Too Few Women at the Top

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.

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.

Yasemin Besen-Cassino, Montclair State University:

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.

Steven K. Vogel, University of CaliforniaBerkeley, author of Japan Remodeled:

Kumiko Nemoto tackles one of the most critical social and economic issues for Japan today: the role of women in the workplace. She demonstrates how legal institutions, business practices, and social norms combine to produce a distinctively Japanese version of the glass ceiling in Japanese companies. Nemoto gives the analysis a personal touch by reporting the experiences of individual working women in their own words.

Sven Steinmo, European University Institute, author of The Evolution of Modern States:

Kumiko Nemoto has written an important book. Too Few Women at the Top is a fascinating analysis that reveals one of the greatest weaknesses in the once famous 'Japanese Model.' This well-written and thoroughly researched volume not only identifies the unfairness of a society and economy that systematically discriminates against 50 percent of the population but also shows why this is a problem for the future of the economy as it struggles to adapt to an increasingly competitive and interconnected world. This book should not be read as a 'feminist critique' of Japan today; it is instead a carefully written analysis of the Japanese political economy and should be mandatory reading for Japanese policymakers and business leaders alike.

Heidi Gottfried, Wayne State University, author of The Reproductive Bargain:

In Too Few Women at the Top, Kumiko Nemoto explores an enduring empirical and theoretical puzzle regarding the persistence of the lack of full integration of women at all levels of Japanese organizational hierarchies, despite the legal prohibition against sex segregation at the workplace and women's educational achievements.

Susan D. Holloway, University of CaliforniaBerkeley, author of Women and Family in Contemporary Japan:

Despite their high educational attainment, Japanese women remain woefully underrepresented in positions of authority and leadership. In her beautifully written book, Kumiko Nemoto provides a comprehensive analysis of the legal, political, and economic forces that reinforce sex segregation in corporate Japan. Nemoto skillfully intertwines her analysis with findings from her compelling in-depth interviews with men and women in five companies, showing how structural constraints reinforce and exacerbate essentialist cultural narratives about men's and women’s capabilities. This book is a must-read for scholars interested in a deeply authoritative account of the barriers that women face in contemporary capitalist countries and a clear-eyed analysis of the institutional changes needed to support an integrated and equitable society.