Japan Becomes More Aware of Importance of Diversity - Building Gender Balanced Business

Diversity is a recognised concept for 84% of respondents in a recent survey of more than 10,000 workers in Japan conducted by the non-profit Diversity and Inclusion organisation, GEWEL.

But only 52% of the respondents understood the full meaning of diversity and 16% did not know what it was at all.

The percentage of managers in Japan who are women was 6.6% in 1985, rose very slightly to 10.1% in 2005 and by 2007 had declined by about a percentage point to 9.2%.

Awareness of diversity is growing in Japan, as the survey shows, but there is still a long way to go before companies there utilise the other half of the talent pool efficiently.

Some of the other findings of the survey

• Over 44% of the respondents agreed that there is a link between diversity and corporate performance;

• The respondents who understood the meaning of diversity tended to also display greater levels of job satisfaction and loyalty to their company;

• 45% said they worked to support their families while 12% said they did so because they wanted to do the work;

• 56% of men said they wanted to become a manager while only 20% of the women said they did;

• 41% of men said they had a role model compared with 35% of women;

• 35% of men agreed it was difficult to raise children while working, compared with 29% of women;

• 50% of men said there was equal status between men and women while only 39% of the women agreed with this statement;

• 71% of the men said they would want to work until retirement age compared with 42% of the women.

Click here for more details on the survey.

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