More women in business community turn to networking

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9 Comments

sf2k at 09:07 AM JST - 28th October

a white paper on women’s labor said the rate of women discontinuing their businesses is two times higher than men.

I found this article misleading and erroneous. Fearing profit goes a long way towards failing in business. Focusing on a core business idea is also key but it should not be pigeon holed as a gender issue. How is this any less divisive? Listen to your business about what you need to do, not your gender. The two are not related at the decision level. This is called business-minded and is not exclusive to one gender or another.
dbung10 at 10:21 AM JST - 28th October

80% of women said men are more favorably treated than women I wonder if the same poll has ever been done visa-versa? Im pretty sure you would get a similar result.
marushka at 07:39 PM JST - 28th October

I don’t like these articles like “ women don’t get”, “ women feel like discouraged “ etc. it should be not a gender issue, but skills issue. Don’t get why women should be promoted only… because they are women:)
womanforwomen at 08:29 PM JST - 28th October

Stop complaining and giving excuses ladies. Just go and work and remember that no matter what, women can do certain things and cannot do certain things. Be yourself and stop trying to be a 'man'. I like the sentiments expressed by marushka.
roninnico at 12:55 AM JST - 29th October

I'm sorry but I think you guys are being rather narrow-minded. Surveys and research have proven that there are still huge inequalities between the genders in Japan, in terms of pay, promotion prospects and other issues.

I'm not saying skills or what have you aren't important, but I think this article makes a good point that I suspect many women small business owners are not always treated with the same level of respect by their male counterparts.
Azrael at 02:29 AM JST - 29th October

I agree with roninnico. The evidence is written down so, why is it so difficult to acknowledge that Japanese women face inequality in business environment? I take most of posters above do not live in Japan, or if they do they have no access to office and university staff working environment on a regular basis as to grasp the nuances of business culture in Japan.

As a professional from the Western world (setting my points of references here) I can attest that for working women and professional women, Japan is a time warp. Japan is like the Americas in 1960s. The office hierarchies, "polite" discrimination against females in the office, lower glass ceilings, expectations from society for women not to foster life long careers because they are expected to quit their job when they get married and more imperatively when they get pregnant; salary gap, responsibilities women are considered capable of handling... Everything is decades back. Of course women back then in the Americas fought social battles and today there's females in all fields and all kinds of careers, technical and in humanities, medical, law-related and whatnot nearly or at par with men. My country has already seen a female president. My mother is a civil engineer and her generation carved inroads for mine (my sisters are engineers; I am an architect). I have seen situations at the office in Japan that my mother used to tell me happened to women in her generation! (She is 68 years old). I have been aghast quite a few times. I used to think Japanese women had simply given up. Now I glimpse that the difference seems to be, society as a whole (an elderly society at that) resists change and relentlessly undermines their efforts. I may be too generous with this assessment, but I think Japanese women are moving forward. I can only wish Japanese business women good luck.
bdiego at 06:20 AM JST - 29th October

I enjoyed the article except for this part: ‘‘Female presidents have felt that there is something wrong with exchanging information with male presidents who are mostly talking about money-making ideas,’’

Wow, way to make them look like fail.
ThonTaddeo at 06:24 AM JST - 30th October

I'm sorry but I think you guys are being rather narrow-minded. Surveys and research have proven that there are still huge inequalities between the genders in Japan, in terms of pay, promotion prospects and other issues.

There's a huge inequality in the number of people worked to death, too. And in work-related suicide. And in unpaid overtime.
kirakira25 at 02:02 PM JST - 31st October

it should be not a gender issue, but skills issue. Don’t get why women should be promoted only… because they are women:)

I agree with what you say Marushka, and you are right, it should not be a gender issue. But unfortunately it IS. Women should NOT be promoted only because they are women. However, what it happening in many if not most Japanese companies is that they are NOT being promoted because they are women.

I also agree women should stop complaining and giving excuses - but what else are they to do? If they keep quiet and dont complain, then even if they do get out there and work, the status quo that has existed for decades is simply maintained and change doesnt come. I for one would love to see Japanese women raising their voices and demanding change - because that is basically the only way it is going to happen.

One of the biggest problems here I think, and one that is seldom talked about, is that women don`t support each other! Cross-generationally there seems to be an attitude of "housewifery was good enough for me, why should it not be good enough for you?" "What about having children?" "This is the way things should be." Girls are still not raised here to go after what they want, but what they should do according to the previous generation and societies expectations.

And even among women of the same generation, there seems to be an element of jealousy. This is not a phenomenon unique to Japan however, the business corridors of the west are littered with examples of successful women climbing the corporate ladder - and then pulling it up behind them.

Thats why I am pleased to see this kind of networking starting to take place. Change is needed. But it is not going to happen through simple head down, hard work, and a "dont rock the boat" mentality.