Abstract
It has been 23 years since the enforcement of the Equal Employment Opportunity Law.
During this time, several other measures have been implemented, and the overall working environment
surrounding Japanese women seems to have improved significantly. However, the reality still
exists that the advancement of women in Japan is far behind the levels of other countries. The cause
for this disparity was investigated. One cause is the persistence of stereotyped gender roles within
Japan (“The husband should work outside while the wife stays home with the children.”) Another
cause is the traditional Japanese business culture which expects the employees to work long hours.
These two elements are considered to be the major impediments to the advancement of women engineers
in Japan.
