Japanese media: In order to increase the proportion of female teachers, the University of Tokyo will recruit more female professors

Source: Global Times

[Global Times Comprehensive Report] Japan Broadcasting Association TV reported on the 27th that in order to increase the proportion of female teachers, the famous Japanese university The University of Tokyo proposed to hire about 300 new female professors and associate professors by 2027.

reported that as of May this year, the University of Tokyo had employed a total of 4,885 faculty members (including professors, associate professors, lecturers, teaching assistants, etc.), of which only 804 were female faculty members, accounting for 16% of the total. To this end, the University of Tokyo plans to recruit 141 female professors and 165 female associate professors by 2027, increasing the proportion of female faculty members to 25%. In addition, the University of Tokyo also plans to increase the proportion of female students, including graduate schools, to more than 30%. The University of Tokyo will provide part of the personnel cost support for departments that employ female teachers, and is preparing to hire external female teachers at higher salaries than in the past.

The University of Tokyo plans to increase the proportion of female teachers, which has attracted widespread attention from the Japanese media. The Japan Broadcasting Association TV stated that the scale of the University of Tokyo's plan to hire female teachers is unprecedented. According to "Nihon Keizai Shimbun", among the member states of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the average proportion of female teachers in higher education institutions in 2020 is 45%, while Japan is only 30%. At the same time, the proportion of female teachers at the University of Tokyo is 16%, which is also at a relatively low level in Japan. In the field of innovation, teams with diversity and tend to achieve better results. If the proportion of female teachers in the team is very low, it will be difficult to attract outstanding female researchers to join.

Japan's " Asahi Shimbun " editorial member Masutani Fumio positively commented on the large-scale employment of female teachers at the University of Tokyo on social platforms, but also expressed concern, "It is disturbing that outstanding female professors will be concentrated in the University of Tokyo , will lead to fewer female teachers in other universities". He believes that colleges and universities should create an environment for training female teachers from the educational level. "Only by increasing the proportion of female graduate students in all universities can such worries be eliminated. This time, whether the plan proposed by Dongda can increase the rate of female graduate students entering higher education is worthy of attention."