JAPAN
A media investigation has alleged a Japanese medical university systematically discriminated against female applicants.
The reports said the university did so because it believed women tended to quit as doctors after starting families.
The Yomiuri Shimbun report said Tokyo Medical University had manipulated the entrance examination results of women since about 2011 to keep the female student population low.
Quoting unidentified sources, the newspaper said the manipulation started after the proportion of successful applicants who were women reached 38 per cent in 2010.
Other Japanese media, including public broadcaster, NHK and Kyodo News, also reported claims of exam manipulation.
Quoting unnamed sources, NHK said female applicants’ scores were slashed by about 10 per cent in some years.
The allegation surfaced during the university’s investigation of a separate scandal in which its former director was accused of granting admission to the son of a senior education bureaucrat in exchange for a favour.
The university’s Public Affairs Department said officials were surprised by the Yomiuri Shimbun report and had no knowledge of the reported manipulation.
It promised to look into the matter.
Head of Japan’s Medical Women’s Association, Yoshiko Maeda said it was astonishing that women were being stripped of their right to seek entry to the medical profession.
“Instead of worrying about women quitting jobs, they should do more to create an environment where women can keep working,” Ms Maeda said.
“We need working-style reform, which is not just to prevent overwork deaths but to create a workplace where everyone can perform to the best of their ability regardless of gender.”
Minister for Education, Yoshimasa Hayashi said entrance exams that unfairly discriminated against women were absolutely unacceptable.
He said the Ministry would decide on its response after receiving the results of an investigation from the university.
Tokyo, 4 August 2018
