Japan has the lowest percentage of women researchers among OECD member countries, with women making up only about 17.5 percent of all researchers as of 2021, according to the Report on the Survey of Research and Development conducted by the Statistics Bureau of Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. The percentage of women researchers in higher education institutions is even lower in some STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields such as engineering, despite the many initiatives that have been implemented by the Japanese government to increase the number of women science researchers since 2006. By contrast, Thailand is one of the few countries in Asia that has an equal proportion of men and women science researchers, according to UNESCO’s 2015 report. In an effort to explore possible problem-solving approaches for Japanese private universities in promoting diversity in the research environment, Doshisha University and Sophia University conducted a joint research project, which was funded by Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. In this paper, we report the results of the interviews and surveys conducted among students and faculty members at Sophia University, Japan, and at Mahidol University, Thailand, as part of this joint research project. Our findings point to similarities and differences between the two institutions in regard to cultural, political, and institutional backgrounds, career progression and promotion, work-life balance, among other factors that may have contributed to the stark differences in the proportions of women researchers in respective countries.

Authors:
Yoko Yamashita, Yokohama National University, Japan
Makiko Deguchi, Sophia University, Japan
Takehito Kamata, Sophia University, Japan
Takuya Numajiri, Fukui Prefectural University, Japan

About the Presenter(s)
Dr Yoko Yamashita is a University Assistant Professor/Lecturer at Yokohama National University in Japan

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