Despite increasing university enrollment, gender disparities in fields like engineering remain, as a student reflects on her discomfort at an open campus.
I was thinking about going to engineering school, but… “I can’t be the only girl in the lab!” A feeling of discomfort I felt at an open campus
The rate of university enrollment continues to reach new highs every year, and the rate of enrollment between men and women, which once had a large gap between the parent generation, is also shrinking. However, there are still some areas where gender disparities are evident. Examples of this include the Faculty of Engineering and other science and technology faculties. The proportion of female students is particularly low, and in an effort to improve this situation, national universities are taking measures such as setting up “women’s quotas.” “Is it because many students are not good at math?” “Is it because they can’t imagine what kind of jobs they could get in such a field?” Beyond these “images,” there are more serious reasons why female students give up on studying science and engineering. ■Receiving a warm welcome at an open campus…a strange feeling
Mr. A (a teenager living in the Kanto region) studied at a private preparatory school that offered both junior and senior high school education, and continued to study with the aim of getting into a top university. The school has an almost equal ratio of boys and girls. Many students aim to enter medical school, and there seems to be no impression that boys or girls are better or worse at math or science subjects. Mr. A himself was good at mathematics and physics, and was vaguely considering studying in a science or engineering faculty in the future. However, a certain incident caused me to eliminate engineering from my options. It happened during the summer vacation of my first year of high school, when I was invited by a friend from cram school to attend an open campus event. Mr. A, who had been interested in the Department of Mechanical Engineering in the Faculty of Engineering, attended the Faculty of Engineering orientation, where he received a warm welcome from the university professors and staff. “In the Faculty of Engineering, we will create a quota for women in the comprehensive selection process to increase the number of women studying science. Please apply!”
It was clear that the students put more effort into their explanations than the male students who were also lining up at the question booth, and A became worried, thinking, “Do we have to go to such lengths to get girls in…?” She was surprised when she heard the percentage of female students admitted. Although the percentage varies by a few percentage points depending on the department, the female student rate is around 10%. The same could be said for the research labs we visited later on our campus tour; out of a dozen or so students, there were only one or two women at most. Seeing this, Mr. A felt that something was not possible. When I got home, I told my mother about my impressions. ■”I know that you sometimes stay up late doing research. Honestly, I’m worried.”
Mr. A’s mother graduated from a national university. The campus was home to both liberal arts and science faculties, and he says he interacted with students from a variety of faculties through club activities. However, when it comes to female students in the engineering and science faculties, he says: “Science students often spend a lot of time in the lab, right? I often heard stories of people coming home late, or even sleeping overnight in the lab.”
“When my mom attended, even the law and economics faculties were only about 30% female, but even so, there was never a situation where a girl was the only one in a seminar. However, girls in the engineering and science faculties seemed to have a hard time making friends. If it’s a field you really want to pursue, I won’t stop you and I want to support you, but to be honest, I’m worried.”
After hearing this, A began to think about whether to go to a private university with a relatively high ratio of female students, or to choose a science department with a high ratio of female students, such as architecture or chemistry. ■The number of women is increasing at the forefront of engineering departments at well-known private universities
In recent years, the popularity of IT and other technical jobs has increased, and the number of female students interested in science and engineering faculties has been steadily increasing. At private universities with a relatively large number of female students on campus, the proportion of female students in science and engineering faculties is also increasing. For example, at Waseda University’s School of Advanced Science and Engineering, approximately 30% of undergraduate students in the 2024 academic year will be female. Mr. A, mentioned earlier, also said, “I would like at least 20%, or about one in five, to be girls.” The establishment of “women’s quotas” in the science and engineering faculties of national universities may prove valuable as it provides reassurance that the number of female students will definitely increase. [Reference]
▽Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology/Overview of FY2025 National and Public University Admissions Selection
▽Waseda University/Information about students.
Just to be a research subject.
That’s naive.
There’s usually only one in the department lol.
Nothing really happens lol
In fact, something is more likely to happen if there are only men.
Motoori Norinaga was originally a doctor, but he was transferred to Japanese studies because it was not the kind of job a respectable man would do
I wouldn’t be surprised if it was the other way around for girls.
>I won’t stop you if it’s a field you really want to pursue
>I want to support you, but to be honest, I’m worried
She’s a very fictional mother
Well, I guess she does have a fictional tone.
You’re going because you want to study, right?
Do they decide based on the number of people of each gender?
If there was only one guy in the lab, I’d be thrilled to go to college. I don’t understand.
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