RIWAC Research Institute for Women and Careers JAPAN WOMEN'S UNIVERSITY

Event

Interview by Macedonian Information Agency (MIA)

11th December, 2018

Prof. Machiko Osawa, Director of RIWAC, got interviewed about work-life balance and labor market policies for women by Ms. Ana Cvetkovska Toromanoska, Macedonian Information Agency(MIA).

Interview by Le Devoir (Information newspaper published in Montreal, Canada)

25th January, 2019

Prof. Machiko Osawa, Director of RIWAC, got interviewed about current situation of women’s empowerment by Ms. Marie VASTEL, Parliamentary correspondent in Ottawa.

Interview by Corriere della Sera

2nd October, 2018

Prof. Machiko Osawa, Director of RIWAC, got interviewed about gender equality and family outcomes in Japan by Ms. Mara Gergolet, a newspaper reporter of Corriere della Sera issued by RCS MediaGroup S.p.A.

【Report】The 4th “Women-only Gathering: Empowerment Center × Research Institute for Women and Careers”

The 4th “women-only gathering” jointly sponsored by Tokyo Woman’s Christian University Empowerment Center and Research Institute for Women and Careers was held from 7 p.m. on July 13, 2018, at Omotesando Nasic Hall.

During the first session, Yumiko Kamada delivered a talk on “Just Do It”. She graduated from Japan Women’s University and at first she had worked at East Japan Railway Company and worked on a new model from the environmental plan of a station to merchandising and now an executive officer of Calbee Inc.

During the second session, a casual networking meeting was held with beverages and snacks.

The participants were almost 50 people, and they had a good time there and hoped the next gathering.

This gathering started as building a network of the alumni beyond generations and has been gradually established.

Lecture: “ The realities of work-life balance in double-income household in the United States”

Date : 22nd May, 2018

Place : Room A4, National Graduate Institute For Policy Studies(GRIPS), 7-22-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo

Lecturer: Ms. Brigid Schulte, Director, The Good Life Initiative/ Better Life Lab at New America

Ms. Brigid Schulte is a journalist and author, who writes widely for publications including The Washington Post, Slate, Time.com, the Guardian and others. She was a long-time staff writer for the Washington Post and Washington Post magazine, where she won a number of reporting and writing awards and was part of the team that won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize. She came to Japan in order to report on the overwork death in Japan as Abe Journalism Fellow. Under her 2015 New York Times bestselling book,”Overwhelmed: Work, Love and Play  when no one has the time”, she delivered her lecture about the realities of overwork in the U.S.A and the importance of leisure time. After her lecture we shared each other’s thoughts on work-life balance, overwork, and burnout, which was very fruitful.

【Report】Statistical analysis useful for social surveys: SPSS Workshop

Date  :  6th ,7th,9th,10th February ,2017
Place  :  Japan Women’s University (Mejiro campus)    2-8-1 Mejirodai,Bunkyo-ku,Tokyo
Lecturer  :  Professor Kim Myoungjung

 The Research Institute for Women and Careers has held the “Statistical analysis useful for social surveys: SPSS Workshop” for students and staff of the university every year since 2012. This year, the workshop was held in a computer seminar room with the cooperation of the Media Center. In a series of four successive lectures, Kim Myoungjung of the NLI Research Institute spoke about basic knowledge and the basic operations of SPSS, data processing, cross tabulation, and the basics of statistical analysis (regression analysis). As a new experiment this year, the workshop was divided into an Introductory Segment on February 6th (Mon.) and 7th (Tue.) and a Foundation Segment on the 9th (Thu.) and 10th (Fri.), with each session extended by 30 minutes to enhance the proceedings.

 Judging from responses to a questionnaire survey, the workshop was very well received, with feedback including “The speaker’s explanation was easy to understand, with some parts repeated, and that helped me to understand as the workshop progressed” and “Thanks to the very well-explained handouts, this will also be useful in my future research”.

 Other participants already had a little experience of SPSS operation before attending the workshop. Feedback included comments such as “Because it was divided into an Introductory Segment and a Foundation Segment, I was happy to attend the Foundation Session” and “I was able to understand well, because the explanations of how to establish the null hypothesis and how to verify qualitative and quantitative analysis were repeated.”

 

【Report】“Women’s empowerment in Japanese companies”: Empirical analysis on economic policy

Date  :  1st March ,2017
Place  : RIWAC   Japan Women’s University (Mejiro campus)    2-8-1 Mejirodai,Bunkyo-ku,Tokyo
Lecturer  :  Professor Hiromi Ishizuka.

 A comparison with South Korean and Chinese companies and labor markets

 A research meeting was held with Professor Hiromi Ishizuka of Jiyugaoka Sanno College as an invited guest speaker.

 Professor Ishizuka carefully explained work-life situations by gender and job title, analysis of factors behind promotion, and policy issues in Japan, China and South Korea.
 
 This was a very significant research meeting in which challenges for achieving the economic policy of “women’s empowerment” in Japan came into sharp focus, and a lively debate was held on issues including future solutions.

 

【Report】Symposium : Changes in the Family and Care in the New Era (Co-hosted by Public Interest Incorporated Foundation The Institute for Research on Household Economics)

Date  :   10th December,2016
Place  :  Shinsenzan-kan    Japan Women’s University (Mejiro campus)    2-8-1 Mejirodai,Bunkyo-ku,Tokyo


 In today’s “super-aged” society, issues revolving around care for family members have become more pronounced, particularly when it comes to long-term care. Just over 15 years have passed since long-term care insurance came into force, and service options have been improved in that time. On the other hand, the very nature of the family and values have become more diverse, and if we consider factors such as women’s advancement in the workplace and the increasing instability of employment, existing systems premised on the provision of care by family members – particularly by women – are becoming obsolete. What we need is a new style of care in response to these changes to the times and society.
 
 To address such issues, this symposium was held with the aim of appraising the present status and problems of care by live-in and other family carers. These issues were approached from multiple perspectives on new formats of care, including care by male carers (musuko kaigo or care by the son of the recipient) and young persons (young carers), or “double care” combining family care and childcare. Another aim was to consider what sort of family support measures will be required, as well as the future of the super-aged society and family care, based on the realities of family care.

Part 1 Keynote Lecture

  Professor Eiko Horikoshi of Japan Women’s University gave a Keynote Lecture on the theme of “Social support for long-term care providers (carers)”. From a position of engagement with both the “Carers Japan” foundation and the certified NPO corporation “Saitama NPO Center”, Professor Horikoshi discussed situations facing carers, along with specific examples of initiatives in support of long-term care. She also presented data to confirm changes in society over the last 50 years or so, explaining that this is an age when anyone can become a giver or a recipient of long-term care. Finally, Professor Horikoshi described the actual circumstances of carers and stressed the importance of carer support.
 
 Next, four panelists presented reports from various angles on the state of care and issues surrounding it, as well as the type of support required for long-term care. The first report, “The burden of live-in family care” by Saeko Kikuzawa of Hosei University, dealt with the state of family care burdens. Based on data from nationwide surveys by the Japanese government and surveys by the Institute for Research on Household Economics, the report stressed the need to promote the socialization of long-term care in response to new family circumstances.

 The second report, “What I observed as a young carer” by Soka City Councilor Daiki Ide, focused on his own long-term care experience from the age of 16. Mr Ide spoke of the reality that young carers remain “invisible” and of his feeling that he would be “left on his own”, as the lack of institutional support meant that he could not engage in school life or job-hunting activity as his friends did.

 The third report, “How to deal with the growing phenomenon of double care?” by Reiko Satsuka of the NPO corporation Yokohama Community Development Research Center, was based on Ms Satsuka’s own experience of combining childcare with family care, as well as the state of support in the community. The report stressed the importance of understanding care cycles, making combined use of public and private services, and avoiding isolation as ways of coping with double care.

 The fourth report, “Maleness and care: Male nursing and how it is viewed” by Ryo Hirayama of the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology, was based on the results of an interview survey with men who take care of their parents. Particularly interesting findings were that expectations of long-term carers and of the independence of care recipients differ according to gender; if this is not given sufficient consideration, it leads to gender reproduction.


Part 2
 General Discussion
 
 The General Discussion started with answers to questions from the floor. The panelists gave detailed answers, from their own respective viewpoints, to questions on issues such as the content of training for carer supporters, the Carer Support Bill, ways of increasing participants in carer cafés, and important perspectives when supporting long-term carers.

 Finally, it was confirmed that support of long-term carers is premised on the basic principle that high-quality care is provided to the recipients; it is essential that carers themselves should let others know about problem situations, and there should be a discussion on the economic basis for providing care. In sum, this was a meaningful opportunity to consider care from a variety of angles.

【Report】Implications from Ryo Kambayashi and Takao Kato “Good Jobs, Bad Jobs, and the Great Recession: Lessons from Japan’s Lost Decade”

Date  :  27th February ,2017
Place  :  RIWAC    Japan Women’s University (Mejiro campus)    2-8-1 Mejirodai,Bunkyo-ku,Tokyo
Lecturer  :  Professor  Ryo Kambayashi 

 

 A research meeting was held with Professor Ryo Kambayashi of the Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University, as a guest speaker.

 Professor Kambayashi used data to give careful explanations on themes titled “Who does non-regular employment refer to?”, “The background to the increase in non-regular employment” and “Measures to improve treatment in non-regular employment”.

 This was a very useful study meeting, in that it helped us to confirm the definition of non-regular employment, an essential matter when considering women’s careers.

【Report】Ask the Author: Nami Otsuki, Gender Gap in the Workplace: Factors that Hinder Women’s Promotion

Date  :  20th January ,2017
Place  :  RIWAC Japan Women’s University (Mejiro campus)    2-8-1 Mejirodai,Bunkyo-ku,Tokyo
Lecturer  :  Professor Nami Otsuki.

 
 Professor Nami Otsuki of the University of the Sacred Heart, Tokyo, was invited to share the many research results reproduced in her 2015 publication Gender Gap in the Workplace: Factors that Hinder Women’s Promotion, and the knowledge drawn from them. The book examines the issue of how gender gaps in the workplace are created and maintained.

 From Professor Otsuki’s talk, we learned that there is a structure in the workplace that puts women at a disadvantage compared to men, and a mechanism whereby women are excluded from workplaces on premises without clear justification; these then lead to workplace gaps. The talk gave us a better understanding of the fact that introducing wage systems designed to evaluate work performance instead of the ability-based grading system will be an important measure for eliminating gender-based job divisions, along with a re-examination of evaluation standards and other measures.

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