Women in higher education

The high level of admissions of women into higher education in Japan is analysed in the context of examining revised views about the higher education of women resulting from changes in the traditional view of the relationship between higher education and social values. Despite the shift in women's educational expectations, there is still clear evidence that a 'gender track' continues; typically men congregate in four year institutions whilst women focus on Junior Colleges and on particular courses of study deemed to be appropriate for women. The 'gender track' is further demonstrated by detailed studies of the Junior College and the Women's College. Women's employment opportunities are shown to have been affected by restrictive attitudes of employers which tended in the past to impose on women particular modes of employment. The reasons for the emergence of a change in these attitudes in the latter part of the 1980s are explored and the impact of the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1986 is examined. The article concludes by considering the wider implications for women, both in the work-place and in society more generally of these developments. It is noted that highly educated Japanese women tend to hold more conservative values and may see their education as an expression of their social status rather than a way of increasing their earning power. The recent establishment of a number of courses in Women's Studies may well have an influence upon future developments in ideas about women and higher education in Japan.