Research objectives and background information
How does the Japan labour market react in the face of global economic change and its weak domestic economy? What impacts are brought by the change in labour market? How does this change reflect or challenge the existing gender regime in workplace?
This study mainly focuses on how gender role plays part in the change of employment structure, stressing on the increasing number of agency temp workers (haken shain) in Japan. Upon the collapse of bubble economy in the late 1980s, Japan has undergone a revolutionary change in its employment structure. The most significant change is that the common life-long employment contract in the past is no longer offered to employees while numerous new forms of employment contracts emerged, including haken shain and freeters, and its figures has kept rising over the years (Kyodo, 2013).
On the other hand, gender regime which defines the pattern of gender arrangements in any specific social structure in any given period (Connell, 2002) has been the major field of study in the anthropology of Japan as there is always a strict and clear division of gender role at all dimensions of life. In workplace, the domination of masculinity is displayed and the perception of men being breadwinners of the family as well as the contributors of the economy grants them high social status. Yet, with the change of economy mentioned above together with the increase of females taking up managerial positions, the privilege status of salarymen is under challenge (Mai, 2007). Hence, social scientists have started to raise doubts on whether the declining number of regular workers and the growing population as non-regular job holders, including haken shain, is actually a ph...
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The salaryman was a product’ of modern Japanese capitalist system, where power, authority and possession were the signify of a ‘real man’, a sort of corporate soldier who had a primary influence in Japanese society. The salaryman came to substitute the soldier’s hegemonic influence, in fact he exhibits militaristic connotations, mainly because the salaryman has an essential role in the state’s objective of economic growth. Hence the salaryman is overloaded with work, he almost put corporate interests before family, as he barely engages with his family, in fact the salaryman is reluctant to go home as he feels a bit estranged at home. As Dasgupta continues to explain, the salaryman was not only the ideal man but the ‘ideal citizen’, he has to deal with every-day problems such as jam-packed transports, work-related illness, competition, frequent job transfers and long hours shifts, on the other hand there are benefits such as long weekends (spent playing golf), business trips and economic stability (Dasgupta, 2013). The sarariiman is a heterosexual male, monotonous, office worker and family provider, with one or two children (Roberson & Suzuki, 2003) . Commonly the salaryman possesses these characteristics: middle class graduate, loyal, diligent, fully dedicated to the paternalist corporation (referring to the permanent relation between the corporate and the worker), well-groomed
In February 2015, Ellen Pao’s lawsuit against Kleiner Perkins, a venture capital firm, for gender discrimination went on trial. Pao alleged that she had been treated unfairly by her ex-bosses and passed on numerous times for promotion in favor of her male counterparts. While Pao did not win her lawsuit, the trial brought back to light the problem of gender discrimination and of the glass ceiling in corporate America. Since women started to enter the workforce, there always have been barriers and obstacles that prevented them from reaching the higher ranks on the corporate ladder. Public recognition that there was indeed a problem of discrimination helped giving women assurance
Harbridge, R. and Walsh, P. (2002), Globalisation and labour market deregulation in Australia and New Zealand: Different approaches, similar outcomes, Employee Relations, 24(4): 423-436.
Gender, as socially constructed differences between men and women and the beliefs and identities that support difference and inequality, is also present in all organizations (Gender & Society). It has been known that most women have continued to stick to the traditional jobs because it is just easier to do so. They do it to avoid any hardship in the work place and discrimination when applying for a job or working for a company. Non-traditional careers and jobs for woman are hard to find and when hired woman are segregated to the wage gap. Class relations in the workplace, such as supervisory practices or wage-setting processes, were shaped by gendered and sexualized attitudes and assumptions (Gender & Society). For example, in the work place managers were almost always men; the lower-level white-collar workers were always women (Gender &
The characteristics and behaviors associated with men and women are called gender roles. Gender can also be interpreted as the social, psychological, and cultural interpretation of biological sex. Gender as a social construct has been a term throughout history that explains the social distinction between men and women and is reinforced in social interactions. The crisis of the global economy brings about gender dimensions and different meanings for men and women in society. Men and women have been hierarchy organized and valued. Throughout the 19th century, women’s contributions to society were regarded as less significant than those of men. Stereotypes were put on genders, which included assertive, strong, and competitive for masculinity and submissive, weak, and emotional for femininity. Gender inequality arose as economic crisis took place throughout the 19th century. The changing conditions of work in the global state impacted the roles for men and women and many feminists started to challenge the idea that “biology is destiny”. With post-Fordism, a new gender order emerged, and Women occupied a broader place in the work force. However, sexism is still prevalent in society to some extent whether it’s unconscious or conscious and affects the lives of many women.
Culture is a big influencer in how women are perceived in the workplace; generally the cultural stereotype of a woman belonging in the home causes women’s work to be devalued. As previously mentioned in Cuba these gender stereotypes are incredibly prevalent and can explain why women are paid less for the same work. Across the world this mindset prevails, in Korea a study done on laborers showed that even with no difference in education between the sexes, there was still a devaluation of women’s work. “This study indicate that the theories of culturally given gender stereotypes and labor market risk/cost are more likely to explain the remaining gender difference in labor earnings and other employment conditions.” (Lee, Cho, Lee, 2001,
In Japanese culture, it was a common ideal to view women as incompetent of being the head of a household (Yoshimi 200). Asian Women were subjected to discriminatory attitudes towards them by men, which left them with almost no opportunity to avoid a life in low social classes. In 19th century Japanese society, an unmarried woman was no doubly associated with low-end occupations that had significantly low wages (Yoshimi 70). The disadvantages associated with being a woman of a low social stature created an unfortunate history of prostitution among Japa...
The Fifteen-Year War was a time of great turmoil and uncertainty in Japan. Various facets of the country were tested and driven to their limits. During the occupation, race and gender began to evolve in ways that had not exactly be seen before. War had a tremendous impact on every part of the life of a Japanese citizen. Both men and women began to fill roles that were completely novel to them. Race became a part of the definition of who people were. As the war progressed and American troops landed on Japanese soil for occupation, more drastic changes occurred. Economic hardship and rations befell the people of the Land of the Rising Sun. Prostitution began to rear its ugly head and rape transpired. Through memory, research, and vivid creativity, the evolution of Japan during the Fifteen-Year War can be analyzed with great scrutiny.
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There is a contrast between ‘core’ permanent workforce and ‘peripheral’ non-permanent. The general idea is that an increasing mixture of non-standard employment forms will be more efficient and cheaper.
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Discrimination in workplaces is a prevalent issue that is much discussed about all around the world. Gender biasness has become a norm in our everyday life almost in every part of the world. Even the developing countries are not spared from its occurrences but the numbers of cases are lesser as compared to those in the developing and least developed countries. There are different forms in which discrimination may be evident at workplaces. Workplace discrimination is defined as giving an unfair advantage or disadvantage to the members of the particular group in comparison to the members of other groups. This can be exemplified by the wide earning gap that is observed as a universal trend between the average monthly earnings of a men and women. A woman's average page would be consistently lower than a man's. Individuals with equal productivity receive different amount of wages and its is seen to be systematically correlated with certain non-economic characteristics like gender, which would be further discussed in the essay. Despite notable changes in work, meaningful differences in ...