2024 Volume 31 Pages 48-68
The small number of female researchers in Japan, particularly in higher-level career positions, presents a social issue. Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology launched the Program to Support the Research Activities of Female Researchers in 2006 to address this issue. However, considering the existing data, the program has yet to prove its effectiveness. In this paper, we discuss the findings of interviews conducted with 13 female researchers who participated in the Higher Position Development Program implemented by universities involved in the national program. These interviews provided information about the researchers’ motivations for participating in the program and the changes they experienced. By conducting and surveying these interviews, we came to the following conclusions. (i) The programs have had a positive effect on the career development of female researchers. (ii) The correlative relationship between the effectiveness of the program and the researchers’ motivations for participating was weak. Positive effects for career development could be expected even when the motivation was negative. (iii) Interview participants do not necessarily define “career development” with becoming a professor or manager. Based on the findings, this paper proposes the following suggestions. (1) Improve female researchers’ research and working environments, including professors and managers. (2) Create a career map including various research-related career paths. (3) Innovate the evaluation method of researchers.
