Gender inequality, labor markets and employment in contemporary Japan

Day 1: Women’s Economic Participation in the 20th Century: Japan in Broad Historical Perspective Claudia Goldin. "The U-Shaped Female Labor Force Participation Function in Economic Development and Economic History.” Read pp. 61-68, 85-88. Day 2: How Women Entered the White-Collar Sector Mary C. Brinton. 2007. “Gendered Offices: A Comparative-Historical Examination of Clerical Work in Japan and the U.S.” In The Political Economy of Low Fertility: Japan in Comparative Perspective, edited by Frances McCall Rosenbluth. Stanford: Stanford University Press. Day 3: Japan’s “Dual Labor Market”: How Do Women Fit In? Yashiro Naohiro. 2011. “Myths about Japanese Employment Practices: An Increasing Insider-Outsider Conflict of Interests.” Contemporary Japan 23: 133-155. Day 4: The Effect of Dual Labor Markets on Gender and Family Mary C. Brinton and Dong-Ju Lee. 2016. “Gender-Role Ideology, Labor Market Institutions, and Post- industrial Fertility.” Population and Development Review 42, 3: 405-433. Day 5: Types of Discrimination Cass Sunstein.1991. “Why Markets Don’t Stop Discrimination.” Social Philosophy and Policy 8, 2: 22-37. Day 6: The Effect of Overwork on Gender and Family Youngjoo Cha. 2010. “Reinforcing Separate Spheres: The Effect of Spousal Overwork on Men’s and Women’s Employment in Dual-Earner Households.” American Sociological Review 75, 2: 303-329. Day 7: Parental Leave and Other Work-Family Policies Mary C. Brinton and Eunmi Mun. 2016. “Between State and Family: Managers’ Implementation and Evaluation of Parental Leave Policies in Japan.” Socio-Economic Review 14, 2: 257-281. Day 8: Women in Management Positions Makiko Fuwa. 2021. “Women Managers’ Impact on Use of Family-Friendly Measures among Their Subordinates in Japanese Firms.” Work, Employment, and Society 35, 4: 716-734.

The class will be taught in English, and I will use powerpoint slides to show the main points as I lecture. The slides will be made available to students after each class. Questions during class and group discussions may be held in either English or Japanese. After each class, students will be asked to write down a few questions to send to Professor Brinton for use in group discussions at the beginning of the next class.

Attendance (50 points), short assignments (discussion questions submitted to the instructor) (50 points)

『縛られる日本人: 人口減少をもたらす「規範」を打ち破れるか』(Chūō Kōron Shinsha, 2022).

Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Japan, edited by Hiroko Takeda and Mark Williams. 2021. Chapter 5: Work and Employment: Inside, Outside, and Beyond the Lifetime Employment Model, by Steffen Heinrich and Jun Imai; Chapter 10: Family and Demographic Issues in Japan, by Mary C. Brinton; Chapter 22: Gender Equality in Japan, by Priscilla Lambert.

Students should purchase the textbook and skim it (become familiar with it) before the course starts. As we go through the course, I will designate particular chapters that are relevant to each class session. All of the course readings except the textbook will be made available in digital form to students at least one week before the first class session on August 1.