立命館学術成果リポジトリ

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74

Japanese Universities ａｎｄWesterners:

Gendered

Advantages

Hayes,

Blake Ｅ.

Key

Words:Westerners,

women,

Japan, university teachers, gender, gaijin syndrome

Introduction

There is ａ wide disparity in how well-integrated foreigners are in Japanese universities. In some universities, foreigners are well-integrated, while in others foreigners receive differential treatment. There are differences in:promotional opportunities; salary; expectations and work requirements; access to funding; receiving tenure; status; and number of classes taught. Bonuses, which are often substantial, six months salary in some cases, are also sometimes diffe･rentfor foreign staff. Apart from differences between Japanese and foreigners, in the foreign population there are also differences between foreign women and foreign men. Ａ large number of foreign teachers are westerners, and there are many more foreign men than

foreign women employed in universities. Research shows that, in Japan, foreign women are disadvantaged compared to foreign men (Taylor & Napier, 1996). Using unstructured inter-views, this pilot study examined professional acceptance of western women. The research found that there was ａlarge perceived gap between foreign ｗｏｍｅｎ'sacceptance and foreign men's, and that the gap was greater for those in full-time versus part-time employment

While Japanese women's

employment

situationin well-paid and high-leveljobs has improved

somewhat, this may not be the case forforeign women

in Japan. This paper highlights some

areas that need to be further examined regarding foreign women

educators in Japan.

Gender Segresfation Worldwide

Gender segregation at work is the main cause of the gender wage gap, with women generally segregated in low-prestige jobs receiving lower wages （Ｇｏｎａs &Karlsson, 2006). Detailed examinations of Europe, North America, Asia, Oceania, the Middle East and North Africa show surprising similarities in the extent of segregation, with over half the world's workers in occupations where one sex dominates by 80% or more （Ａｎｋｅｒ，2001）.Ｔｈｅ seg-regation into job categories has littlerelation to abilities,but is based, in part, on factors such as gender stereotypes. Research has also shown that gendered occupational segregation by sex corresponds to false stereotypes for women, such ａs; caring; household-related skills; manual dexterity; greater honesty; physical appearance; disinclination to supervise others; less physical strength; less math/science ability; less willing to travel; and less willing to face physical danger and use physical force (see for example, Anker 2001; Gonas & Karlsson。

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Japanese Universities and Westerners: Gendered Advantages (Hayes) 75 2006; Walbyパ988).

These categories correlate to female-dominated, low-paid occupations. Research on gender-segregation, (Anker, 2001) which included Japan, showed that male dominated occupations are seven times more common than female-dominated, and therefore males face less competi-tion. Female occupations are also viewed as less “valuable” and are lower paid (Anker, 2001;

Gonas & Karlsson, 2006ドWalby, 1988). Inherent gender capabilities can be dispelled as the reasons for some jobs being “male” and others “female”. Rather the social, cultural and historical factors are of paramount importance in determining the extent to which occupations are segmented by sex, and this varies from country to country (see for example Anker 2001; Gonas & Karlsson, 2006; Walby, 1988).

Japanese labour system

The Nenko living wage theory describes the Japanese gender-segregated employment sys-tern, with male entitlement to secure, higher-paid employment. Traditionally, life-long employ-rnent required ａ flexible labour force to balance changes in the economy. Women comprised and continue to comprise the majority of this low-paid temporary employment. The United Nations found that the Japanese wage gap is the greatest of all industrialized countries. Women earned 66.5% of male workers' earnings in 2002 （ＷＥＣ，2003:p. 49). Unequal oppor-tunities for promotion account for part of this gap, and 30％ｏｆ companies admitted they

promote males faster than females （Ｙｕａsａ，2005）.

In Japan, part-time work is inferior to full-time, and it is dominated by women, with males comprising only 26% in 1995 （Ｂｒｏａｄｂｅｎt，2002，ｐ.58). Broadbent also stated that choosing to work part-time is not really ａ choice, as part-time workers “in Japan, due to age restrictions, have littlechoice but to work part-time” (p. 59). She further observed that in “Japan's gender contract ａ woman's role is indispensable to complement male full-time workers who form the backbone of Japan's corporate society”(Broadbent, 2002, p. 60).

Women's educational relationship to employment

In terms of the number of years in education, Japan has a 6-3-3-4 educational model and the Japanese employment system, including universities, has traditionally been based on ａ

strict progression starting after graduation from school. べｖｏｍｅｎ'sproportion of college parti-cipation has been increasing while men's leveled off in the 1970's. Since 1975, the percentage of females has exceeded males in post-secondary education (Stedham & Yamamura, 2004, p･ 235). In 1970, only 18% of university students were women, but by 2000， it was 36％ (Stedham & Yamamura, 2004, p. 235). Yano (1997) stated that while there have been

changes in education, these have not continued to benefit female employees.

Not only employment but matriculation rates are now higher amongst women than among men. Accordingly, women's educational choices in the 1980's rapidly changed from women's colleges to co-educational colleges, from junior colleges to four-year colleges, and from liberal arts to science courses. Compared to the changes in the educational system, changes in the employment system have been sluggish. During the prosperity

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76

_The

_{RitsumeikanEconomic Review （ｖo1.57，Ｎ０.3）}

of the late 1980's, companies

aggressively recruited women.

However,

in the current

recession,as companies downsize, it appears thatmany

companies consider their female

workforce a convenienttool for adjusting their payroll（pp.205−206）.

Gender stereotypes have an affect on positions that carry status and power. Analysis of sex segregation in the Ｕ. S. shows that this gender stereotyping is stillpervasive. Keisler (1975) stated that perceptions “about the suitability of women and men for different types of work are based largely on gender stereotypes that are inaccurate”（ｉｎMarini, 1990, p. no). Marini (1990) stated that “because the characteristics ascribed to males are also those important for gaining access to positions of power and privilege, gender stereotypes create expectations for performance that negatively affect evaluations of wornen's past and expected future perform-ance in high-level jobs” (p. no).

Often the discussion of the gender gap turns to the choices women make and how women choose to sacrifice remuneration and prestige for flexibility and lack of responsibility. How-ever, the gender gap is not created by women's choices. Women can only choose from the limited availability, and from the range of jobs that allow them to fulfilltheir social roles.

Marini (1990) stated,

whereas socialization shapes the choices of individuals by conditioning their desires and expectations, allocation involves action by others that channels individuals into positions on the basis of sex, irrespective of their desires and expectations. Allocation is pervasive in the workplace （p∠HO）.

Japanese women's employment

The United Nations Convention on the Elimination of Ａ１１Forms of Discrimination against Women was ratified by Japan in 1985 (lino, 2002). Japanese women's participation in the workforce has increased, and may have surpassed some western countries, although there is still a full-time versus part-time work divide. lino （2002）foｕnd that nearly “half of a11 women aged １５ and older have jobs, and women now account for 40％of the entire work force”（p.3）.Ｔｈｅ rates for other countries, compared to Japan, are 57.7% in the United States and 55.2% in the UK, 48.3% for Germany and 48.2% for France. Worldwide, gener-ally, there has been ａ shift from permanent to non-p ermanent status and this is also true in Japan. According to lino （2002），ｗｈｅｎthe Equal Employment opportunity Law （ＥＥＯＬ）ｏｆ Japan was passed, 70% of women who were employed were in permanent positions, and this has dropped to 53% (p. 5). lino also found that in Europe part time salaries are close to full time salaries. For example, they are 90％of full time salaries in the Netherlands and Ger-many, 80% in France, and 70％tｈｅ UK (lino, 2002, p. 5). While European countries are protecting their growing part-time workers, the wage gap in Japan between full-time and part-time IS wide.

The EEOL has been described as being ineffective and has been highly criticized.Stedham & Yamamura (2004) found that it was ineffective partially because it relied“on moral sua-sion ...and has been deemed largely ineffective in preventing workplace discrimination... The EEOL was amended in 1997 to prohibit discrimination in all areas of employment including

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Japanese Universitiesand Westerners:Gendered Advantages (Hayes) 77

recruitment and promotion and to require employers to address and prevent sexual harass-ment (Kodansha International, 1999)”（p. 236).

In 1970, the majority of working women were single, but by 2000 the percentage of married working women was 61% (Statistics Bureau, 2004 1n Stedham ＆Ｙａｍａｍｕｒａ，2004，ｐ.237). Between 1970 and 2000， women moved into some all-male occupations and

profession-al positions (Stedham & Yamamura, 2004). While the number continues to be low, it has been suggested, however, that Japan's traditional discriminatory system is changing (Renshaw, 1999; Usui, Rose & Kageyama, 2003).

Foreigrn women in Japan

Foreign women perform well in Japan, and their levels of professionalism are in no way lower than foreign men's. Volkmar and Westbrook (2005) stated that foreign “women can

often override the constraints and attitudes that attach to Japanese women and attain male status within ａ company in Japan (Yoshihara, 1989), enabling them to apply their individual potential to their work to ａ much greater extent than local women, and more importantly, be recognized for doing sｏ”(p.465).

In Hofstede's （2001）ｍｏｄｅｌof cultures, Japan was rated as a highly masculine society that puts severe constraints on women's roles. Spe ･ically, in Japan, women's work is highly constrained (Usui d al, 2003); however, modernized Japanese women and men, including Japanese feminists, are contesting these traditional biases. Adler (1988) found that for foreign

women, there may be fewer barriers than for Japanese women, due to the ｇａリin ｓｙｎｄｒｏｍｅ. The introduction of the Equal opportunity Assistant （ＥＯＡ）in 1986 1n Japan may have resulted in changes in the number of women managers (Volkmar & Westbrook, 2005, p. 467). The number of “women directors, section managers, and chiefs has increased by 5.9, 15.4

and 19.4 percent respectively (Japan Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, 2002）” （ｖｏｌｋｍａｒ＆べYestbrook, 2005, p. 467). However, they found that improvements for foreign

women have not necessarily occurred (p. 474). They found that living and working in Japan, compared to ａ decade ago, is still a difficult adjustment due to gender biases for women professionals. Napier and Taylor (1995) reported that for foreign women in Japan, 32% of their respondents believed they were “worse off" than the foreign men who were in the same

● ● ● job position.

Western women, as well, face stereotypes that are generally recognized in the West as playing a part in constraining women's advancernent into high-level positions. IBM （2007）foｒ example stated,

(g)ender stereotypes can create several predicaments for women leaders. Because they are often evaluated against ａ“masculine” standard of leadership, women are left with limited and unfavorable options, no rnatter how they behave and perform as leaders. In thisstudy we focus specifically on three predicaments, all of which put women in ａ double bind and can potentially undermine their leadership･

Predicament 1: Extreme Ｐｅｒｃｅｐtｉｏｎs￣ＴｏｏSoft, Too Tough, and Never Just Right. When women act in ways that are consistent with gender stereotypes, they are viewed

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78 The Ritsumeikan Economic Review (ｖo1.57，Ｎ０.3)

as less competent leaders. When women act in ways that are inconsistent with such stereotypes, they are considered unfeminine.

Predicament 2: The ＨｉｇｈCompetence Threshold - Women Leaders Face Higher Stan-dards and Lower Rewards than Men Leaders…. ぺA^omen leaders are subjected to higher competency standards. ０ｎ top of doing their job, women have tｏ:Prove that they can lead, over and over again; Manage stereotypical expectations constantly.

Predicament 3: Competent but Disliked - Women Leaders Are Perceived as Competent or Liked, but ＲａｒelｙBoth ･...When women behave in ways that are traditionally valued for men leaders (ｅ･ｇ･，assertively), they are viewed as more competent, but also not as effective interpersonally as women who adopt ａ more stereotypically feminine style. In sum, gender stereotypes misrepresent the true talents of women leaders and can potentially undermine ｗｏｍｅｎ's contributions to organizations as well as their own advancement options.

Rationale and methodolog"y

Previous studies on western women

in Japan found that in the ｅａｒlｙ

1990's, western

women

had advantages

over Japanese women

because gendered expectations on foreign

women

were not as stringent(Taylor & Napier, 1996; Usui d

｢，2003).lt was also found, at

that time, that there was ａgap between

foreign wornen's level of professional acceptance

compared

to foreign men. With the improving

situationof Japanese women

relativeto men,

one may

surmise that the situationfor western women

relative to western men wouldalso

have improved. However, in ａ recent study, Volkmar and

Westbrook

(2005)foｕnd

that,in

the case offoreign women

managers, foreign women's

situationhad not improved. This pilot

study examined

the hypothesis that western women

would feel disadvantaged compared

to

western male counterparts｡

Hypothesis: Western women

teaching in Japanese universitiesperceive themselves to be at

a disadvantage vis-d-vis

western men teaching in Japanese universities.

Methodology

The research methodology used semi-structured and unstructured interviews of thirty women teaching at universities in Japan. They were queried about their background and their organization(s). Their responses were written down, and participants were encouraged to elaborate on their work situations and their perceptions. The interviews, while open-ended, were somewhat structured to keep the focus on job perspectives, work perceptions and ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● gender issues in relation to working ｍ Japanese universities.

A11 participants had English as their mother tongue. While there are other university teachers with various mother tongues, the employment climate for English speakers was assumed to be slightly diffe･rent as finding work may be more competitive for English speak-ers. A11 those surveyed were presently working, half working full-time (tenure, limited term and non-limited term contracts) and half part-time (working at 2 0r more different universities). All were hoping to improve their work situations, and were in the job market

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eitherinformally making inquiriesand connections,or formally by sending out resume

pack-ages. A11 those surveyed were residing full-timein Japan, and all had been in Japan

long-term or saw themselves as residing

long-term, over 10 years, or living in Japan permanently

due to family and community

ties.

Results and Discussion

Overall, those interviewed feltthat they were disadvantaged compared to male westerners.

Table l provides a summary and shows that the majority of women

perceived foreign men

to be advantaged. Comments

on their perceptions were quite varied, and have been

catego-rized as follows:

Table 1

Full Time （Ｎ＝15）Ｐａｒt Time （Ｎ＝15）Ｔｏta1（Ｎ＝30）

Worse off than foreign men １２８２０

Same as foreign men ３５８

Better off than foreign men ０２２

Tota1 30

Japanese Nenko living" wage and male entitlement

The Nenko system of male entitlement is also applied to western men living and working in Japan and this was perceived as giving western men an advantage. Japan is ａ“gaku-reki

shakai” where academic record governs one's place of employment, and education determines one's job and social status. This system has traditionally advantaged Japanese males. Japanese women's childrearing and family care work traditionally took women out of the

workforce during the crucial years where human capital is invested in employees, leaving them disadvantaged. This system is changing. Whatever the cultural rationalizations are that

are used to support this traditional system based on gender and age, when the same system is applied to foreign workers who have not been brought up and educated in the Japanese system which channels individuals into appropriate institutions, the system becomes prob-lematic. Foreign women are often not interested in adopting the non-career roles that Japanese women occupy, yet they are not privy to the advantages that are accorded the main breadwinner of the family that Japanese and foreign men receive. The participants, therefore,

perceived that they were disadvantaged by the assumption of male-as-breadwinner, especially when they, themselves, were often the main breadwinner of their family･

The United Nations has deemed the Japanese system of employment based on age as being indirectly discriminatory against women （Koedo Shizuka, Kansai University presenta-tion, October 2007）.With faiｒlｙstrictrole expectations of childrearing and family care, and with a severe lack of childcare options and shouldering of home responsibilities by Japanese men, Japanese women are often forced to choose between family responsibilities or careers. Should they choose both, the burden is extreme. Participants in this study constantly

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8 0 T h e R i t s u m e i k a n E c o n o m i c R e v i e w ( ｖ o 1 . 5 7 ，Ｎ０ . 3 ) t i o n e d t h e i r e x p e r i e n c e s l o s i n g p o t e n t i a l j o b s t o l e s s e x p e r i e n c e d , l e s s a c a d e m i c a l l y q u a l i f i e d y o u n g w e s t e r n m e n . P a r t i c i p a n t s a l s o m e n t i o n e d t h e i r e x p e r i e n c e s o n h i ｒｉｎｇ c o m m i t t e e s w h e r e t h e y s a w t h i s b i a s i n a c t i o n . O n e p a r t i c i p a n t m e n t i o n e d h o w s h e h a d t o s t r u g g l e t h r o u g h o u t a h i ｒ i n g p r o -c e s s t o c o m b a t t h e s e b i a s e s , w h e r e t h e y o u n g m e n ' s r e s u m e s w e r e c o n s i s t e n t l y f o r w a r d e d t o t h e a c c e p t a n c e l i s t . S h e s a w t h i s p r e f e r e n c e t o m a l e a p p l i c a n t s , e s p e c i a l l y y o u n g m e n , a s s u c h a n i n g r a i n e d r e s p o n s e f r o m t h e h i ｒｉｎｇ c o m m i t t e e a t e v e r y s t e p a l o n g t h e w a y i n t h e h i ｒ i n g p r o c e s s . A n o t h e r p a r t i c i p a n t m e n t i o n e d t h a t t h e b i a s e s w e r e s o i n g r a i n e d t h a t i t w a s s u c h a n u n c o n s c i o u s , u n i n t e n t i o n a l r e s p o n s e , o f t e n f r o m p e o p l e w h o t r u l y f e l t t h e y w e r e b e i n g e q u i t -a b l e . O n e p a r t i c i p a n t m e n t i o n e d h o w t h e m o s t q u a l i f i e d p e r s o n ' s r e s u m e , a w o m e n ' s , “ g o t l o s t ” d u r i n g t h e i n i t i a l s t a g e s o f t h e h i ｒｉｎｇ p r o c e s s w h i c h r e s u l t e d i n n o t b e i n g a b l e t o c o n t a c t t h e w o m e n t o c o m e i n f o r a n i n t e r v i e w . Ａ n u m b e r o f p a r t i c i p a n t s , b e c a u s e t h e y h a d c l e a r h i r i n g g u i d e l i n e s c o m b i n e d w i t h a r e a l c o n s c i o u s n e s s o f t h e p o t e n t i a l b i a s e s , f e l t t h a t s o m e o f t h e s e b i a s e s c o u l d b e s o m e w h a t c u r t a i l e d , b u t t h a t i t r e q u i r e d c o n s t a n t a w a r e n e s s . W o m e n w h o p e r c e i v e d t h e m s e l v e s t o b e t h e l e a s t d i s a d v a n t a g e w e r e t h o s e w h o h a d c o m e t o J a p a n i n t h e 1 9 8 0 ' s a n d ｅａｒ l ｙ 1 9 9 0 ' s a n d w h o w e r e q u a l i f i e d w h e n t h e y c a m e , a n d f o u n d f u l l - t i m e p o s i t i o n s q u i t e e a s i l y d u r i n g t h a t t i m e . T h e y c a m e a t t h e t i m e o f t h e e c o n o m i c s b u b b l e , a n d o f t e n w a l k e d i n t o j o b s t h r o u g h c a s u a l c o n n e c t i o n s o r w h e n t h e r e w a s ａ n e e d f o r ａ f o r e i g n e r i n ａ d e p a r t m e n t . T h e r e w a s ａ s e n s e a m o n g w o m e n w h o h a d c o m e t o J a p a n m o r e r e c e n t l y t h a t t h e w o m e n w h o c a m e i n t h e 1 9 8 0 ' s a n d ｅａｒ l ｙ 1 9 9 0 ' s m a y n o t u n d e r s t a n d h o w d i f f i c u l t t h i n g s a r e f o r w e s t e r n w o m e n n o w . F u r t h e r m o r e , t h e c o n t i n u i n g p r a c t i c e o f u s i n g c o n n e c t i o n s a s ａ p a r t o f t h e h i r i n g p r o c e s s m a y n o t b e ａ c o m f o r t a b l e r o l e f o r f o r e i g n w o m e n ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● w h o a r e ｍ t h e p o s i t i o n t o i n f l u e n c e ｈｌｒｍｇ a n d p r o m o t i o n s . U s i n g c o n n e c t i o n s I S n o t c o n s i s -t e n -t w i t h w e s t e r n c u l t u r a l e x p e c t a t i o n s t h a t r e j e c t p r a c t i c e s t h a t a r e p e r c e i v e d t o b e n e p o t i s -t i c . T h e s e w o m e n h a v e f e w r o l e m o d e l s o f t h e i r o w n t o g u i d e t h e m i n u s i n g t h e i r s t a t u s , a n d t h e y m a y n o t b e c o m f o r t a b l e e x e r c i s i n g t h e i r i n f l u e n c e i n t h i s w a y d u e t o i t s p e r c e i v e d u n e t h i c a l n a t u r e . I n g e n e r a l , t h e y d i d n o t s e e t h e n e e d t o a c t a s c o n n e c t i o n s a n d r o l e m o d e l s . T h i s c o u l d b e c o n n e c t e d t o t h e i r r e l a t i v e e a s e o f f i n d i n g e m p l o y m e n t v e r s u s t h e c h a n g e s i n t h e e c o n o m y t h a t a r e a f f e c t i n g t h e c u r r e n t e m p l o y m e n t s i t u a t i o n i n J a p a n e s e u n i v e r s i t i e s .

Recruitment throusfh connections

Full time job postings, in general, have to be posted publicly. There are sites in both Japanese and English, though some of the postings are only posted in one language and those without Japanese would not be accessible to those without the language or without someone to translate for them. Jobs may also be posted only on the university homepage or in the university's publications. Part-time jobs are sometimes posted on the Internet, but often

these are passed on through connections or recomrnendations from other schools. However, hiring, to ａ large extent, stillis done through personal connections.

Recruitment has traditionally been based on private connections, but with the process of democratization, has sloｗlｙ been replaced, at least officially,by more transparent hiring practices. Shimbori ［198］∠)stated。

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（i）ｎthe area of recruitment, as ａ result of institutionaレdemocratization', hiring practices have come to depend more on ‘formar or‘objective' criteria,rather than on personal or private connections like p^akｕhｕtｓｕ.Now, at least officially,vacancies are publicized and policiesof open competition are adopted.

These objective criteria usually refer to the number of publications and academic qualifica-tions. Renshaw (1999) argued that “Japanese men use their‘old boy networks' to get

in-formation, projects and jobs. Male networks often consist of school classmates across com-pany and political borders that connect them with power sources”（ｐ.235). Success in finding employment in Japan stilldepends to ａ large extent on making connections. Usui, Rose and Kageyama (2003) found that ｏｎｅ’s“success in job mobility is often the result of direct and indirect personal relations, and formal and informal channels of network relations. Women

are outside the network of these relations that lead to positions of leadership and decision making”［ｐ.］∠14).

Participants in this study perceived that they were disadvantaged when applying for posted jobs. It was generally felt that often ａ job was created with a sｐｅ･ic person in mind, and that the postings were not ｒeallｙｏｐｅｎ.Many participants stated that jobs were posted, but there was ａ western man who already had been ｃｈｏＲｐ.ｎfor the job. Women who were more

qualified would be passed over. This is easy to do in the Japanese hiring process, as the job requirements become very fluid in the search process, and emphasis can be shifted to the desired candidate's qualifications. Participantsmentioned that they knew men who have no publications, or who have never done ａ presentation yet were offered permanent full-time jobs, which was an advantage they felt they would never have. In fact, the officialreason for rejection that women most often heard was ａ lack of sufficient publications.

Participants perceived that they were disadvantaged because it was hard for western women to make connections or that connections didn't benefit them as they did western men. The separation of the sexes in Japan in both work and socializing gave western men an advantage. Western men could bond with male colleagues, which is where job connections are forged. The Japanese custom of going out drinking and going to male entertainment venues, sex-clubs and other male venues after work is unwelcoming to women. It is ａ part of many western men's experiences, and this is also where business in Japan is often transacted and where job information is passed around.べNomen are disadvantaged by being excluded from this male socializing custom. Women perceived this as archaic behavior that has been somewhat eradicated in western countries, yet this practice is adapted by many western men in Japan, leaving women disadvantaged and outside of the network of information and con-nections.

One area where women felt particularly disadvantaged was the influence that western men wield with their western male friends and acquaintances. Ａ number of women mentioned that there were certain schools and departments that were particularly bad in terms of not hiring

women. The fact that some foreign men came to Japan to escape strong, competent women was also mentioned as contributing to the fact that there were few or no women in some schools or departments. Western men's role as the ｇａtｅｋｅりoersthat bring in the foreign male

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82 The

RitsumeikanEconomic Review （ｖo1.57，Ｎ０.3）

teachers,while ignoring potentialfemale teachers,was ａ key area of perceived disadvantage

for many

women.

While Japanese policieshave been enacted, for example the EEOL,

to ensure more

equit-able treatment of women,

western women

feltthey had no recourse forthisinequality.The

fact that there is very littlethat has been done to ensure that western women

are treated

equitably was

mentioned

by most of the participants.This is clearly an area thatneeds

● ● ● ●

attention m the university system.

M a i n t a i n i n g " r e l a t i o n s h i p s I n J a p a n , ａ l o t o f w e i g h t i s g i v e n t o c o o p e r a t i n g w i t h c o l l e a g u e s . I f f u l l - t i m e t e a c h e r s h a v e a p e r s o n a l o b j e c t i o n t o ａ p o t e n t i a l c a n d i d a t e t h i s i s g i v e n ａ l o t o f w e i g h t , a n d t h e p o t e n t i a l c a n d i d a t e m o s t l i k e l y w i l l b e e x c l u d e d . T h i s i s o n e a r e a w h e r e p a r t i c i p a n t s f e l t s t r o n g l y d i s a d v a n t a g e d . I t w a s p e r c e i v e d b y p a r t i c i p a n t s t h a t ａ w o m a n ' s c h a r a c t e r w a s f o u n d t o b e ａ l a r g e r p a r t o f t h e d i s c u s s i o n i n t h e h i ｒｉｎｇ p r o c e s s c o m p a r e d t o ａ m a n ' s c h a r a c t e r . Ａ n u m b e r o f p a r t i c i p a n t s m e n t i o n e d t h a t t h e y h a d b e e n c r o s s - e x a m i n e d o r f e l t l i k e t h e i r p e r s o n a l i t y h a d b e e n d i s s e c t e d . O n e p a r t i c i p a n t m e n t i o n e d t h a t s h e w a s t o l d t h a t t h e s c h o o l w a s r e l u c t a n t t o h i r e a w e s t e r n w o m e n a n d t h a t t h i s c a m e f r o m ｈａｖ i n g h a d a p r o b l e m w i t h a w o m a n i n t h e p a s t , i n f e r r i n g t h a t o n e p a s t p r o b l e m m a d e t h e u n i v e r s i t y c a u t i o u s a b o u t a l l w e s t e r n w o m e n . I t w a s p e r c e i v e d t h a t w e s t e r n m e n a r e g i v e n ａ v e r y b r o a d r a n g e o f a c c e p t a b l e b e h a v i o u r , p o s s i b l y w i t h a n e v e n b r o a d e r a c c e p t a b l e r a n g e o f w h a t i s c o n s i d e r e d p r o f e s s i o n a l b e h a v i o u r . W o m e n f o u n d t h a t f o r t h e m t h e r a n g e w a s m u c h n a r r o w e r , a n d t h e r e s t r i c t i v e n e s s w a s a d i f f i c u l t a s p e c t o f t h e i r p r o f e s s i o n a l i s m ｡ I n g e n e r a l , c o n n e c t i o n s w e r e s e e n a s b e i n g d i f f i c u l t t o f o r m o r n o t f r u i t f u l f o r t h e ｗｏｍｅｎ｡ ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● F o r g i n g c o n n e c t i o n s w i t h w e s t e r n w o m e n m t e n u r e p o s i t i o n s o r p o s i t i o n s w i t h h l ｒｍｇ p o w e r w a s n o t s e e n t o b e ａ v i a b l e s t r a t e g y , a s t h e r e a r e f e w w e s t e r n w o m e n i n t h e s e p o s i t i o n s . I t i s d i f f i c u l t t o g e t f a c t s o n w e s t e r n e r s i n u n i v e r s i t y e m p l o y m e n t b u t ａ l o o k a t m o s t u n i v e r s i t y s t a f f p a m p h l e t s , w h i c h l i s t a l l t e a c h e r s w i t h t h e i r p i c t u r e s , s h o w s h o w f e w w e s t e r n w o m e n t h e r e a r e , u s u a l l y o n l y o n e i f a n y , i n ａ d e p a r t m e n t o r c e n t e r . T h e n u m b e r o f J a p a n e s e w o m e n i n t h e s e p o s i t i o n s i s a l s o s m a l l , s i n c e t h e m a j o r i t y a r e y o u n g e r w o m e n h i r e d d u r i n g t h e r e c e n t a d j u s t m e n t s , a n d t h e i r s t a t u s a n d p o w e r i s o f t e n n o t s u f f i c i e n t e n o u g h t o b e e f f e c t i v e . O n e p a r t i c i p a n t d i d m e n t i o n t h a t ａ s e n i o r J a p a n e s e w o m a n h a d b e e n h e r c o n n e c t i o n a n d t h a t t h i s c o n t r i b u t e d t o h e r s u c c e s s i n g e t t i n g h e r j o b . Ｔｈｅ“ｇａりin” factor

The gai丿in ａｊｆｅｃtmay free western women from some gendered expectations. Volkmar and べｖｅstbｒｏｏｋ（2005）ｄａｉｍｅｄthat while the ｇａリin ａｊｆｅｃtdoes somewhat free “foreign women from the gender-based inequalities that apply to Japanese women, it does not address the level of gender-based inequalities between foreign women and foreign men that is reflective in their own parent (…western) culture”(p. 468). They found that women's disadvantaged position had not changed over the decade from the early 1990's. The lack of women col-leagues has been found to hinder adjustment rates for expatriate women. Volkmar and West- ∩46）

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brook also found that women “rate their adjustment lower in countries with fewer women in the workforce” （ｐ.11). Participants mentioned the need to have more women colleagues and

more foreign women as colleagues｡

Women perceived that the the ｇａリｍａｆｆｅｃt advantagedwestern men tremendously. The ideal of the western male and all the characteristics attributed to westerners were being conferred onto the average individual western man who was mistakenly treated as being exceptional. While participants perceived they were also treated as ｅｘｏtｉｃ．thisdid not neces-sarily confer expertise to their professionalism as it did for western males｡

In highlｙ masculine cultures (Hofstede, 2001) such as Japan, women are highly con-strained in the workplace (Renshaw, 1999; Usui ｄａ/，2003）.Ｈｏｗｅｖｅｒ，ithas been proposed that as foreigners in Japan, western women would have more success because of the ｇａリｍ

ajfect (Adler, 1988), since “foreignness trumps gender” in how women are perceived and

(p. 244) and the rules that constrain Japanese women

don't necessarily apply to foreign

women.

Participants mentioned

that,in general, relative to western men, they were

con-strained.They

perceived that they had more flexibility

than Japanese women,

were able to

participatemore in the workplace and while they received more resistancefrom western men,

at times, got less resistance from Japanese men

than Japanese women

receive.

Women's

coUesfes

There were two participants,both part-timeteachers,who

feltthat they had benefited from

being ａ woman

because the schools, both women's

colleges,had wanted ａ women

teacher.

Being ａ woman

was

perceived as being beneficial for getting work

at women's

colleges.

べYhilewornen's colleges tend to pay teachers less than the more prestigious co-educational

institutions,

they are often perceived as providing one of the best work environments,

accord-ing

to some of the participants. However,the existence of women's schools is more

threatened by the economic

downturn

and the fallingbirth-rate,

leading to an overall less

secure work

situation.

Women

leaving" Japan

The

number

of western women

available to teach in Japanese universities

is much

less

than western men. One reason may be the number

of women

who leave Japan due to lack of

satisfactoryemployment.

This is evidenced by ａ number

of comments

pointing to western

women

being disadvantaged. Terminating employment

is one strategy used when itis difficult

or impossible to adapt to expatriate conditions(Caligiuri & Tung, 1999) and western women

are frequently using this strategy and exiting Japan. A11 0f the participantsmentioned they

knew

several women

who

had left Japan because they were unable to find appropriate work.

Additionally, out of the women

interviewed, there were ａ numberwho

were planning to

leave Japan, due to their frustration

over thelack of satisfactorywork.

∩47）

t r e a t e d i n J a p a n . A d l e r ( 1 9 8 8 ) s t a t e d , 牛 f ) i r s t a n d f o r e m o s t , f o r e i g n e r s a r e s e e n a s f o r e i g n e r s ” ／八ｊｊへ･ 1 ・ｉ・ ● マ・ｉ ● 哺哺／｀ ●

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84 TheRitsumeikan Economic Review （ｖo1.57，Ｎ０.3）

Conclusion

This research covered western women's perceptions of their work in Japanese academia in relation to western men's. While this research highlights only their perceptions, it none the less highlights some areas of concern that require further examination. Very littleinformation is available about foreign workers in academia in Japan. This paper, therefore, attempts to

highlight an area where more research is needed. Hofstede's （2001）ｍｏｄｅｌof national cul-tures is one of the most widely used frameworks. He describes Japan as ａ masculinesociety, and while there has been ａlot of criticism of his categorizations, Japan does seem to be ａ difficultplace for many western women working in academia｡

While changes in cultural values and attitudes do change in time, deep changes take ａ long time (Hofstede, 2001). Chizuko Ueno, ａ leading Japanese feminist sees this system as almost unshakeable, and stated,“if you look at Japanese men individually, they seem very soft and tender and kind. But once they get organized, they become ａ kind of ａｂｉｇwall across which it is very hard to cross. So it is gender-biased rules and practices that protect male privileges”

(Prideaux, 2006)｡

Stedham and Yamamura (2004) stated that due to legislation in Japan, women's roles have been impacted, but the changes on men have been less drarnatic （ｐ.238). They stated that although “women in the workplace required men to make adjustments, a dramatic change in men's self-concepts and perceptions is unlikely”（p. 238). In their research they found that women believe more strongly in the importance of equality （p. 240) and that assumptions about the sexual division of labour persist Japanese women are benefiting from Japanese policies that are trying to rectify the gender equality; however, there is littlein place to protect foreign women at the ｍｏｍｅｎt｡

Despite all the advances in Japan in terras of women's employment, Volkmar and West-bｒｏｏｋ（2005）foｕnd that, for foreign women professionals over the last decade, “Japan has not necessarily become ａ less difficultor challenging assignment” (p. 474). More needs to be done in the way of researching foreign workers in Japan, particularly in light of the fact that the foreign population has been increasing. The traditional isolation that foreigners experi-ence in Japan may hinder knowledge of expatriate difficultiesin Japan and this paper high-lights some of the challenges faced in academia for foreign women in the hope that the

existing inequalities can be challenged.

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