Download or read book Why Such Few Women in Leadership Positions in Japan? written by Kohei Asao and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2024-07 with total page 20 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The share of women in managerial and leadership roles in Japan – in both the public and private sector – are among the lowest across the globe. This paper empirically examines what drives these large gender gaps in leadership in Japan, using the SVAR model. Results suggest — (i) cultural norms where women take up significantly more burden of household and childcare work; (ii) Japan’s unique employment practices (non-regular employment, long in-person working hours); and (iii) the availability of childcare facilities — are the key drivers. Further progress on workstyle reforms, more flexible labor markets, improving the quality of childcare facilities, and raising paternity leave usage will help close these gaps.