A lot has been made of Womenomics, Abe’s program to improve the work situation for women in Japan. And although many challenges remain, statistically it has worked and Japan is now average in several measures of women workforce participation and advancement. But how does Japan’s workplace reality compare, including also with Europe? Clearly, Japan’s business environment continues to be different from the West, with tighter social norms, more rigid hierarchies, and entrenched habits. Although Japanese women face similar workplace challenges as women everywhere, they have to find different ways to change their work settings and remove obstacles of social expectations and subconscious bias. Join Karen Shire, Director of the Center for Gender Research at UDE in Germany, and Saki Tomita, Manager at TEPCO Ventures in Tokyo, to discuss what is changing, how Japan compares, and what working women in Japan do to “lean in” and change their work environments.

Speakers:
• Karen Shire, Professor of Comparative Sociology, Director, College for Gender Research, University Duisburg-Essen, Germany
• Saki Tomita, Manager, TEPCO Ventures, Inc.
• Ulrike Schaede, Professor and Director of the Japan Forum for Innovation and Technology, GPS UC San Diego