1:45 PM - 1:57 PM
[U11-01] Current Status and Future Vision of Diversity and Equality at JpGU
Keywords:diversity, equality, gender
The Japan Geoscience Union (JpGU) has been concerned about gender issues since its foundation, and has set up a Diversity Promotion Committee to address this issue. Nevertheless, the current percentage of women in regular membership of JpGU is only 18.4%. This decreases as the age of the members increases, and it is less than 10% for those in their 50s and older. However, from another perspective, the percentage increases with age, from 16% for those in their 40s to about 26% for those in their 30s and 20s. Furthermore, female students accounted for 30% of the undergraduates and 43.5% of the high school students attending the conference. The percentage of the younger generation is significantly higher than that of the older generation. This may be due to the Basic Act for a Gender Equal Society that was enacted in Japan in 1999. This is evidence that the consciousness of the younger generation in Japan has been changing.
On the other hand, it is well recognized that Japan ranks 121st out of 153 countries in terms of gender equality gap according to the Global Gender Gap Report 2020. This shows that Japanese society is lagging behind the rest of the world in terms of awareness and institutional reform. In particular, although the difference between men and women in terms of the percentage of students who enter universities in Japan is no longer so great, the percentage of women who enter the sciences is only about 30%. This is because there are various factors that prevent women from entering the sciences when deciding on a field of specialization. Without addressing these factors, fundamental improvements cannot be expected. At the same time, it is necessary to evaluate female researchers fairly in the hiring and promotion of researchers.
This term, JpGU has set a numerical target for the percentage of women members on all committees and on all science sections. This is the first attempt to achieve this goal. The target is 30%, and we have asked for a minimum of 20%. Since the ratio of female members of JpGU (excluding graduate students) is 15.5%, this will place an excessive burden on female researchers. But we believe this is an important effort and will continue to do so. The percentage of women among the elected Representative of JpGU is 15%, and that of Directors is 17.4%. We would like to make efforts to increase these percentages. The fact that the JpGU Executive Committee finally has a female Vice-President this term (and one foreign Vice-President) is a small but steady step forward in terms of diversity.
In addition, we are currently considering various aspects, such as establishing Geodethics to curb harassment issues, and starting discussions on the legitimate evaluation of female researchers for awards. JpGU will continue to make every effort to improve the issues of diversity and equality, including activities to communicate the fun of science and careers as researchers to female junior and senior high school students, and efforts to promote the fair evaluation of female researchers.
On the other hand, it is well recognized that Japan ranks 121st out of 153 countries in terms of gender equality gap according to the Global Gender Gap Report 2020. This shows that Japanese society is lagging behind the rest of the world in terms of awareness and institutional reform. In particular, although the difference between men and women in terms of the percentage of students who enter universities in Japan is no longer so great, the percentage of women who enter the sciences is only about 30%. This is because there are various factors that prevent women from entering the sciences when deciding on a field of specialization. Without addressing these factors, fundamental improvements cannot be expected. At the same time, it is necessary to evaluate female researchers fairly in the hiring and promotion of researchers.
This term, JpGU has set a numerical target for the percentage of women members on all committees and on all science sections. This is the first attempt to achieve this goal. The target is 30%, and we have asked for a minimum of 20%. Since the ratio of female members of JpGU (excluding graduate students) is 15.5%, this will place an excessive burden on female researchers. But we believe this is an important effort and will continue to do so. The percentage of women among the elected Representative of JpGU is 15%, and that of Directors is 17.4%. We would like to make efforts to increase these percentages. The fact that the JpGU Executive Committee finally has a female Vice-President this term (and one foreign Vice-President) is a small but steady step forward in terms of diversity.
In addition, we are currently considering various aspects, such as establishing Geodethics to curb harassment issues, and starting discussions on the legitimate evaluation of female researchers for awards. JpGU will continue to make every effort to improve the issues of diversity and equality, including activities to communicate the fun of science and careers as researchers to female junior and senior high school students, and efforts to promote the fair evaluation of female researchers.