Last year, several medical schools in Japan were found to have manipulated exam results to give first-time male applicants an advantage over women and others who had previously failed the exam. Many medical schools, including Tokyo Medical University, admitted to having favored male applicants over women. Hiroyuki Daida, a medical school dean even defended the actions, saying that because women mature faster than men and had better communication skills, “this was a measure designed to help male applicants”.
The sexist antics drew criticism from around the world after it was revealed last August that Tokyo medical colleges had rigged exam scores for more than a decade. The report also stated that the policy was in place because of concerns that women doctors would not give birth to children.
In 2016, only 21.1% of all doctors in Japan were women, the lowest level among nations G7 countries while Britain had the highest proportion, followed by Germany, France, and Canada.
This year, Juntendo University,, one of the medical schools that admitted to rigging exams, publicly stated that out of the all the women who took its medical school entrance exam earlier this year, 8.28% had passed. Only 7.72% of the male candidates passed the examination. The university stated that the abolishment of the unfair treatment of women contributed to their improved entrance exam scores.
不正があると言われていた医学部の女子合格率が軒並み急上昇し、男子を超えたらしいが、合格率の高さはむしろ別の女性差別が根強いことを示している。女子は浪人や受験校で男子に比べて親や社会から課される制約が大きく、挑戦校受験を控える傾向にあるためだ。https://t.co/4qtDUgS7DC
— 勝部元気 Genki Katsube (@KTB_genki) 2019年6月19日
