On March 1, 2023, Symposium, “UTokyo Gender Equity Initiative #WeChange” was held at Ito Hall of the University of Tokyo. The symposium was organized to announce internally and externally the campus-wide implementation of the “UTokyo Gender Equity Initiative #WeChange” aimed at developing female leaders, and to discuss our vision for the future. It was held online with the participation of approximately 180 people from within and outside the university.
Opening Remarks
Kaori Hayashi (Executive Vice President, The University of Tokyo)
The University of Tokyo has been newly selected to take part in the “Initiative for Implementation of Diverse Research Environment (Female Leader Development Type)” for the MEXT Science and Technology Human Resource Development Support Program in FY 2022. We have launched the “UTokyo Gender Equity Initiative #WeChange,” an initiative aimed at developing female leaders, with a strong determination to change UTokyo and ourselves.
The symposium is a kick-off event to mark UTokyo’s selection for the MEXT program and announce our determination to promote gender equality across the university.
The purpose of this symposium is not about finding the correct answer to questions but rather about sharing common awareness of the problems UTokyo faces, by verbalizing and sharing our desire and sense of urgency for the need to change the present state of universities and Japanese society where disproportionate male dominance and stereotypical research, education, and workplace environment persist.
By widely communicating that there are people who wish to change the present state of UTokyo and that we are trying to transform ourselves, we can connect with like-minded people aspiring to achieve gender equality within and outside of the campus and eventually bring real change. I hope that this symposium will contribute, even if only in a small way, to achieving gender equality in UTokyo and the Japanese society.
Purpose of the Symposium
Naoko Yoshie (Vice President and Director of Office for Gender Equality, The University of Tokyo)
At UTokyo, we aim to appoint more women from within Japan and overseas to a wide range of positions. We have action plans in place to promote the recruitment of female faculty members, support the career development of female researchers, and raise awareness among all members, including the majority groups of UTokyo. We aim to create a virtuous spiral toward achieving our goals by steadily implementing these three action plans. The purpose of the symposium is to share and spark lively discussion on our philosophy.
Guest Remarks
Yasuyoshi Kakita (Director-General, Science and Technology Policy Bureau, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT)) (online participation)
To maintain and enhance social vitality, it is essential for the society as a whole to create an environment where women can fulfill their full potential and promote their active participation in society. We need to ensure community diversity and incorporate broad ranging perspectives and fresh ideas to stimulate innovation in science and technology. This in turn raises the need for building an environment that enables promotion and active participation of female researchers. As for the promotion of women at all levels, further efforts are required to accelerate the achievement of our goals. UTokyo is expected to take the lead in building an environment with diversity at the global level.
Supporting Message from Overseas
Keiko Torii (Professor, The University of Texas at Austin) (online participation)
There are many women who give up their enthusiasm for science and technology due to the unconscious bias that women are perceived negatively for pursuing a STEM career. This is not the kind of problem that time will solve as generations pass but requires active effort using multifaceted approaches.
First, the ratio of women in leadership and senior positions needs to be increased as an effort from a top-down approach; second, as a bottom-up approach, it is also important to provide children, youth, and families with a role model of female researchers active in society. In the United States, a fund system has been established to support the work-life balance of researchers during life events such as maternity and caregiving, which contributed to significantly increasing the number of female professors.
Ensuring gender diversity among researchers does not only help to advance science. As Japan faces a super-aging society combined with declining birthrates, we can no longer afford the luxury of wasting talent. It is critical that we identify potential talent regardless of gender and cultivate them to become capable researchers.
Part 1: Dialogue between the Presidents of Ochanomizu University and UTokyo – Toward Developing Global Leaders
Moderator : Keiko Kojima (Essayist and visiting researcher at the Interfaculty Initiative in Information Studies, The University of Tokyo)
Panelists : Yasuko Sasaki (President, Ochanomizu University)
Teruo Fujii (President, The University of Tokyo)
Why we launched “UTokyo Gender Equity Initiative #WeChange” now
Fujii: I believe that the role of universities is to gather diverse people and to share and create knowledge through dialogue. Both in the world of academia and in the context of global leadership, it is extremely important to see things from various perspectives and to understand and share each other’s views, and that is exactly what UTokyo aims to do. We hope to approach an ideal state by reforming the university and departing from a situation where the roles of female researchers have long been underestimated.
Sasaki: The fact that UTokyo, the leading university in Japan, has sent out a powerful message to increase the number of female researchers indicating specific numerical targets has the potential to cause significant change to the Japanese society. Pervasive changes cannot be achieved by individuals alone but require the understanding and support from the surrounding people and society at large.
Specific measures taken as part of the “UTokyo Gender Equity Initiative #WeChange”
Fujii: We think that it is important to not only increase the number of female researchers but raise awareness among all members of the university. We offer opportunities to learn about gender justice and courses for graduate students and younger researchers to level up their research skills. We are also planning to invite female professors to UTokyo as role models for female researchers to relate to and provide an environment where they can envision their future.
Sasaki: It is said that women need to account for at least 30% of a community to be recognized as truly valuable members of the community. I believe that is the near-term goal for UTokyo. In that context, we can say that when Ochanomizu University was founded 150 years ago, it set the starting point toward active participation of women in today’s society.
At Ochanomizu University, we have been working to foster female leaders for many years. Currently comprised of three research centers, the Research Organization for the Promotion of Global Women’s Leadership was established to cultivate diverse and inclusive female leadership.
We are currently considering a more comprehensive system to provide support for the wellbeing of all members of the university regardless of gender, rather than focusing on support only for women. Specifically speaking, our plans include a special research fellowship system to support female researchers who were forced to discontinue their career, scholarship to support child-raising students who use our on-campus nursery, and a system to award female researchers who have made outstanding contributions to society.
Kojima: Why did UTokyo set its target at 25% rather than 30% which is often referred to as the critical mass level for women’s participation?
Fujii: We identified 25% as a viable target, but as we work toward meeting it, I suppose the environment will improve and we may be able to raise the target to 30% in due course of time.
Preventing female promotion from being reduced to a mere façade
Kojima: Some organizations are increasing the number of female members, but essential decision making is still often dominated by men. Is there anything UTokyo is doing to prevent this from happening?
Fujii: There are largely two things. We are working to increase female ratio in senior management positions and professors/associate professors who make up the decision-making level. The other is to incorporate diversity in education and research. I think it is also meaningful to take up gender-related themes and actively incorporate diversity perspectives in research.
Kojima: What specific research is taking place at the Institute for Gendered Innovations of Ochanomizu University?
Sasaki: The institute raises questions about overlooking or neglecting the differences between men and women. It actively analyzes and incorporates gender differences into research and development designs. The goal is to facilitate knowledge reconstruction, create innovations in areas not limited to academic research, and promote diversity and inclusion.
Together with UTokyo, we are currently planning a joint seminar to help students deepen their understanding about gender innovation, with an aim to reconstruct knowledge and create value through co-creation among students.
Fujii: Diversity is not limited to gender. For instance, UTokyo is working on barrier free projects based on studies by the disabled themselves. I hope to build a research environment where approaches to promoting diversity are studied as research themes.
Expected impacts on society
Sasaki: I expect co-creation between UTokyo, a comprehensive university, and Ochanomizu University, a smaller women’s college, to bring out new values and innovations. I am looking forward to working together with UTokyo to educate those who will build our future.
I hope UTokyo and its efforts to constantly transform itself will set the standards for colleges and universities not only in Japan, but in Asia and the world to explore their future.
Fujii: I believe the primary goal is to transform UTokyo and create an environment where many female researchers and students would want to join. As more students who thought and learned about diversity in UTokyo go out to the world, they will raise awareness and change the Japanese society. If we can create such a virtuous cycle, I’m sure the Japanese society will transform into a place where women can make the best of their potential. We hope to contribute to stimulating such a cycle and transforming Japan and the world.
Kojima: I think an environment that facilitates women’s learning is an environment where a woman can continue to learn even when she falls sick or there is a change to her family circumstances. That kind of an environment would naturally be of benefit to male researchers and students as well.
Part 2: Panel Discussion – Thinking about the Power of Numbers with Students and Young Researchers
Moderator : Naoko Yoshie (Vice President and Director of Office for Gender Equality, The University of Tokyo)
Panelists : Arisa Oda (Assistant professor, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo)
Koji Tokunaga (1st Year Master’s Student, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo)
Sumire Nagao (2nd year undergraduate student, College of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo)
Gon Matsunaka (CEO, certified NPO good aging yells)
Tatsuya Okubo (Executive Vice President, The University of Tokyo)
Current state of UTokyo
Yoshie: Under the leadership of President Fujii, the number of female members of the Board of Directors has been increased to 4 out of 9 directors. On the other hand, the ratio of female faculty members remains low at 14.6%, which further decreases as the level of seniority rises. The ratio of female students is 20.1% in the undergraduate level, and 27.8% among graduate students which include a large proportion of international students. I’d like to ask Ms. Nagao, as a current student, how do you feel about this female student ratio of 20%?
Nagao: I am often the only female in group discussions, when the class is split into several groups for group work. So, other members of the group ask for opinion from me as a representative of women. When this goes too far, it makes me feel uncomfortable. It is like being female is something special and I am not treated the same as the other members of the group.
Oda: I too have felt the same uncomfortableness since I was a student, but I came to truly realize the problems that come with being a minority, only after experiencing pregnancy and childbirth as a faculty member. When the majority builds all the rules and systems, naturally, there is no consideration whatsoever given to the circumstances of the minority. Issues like pregnancy and childbirth, which I am facing right now, are difficult to address, as there are large differences in the circumstances experienced by the individual.
Another issue is that once you get over life events (like pregnancy and childbirth) at the individual level, you won’t bother to worry about it any longer, since you will have new challenges coming your way. Your hands will be filled with other problems so you can’t afford to spend time trying to improve the systems for those that follow in your footsteps. You need to gather fellow researchers to change the system, but there are few female researchers in the first place, making this minority problem even more difficult to solve.
Tokunaga: Although I am part of the majority, I do notice that people with minority identities are experiencing discrimination, oppression, and microaggression in daily life. What I can do is to gain knowledge about the situation minorities are placed in, and to enhance my cognitive empathy. I believe that by doing so, I will become able to fight discrimination together with the discriminated. After all, anyone can become a minority themselves. Learning how to empathize and reject discrimination is beneficial for members of the majority group too.
Matsunaka: I can really relate to what you all said. It got the impression that UTokyo as an organization has something like a personality of its own, which I suspect is a masculine personality, and you are all challenging that personality.
It’s important to set numerical targets, but the views and actions of the non-minorities are also essential in transforming organizations and society. Making the efforts of such people more visible will be important in the future.
Okubo: UTokyo assigns undergraduate students to each class based on the academic stream and second foreign language they chose to study. Some female students decide to choose French as their second foreign language, when actually they want to learn German, because so few female students choose German (they don’t want to be the super-minority in class). I hope people realize this means that the low female ratio is impairing students’ learning experience, which is supposed to be one of the most important things in a university.
What we expect of UTokyo
Oda: Since UTokyo is a huge organization, there are many constituents with minority identities. I hope the administration will pick up the voices of as many minority members as possible in the process of building systems and diversity measures.
One more thing, we often have the opportunity to listen to female faculty members speak at events as role models for women, but I think it would also be interesting to listen to male faculty members who are achieving a good work-life balance.
Nagao: Increasing the ratio of female students is often referred to as a positive, future-oriented thing. Of course, that is true, but filling the gap and correcting the inequality that exists right now is more of a must-do thing, since it means to turn the negative to at least a zero or positive status.
While there are many student groups that take up gender issues, their awareness is difficult to pass on in a sustainable way because the students graduate after a while. I think it may help to solve this problem by providing an operation base or contact point within an organization close to the university administration.
Tokunaga: I think students need to boost their knowledge on the situation of people with minority gender and sexuality identities. I hope a university-wide program will be put in place to educate students on the subject. It takes a lot of courage for people in more vulnerable positions to protest against people in stronger positions. The minority people need to gain knowledge in order to realize that it is not their fault, it is the social structure that is making them suffer.
I also hope that the safety of persons who were brave enough to vocalize minority issues is ensured. There needs to be a body where people can consult their problems and ensure minority issues are discussed with transparency by the people in charge, I mean those who have power and authority.
Matsunaka: I think we need to change UTokyo together with people from outside the university through collective impact, which is an approach to solving social issues by integrating the actions of various groups and actors. It is possible to link UTokyo’s efforts to social transformation through cyclic processes: by incorporating advanced examples of gender policies adopted by businesses and other organizations, and in turn, sending off students who learned at UTokyo to businesses and other sectors of society.
The #WeChange initiative can be seen as an experiment. I hope that UTokyo will announce the outcomes of the experiment, how things changed and whether it was a success or not. Even if the initiative failed, it would provide lessons to learn and drivers for transforming society.
Okubo: The issues raised here have been insightful, providing extremely important input for improvement. I think the challenges always lie in practice. President Fujii aims to implement this initiative through dialogue, and we always welcome input and feedback from practice. We believe it is the responsibility of the university administration to collect and listen to the voices of all members of the university and beyond.
Closing Remarks
Takane Ito (Vice President, The University of Tokyo)
Ever since we launched our initiative to embrace diversity & inclusion as a key goal, I have been sensing change in the mindset among the executive members of the university administration about increasing female faculty members and students.
What we need to change is not only the number of students and faculty members, but the awareness of all members of the university. The #WeChange initiative is literally a declaration that “we will change” and we will do what it takes to change ourselves. We would appreciate it if you would monitor our changes with critical but warm eyes.
Report by a student
Konatsu Mukai (3rd year student in the Faculty of Education)
Edited / Photo by Office for Gender Equality
