The University of Tokyo has announced a plan to hire a total of 300 new female professors and associate professors by FY2027. This is the largest recruitment of female faculty members at the University of Tokyo to date.

The University of Tokyo has set a goal of increasing the percentage of female faculty members to 25% or more by FY2027 in order to increase the diversity of its faculty members, but as of May this year, the percentage remained at around 16%.

In response, the University of Tokyo has announced a plan to hire a total of 306 new female faculty members (141 professors and 165 associate professors) over six years from the current fiscal year through the 2027 academic year.

This is the largest recruitment of female faculty members at the University of Tokyo to date, and the university states that "we would like to support the career development of female researchers as well as work on awareness reform to incorporate diverse viewpoints.”

The OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) conducted a survey of its member countries in 2020 and found that the average percentage of female faculty members working at universities and other institutions of higher education was approximately 45%, while the percentage in Japan was approximately 30%, remaining at a globally low level. It will be interesting to see if initiatives such as the University of Tokyo's will have an impact on other universities.

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Source: https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20221127/k10013904891000.html