Too Few Women at the Top

The number of women in positions of power and authority in Japanese companies has remained small despite the increase in the number of educated women and the passage of legislation on gender equality. In Too Few Women at the Top, Kumiko Nemoto draws on theoretical insights regarding Japan's coordinated capitalism and institutional stasis to challenge claims that the surge in women's education and employment will logically lead to the decline of gender inequality and eventually improve women's status in the Japanese workplace.

Nemoto's interviews with diverse groups of workers at three Japanese financial companies and two cosmetics companies in Tokyo reveal the persistence of vertical sex segregation as a cost-saving measure by Japanese companies. Women's advancement is impeded by customs including seniority pay and promotion, track-based hiring of women, long working hours, and the absence of women leaders. Nemoto contends that an improvement in gender equality in the corporate system will require that Japan fundamentally depart from its postwar methods of business management. Only when the static labor market is revitalized through adoption of new systems of cost savings, employee hiring, and rewards will Japanese women advance in their chosen professions. Comparison with the situation in the United States makes the author's analysis of the Japanese case relevant for understanding the dynamics of the glass ceiling in U.S. workplaces as well.

Kumiko Nemoto is Professor in the Department of Global Affairs at Kyoto University of Foreign Studies. She is the author of Racing Romance: Love, Power, and Desire among Asian American/White Couples.

A closely analyzed, thoroughly researched, and well-written study.... I thank Nemoto for what is in fact a powerful feminist critique of Japanese corporate culture.

Overall, this is a well-researched and engaging book that focuses on an important social problem. The author offers rich qualitative data and uncovers the economic and social mechanisms through which gender inequality is reinforced and reproduced in everyday life. She points to structural problems in Japanese firms such as seniority-based hiring and promotions instead of performance-based hiring and promotions, cultural biases among male and female workers based on gender stereotypes, lack of governmental programs to enable work-family responsibilities for workers, and limited legal options for workers who face discrimination in the workplace. It is a nuanced and comprehensive study of gender inequality in the workplace in contemporary Japan with important policy recommendations. Her in-depth interviews and clear writing style make it accessible to a wider audience. Too Few Women at the Top is a welcome addition to the literature on gender inequality and would be of interest to academics and policy makers of gender inequality in the workplace.