What prevents public and private workers in Japan from recognizing gender inequality?
| Author | Norma M. Riccucci,Shugo Shinohara,Yahong Zhang |
| Published date | 01 December 2018 |
| Date | 01 December 2018 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/0020852316660624 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
International Review of
Administrative Sciences
2018, Vol. 84(4) 711–728
!The Author(s) 2016
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DOI: 10.1177/0020852316660624
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International
Review of
Administrative
Sciences
Article
What prevents public and
private workers in Japan from
recognizing gender inequality?
Shugo Shinohara
Rutgers University at Newark, USA
Yahong Zhang
Rutgers University at Newark, USA
Norma M. Riccucci
Rutgers University at Newark, USA
Abstract
Although the percentage of women in Japan’s workforce has increased substantially over
the last 30 years, gender inequality in terms of income and position has persisted.
A major problem is the lack of consciousness around gender inequality in society.
Our study aims to explore the factors, particularly the Japanese style of management
and cultural norms, that prevent workers in the public and private sectors from recog-
nizing gender inequality. The Working Life Survey data collected from 1999 to 2011
were used for empirical analysis. The research finds that while there are no significant
differences in the perceptions of gender inequality between public workers and their
private counterparts, the factors influencing their consciousness of gender inequality do
differ. The article also discusses the implications of our findings for efforts to promote
gender equality throughout the Japanese workforce.
Points for practitioners
Gender equality in the Japanese workplace is considerably low in a global context.
Despite substantial gender gaps, the Working Life Survey of 1999–2011 reveals that
32.4% of 9231 workers answered that different treatment based on gender in Japanese
workplaces is ‘‘fair’’ or ‘‘almost fair.’’ Examining these data, the study finds that there are
no significant differences in the consciousness of gender inequality between public
workers and their private counterparts. In addition, while distinctive Japanese manage-
ment practices are influential on private workers’ consciousness of gender inequality,
they do not affect that of public workers.
Corresponding author:
Shugo Shinohara, School of Public Affairs and Administration, Rutgers University at Newark, 111 Washington
Street, Newark, NJ 07102, USA.
Email: ss1947@scarletmail.rutgers.edu
Keywords
consciousness of gender inequality, gender, Japan, public–private comparison
Introduction
The international community of public administration has long addressed gender
equality in government workforces from a variety of perspectives, including pay
and status (e.g. Guy, 1993; Lortie-Lussier and Rinfret, 2005; Riccucci, 2009), job
performance (e.g. Andrews and Miller, 2013; Park, 2012), and representative bur-
eaucracy (e.g. Groeneveld and Van de Walle, 2010; Keiser et al., 2002; Meier and
Nicholson-Crotty, 2006). Compared with these main strands, however, far less
attention has been given to the perception or consciousness of gender inequality.
Yet, the consciousness of gender inequality within labor forces is the necessary
foundation for the promotion of gender equality in the workplace. Especially in
those countries where ignorance or apathy toward gender discrimination has been
persistent, the promotion of gender equality cannot be achieved without raising the
consciousness of gender inequality.
This article examines the consciousness of gender inequality in public and pri-
vate workforces in Japan, which holds relatively low levels of gender equality in a
global context.
1
Japan has been strongly influenced by Confucianism, which stres-
ses a hierarchical societal structure with subordinates’ obedience to superiors and
men’s dominance over women and children (Sugihara and Katsurada, 2002).
Previous comparative studies of gender role attitudes between Japan and
Western countries, including the US, Germany, and Nordic countries, revealed
that Japanese individuals have more traditional attitudes toward women than
those in Western countries (Melkas and Anker, 2003; Morinaga et al., 1993;
Trommosdorff and Iwawaki, 1989). Furthermore, unlike the public sector in the
US, the Japanese public sector has been slow compared to the private sector to
promote women to key decision-making positions (Cabinet Office, 2014; Martin,
2003). Holding a legacy from the pre-war imperial government, Japanese bureau-
cracy has been described as a remarkably powerful institution in the English-lan-
guage literature (e.g. Cicco, 1975; Koh, 1989; Tsurutani, 1998). Thus, the impact of
gendered public management on the whole society could never be negligible. We
believe that investigating the perceptions of gender inequality in the public and
private workplaces of Japan can provide meaningful insights into effective gender
equality policy for non-Western patriarchal societies.
The article first provides a chronological overview of gender equality in Japanese
management and relevant legislation. It then addresses the research question: what
factors prevent public and private workers in Japan from recognizing gen-
der inequality? In identifying the factors, we draw on the Japanese government’s
priority fields of its gender equality plan, along with the pertinent literature.
The Working Life Survey (WLS) data collected from 1999 to 2011 are used to
test the significance of the hypothesized factors with ordered logistic models.
712 International Review of Administrative Sciences 84(4)
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