Blogger: Eash Anadkat (Criminology with Criminal Law)
Despite being a developed nation, Japan falls behind must industrialised Asian nations when it comes to gender equality in the workplace. With women only earning 44% of what men do and having little representation in places of power, it’s hard to imagine that a developed nation in this modern era severely lacks equality between men and women. From the beginning, during educationclear roles are defined for gender, from colour-coded name tags to a “hidden curriculum”.
This curriculum is the unconscious bias that remains the curriculum, the textbooks and material used to reinforce gender roles, such as the doctor as male and the nurse as female. Or the family structure where the man goes to work whilst the wife waits for him at home. This creates the foundation for inequality for the rest of their lives. And so, as you would expect it would continue into the workplace where women are rarely in politics and the corporate world. This is due to the education system engraining the idea into children from a young age that such as world is masculine and women are more suited to supportive roles. Whilst ideas like this are starting to change, I fear it may take a generation before we see real change as changing this unconscious bias takes time. However it is a start as the first step in changing this culture is acknowledging its existence.