments, and discussions, in which all were encouraged to talk about their dreams and visions of the future. This first camp was a great success, and will be held again in the summer of 2006 with more participants and a longer schedule. The nicest thing about this camp is that the high school girls are able to meet and chat with a broad spectrum of role-models, from undergraduate and graduate students to established professors and investigators. We look forward to following the careers of the camp participants after they have completed school and thereafter. MONITORING GOVERNMENTAL ACTIONS The year 2006 will be a landmark in the history of governmental activities geared to supporting woman scientists in Japan. In response to the proposals described above, the 3rd Science and Technology Basic Plan by the CSTP recommends a quantitative goal of 25% for the ratio of women appointed in universities and institutes in all fields of science and engineering. This may at first look high, but in fact this goal roughly coincides with the current ratio of female students in these fields. We feel that this benchmark will serve as an impetus for universities and institutes to move more positively toward changing environments and removing barriers to career advancement for females. Financial support from the government has also been initiated this year. The Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) has begun to provide reentry grants for men and women who put their careers on hold to start a family. This is a 140 million yens program that will fund approximately 30 postdocs a year in Japan. MEXT has also started to accept funding applications for model activities at universities and institutes set up to support and encourage woman scientists and engineers to continue on their career paths by balancing mothering and work. About 10 programs will be chosen as models, to be supported for 3 years (500 million yen in total). Another 35 million yen has been earmarked in the 2006 fiscal year for the design and printing of brochures on career development as part of the initiative to cultivate exchanges between high school girls and rolemodel female scientists. These initial funding amounts might indeed be substantially less than what is actually needed, but we feel that the commitments themselves are significant as they manifest a shift for the better in the direction that our country is taking. We will need to continue to monitor whether and how these activities bear fruit in the long term. It will take time for the realities confronting female scientists and for social and work environments to change, and we argue that the current support programs must be continued for at least 10 years. OPENING UP A DIVERSITY OF CAREER GOALS Over the past few decades, the life styles and career trajectories of scientists have diversified greatly; some of course continue in their careers in academia by promotion from assistant professor to full professor, while many others enter companies, start ventures or become communicators and educators, such as science writers, museum curators, and high school/college teachers, who serve as a bridge between academia and society. This is true for both male and female scientists. Each of us is a valuable citizen of the scientific republic and contributes to it in various ways. To become Nobel laureate is certainly one great aspiration, but to work as a successful science communicator can be equally valuable to society. Those of us in academia have tended to regard ourselves as more successful than those in non-academia, but we have to free ourselves from this convention. There are now a variety of career paths for people trained in scientific fields to choose, allowing each to follow her or his own talents and interests. True diversity in a society is regarded as a symbolic outcome of peace and prosperity, and can only be accomplished by contributions by both genders. In the future, we feel it will be important to increase the number of woman scientists at higher positions (professors, group leaders, deans, presidents, CEOs, etc) because these people are more likely to be involved in organizational and governmental decision-making. We also recognize however that this will undoubtedly be a tough goal to achieve, as there are at present fewer qualified candidates than would be needed to make an immediate and realistic impact. More female students need to be recruited actively and continuously into scientific fields at every opportunity. Improvement of work environments and child-care systems is also essential to enable the majority of woman scientists to continue in their careers. Positive action should always seriously be considered, but at the same time should be achievable and not overreaching. And importantly, female scientists should bear greater responsibility for their own positions when they are no longer a minority. To conclude, I would like to emphasize that a balance between work and life is the key concept for scientists, especially in the life sciences, where unusually long working hours are the norm, or at least frequently encouraged. This situation should be changed; otherwise ordinary woman scientists will be forced to abandon otherwise promising careers when they want to have families. We should also keep in mind that such a demanding work schedule also keeps male scientists from the full enjoyment of their own family lives and volunteer activities. Being respected as members of our

6 278 OSUMI families and society should take precedent over total immersion in science. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Figures are adapted and/or modified from Diverse Visions of Scientists and Engineers in the 21st Century For the Promotion of Gender Equality and Analyses of woman ratio in academic organizations by Working Group of EPMEWS 5http://annex.jsap.or.jp/renrakukai/enquete.html4. I thank Dr Hisako Ohtsubo for providing me with her presentation slides, and Mr Douglas Sipp for kindly reading and editing the manuscript.