December 21, 2020
External Evaluation Report for the 2018–2019 Project Results
Name: Miho MitsunariThis document reports the results of an external evaluation of the 2018–2019 project results basedon the attached Report on the Results of the Initiative for Realizing Diversity in the Research
Environment (Advanced Type) Project for 2018–2019.
1) Achieve a recruitment rate of 30% or more for women faculty
Remarks:(i) It is highly regrettable that the goal of achieving a recruitment rate of 30% or more for womenfaculty was not achieved.
(Commendable aspects)- Of the five departments with a retention rate of 10% or less for women faculty (AdvancedEconomics and Business Administration Research Discipline, Science Discipline, Engineering
Discipline, System Informatics Discipline, Maritime Sciences Discipline), the Engineering
Discipline has made active efforts, resulting in a female recruitment rate of 30.8% (data from2019; the same applies hereinafter).
- Requests have been made to the executive division and departmental heads, and discussions arebeing held.
(Issues)- The high recruitment rate of women as academic researchers and assistant professors represents
two opposite aspects. The positive aspect is that active efforts are being made to recruit young
women researchers, while the negative aspect is that young women researchers are experiencing
more instability in employment and finding it difficult to continue research while dealing withlife events (e.g., childbirth). Follow-ups of individual researchers should be conducted regularlyafter their recruitment.
(ii) It is highly commendable that the visualization of gender data, such as retention rate, wascompleted in late 2019.
(Commendable aspects)- The data on the website is easy to access from the Gender Equality Office’s top page.
- Figures and tables are provided for each faculty and are easy to understand.
http://www.office.kobe-u.ac.jp/opge-kyodo-sankaku/data/data/index.html

(Issues)- For further improvement, adding a caption (goal, achieved grade, comparison, etc.) to eachfigure and table would make it even better.
- Providing the following figures and tables would make the website even better:A graph that enables comparison between the percentages of student and faculty
A graph that shows changes in the percentage of women faculty (currently only thenumbers are provided)2) Improve the percentage of women holding higher ranking positions (promotion rate)
Remarks:(i) It is commendable that the promotion rate of women faculty has exceeded the target of 20%.
However, the disparity due to position classification has not been reduced.
(Issues)- The fact that the percentage of female professors varies greatly by department has not been
sufficiently addressed.
- Four of the aforementioned departments with a retention rate of 10% or less for women faculty
have no or one female professor, while the Science Discipline has three female professors.
University-wide efforts should be made to promote women to professorships and/or recruit female
professors. In order for the opinions of a minority to be reflected in organizational decisions, apercentage of at least 30%, or at least three persons in numerical terms, is necessary. Thus, in thecurrent situation, it is assumed that women’s opinions are hardly reflected in departmentaldecisions. Even the faculty with the lowest percentage of women students, that is the Faculty ofEngineering, has a percentage of 15.9%. Therefore, there is a significant imbalance between thepercentage of women students and the percentage of women faculty. This means that the womenstudents do not have a role model to follow, and there are concerns that this may make it difficult
to gather female candidates as birthrates decline even further.
(ii) Overall, it is commendable that the percentage of women holding executive positions isincreasing.
(iii) It is highly commendable that the target for women faculty dispatched overseas has beenachieved.
(Commendable aspects)- In late 2018, the Preparatory Program for Participating in the PI Training Program was launched
as a preparatory program for long-term overseas dispatch, and eight researchers, including
assistant professors, have participated in it. Moreover, the researchers are from various fields andnot concentrated in a particular field.
- One lecturer who participated has been promoted to associate professor, serving as an effectiverole model.
(Issues)- Domestic and international travel has been greatly restricted due to the COVID-19 pandemic,
but this has led to developments in online research exchange. Going forward, new ways topromote international exchange, such as through supporting online collaborative research, should
be considered.
3) Increase the base of next-generation young researchers
Remarks:(i) It is highly commendable that the International Human Resource Exchange Program has been
consistently implemented, and that its outcomes are published and shared through reports, etc.
(ii) It is commendable that consistent efforts are being made to reach out to junior high schooland high school girls. Relevant initiatives include open events for high school girls who haveaspirations for studying in STEM areas and the Kansai-kagakujuku for junior high school girls.
(Issues)- It would be even better if the effects of these initiatives targeting junior high school and highschool girls were shown in data, such as data on their future course of study.
4) Enhance the diversity environment and expand it beyond the university
Remarks:(i) It is highly commendable that all the goals have been achieved.
(ii) It is highly commendable that the university intends to build on the Diversity Fund’s target of
50 million yen to ensure project continuity. However, the fund’s achievements are unclear. Theleaflet is very well designed: it is easy to understand and contains the Kobe University DiversityStatement.
(Issues)- The status of the fund raised is difficult to grasp. In an article of the Kobe University Fund, it isstated that a donation of 6.03 million yen was made in 2019, but a link to this article is notprovided on the Gender Equality Office’s website. In order to allow verification of futureachievements, fund-related data and outcomes need to be visualized.
https://www.kobe-u.ac.jp/documents/info/kikin/kikin_houkoku2019.pdf

5) Verification of the results and evaluation of the Overseas Dispatch Program for Women
Researchers
Remarks:(i) The data confirms that the research achievements of participants of the Overseas Dispatch
Program for Women Researchers have been increasing, which is highly commendable.
(ii) It is commendable that an article on the Presentation Session for the 2018 Overseas Dispatch
Program for Women Researchers and Support for Collaborative Research is posted on the website.
(Issues)- Most users of the Long Term Overseas Visit Program for Young Researchers are men. The
relationship between this program and the Overseas Dispatch Program for Women Researchers
should be made clearer.
https://www.kobe-u.ac.jp/NEWS/info/2020_02_20_01.html
6) Overall remarks (please also write any remarks regarding the Measures Addressing Issues
Identified in the 2018 External Evaluation)
Remarks:(i) Most of the issues identified in the 2018 external evaluation have been addressed. This
indicates a determination to tackle the issues, and represents a highly commendable attitude.
Further efforts are expected regarding issues that have not yet been addressed, including thosethat were identified again in the present evaluation report.
(ii) Overall, the program has made achievements such as improvement in terms ofinternationalization and research capabilities. It is commendable that these achievements areconsistently leading to the empowerment of young female researchers.
(iii) The realization of Society5.0 and the SDGs is an international challenge as well as a challenge
for Japan's industry, universities, and government, and requires a collaborative approach
involving both STEM and non-STEM fields. The Basic Act on Science and Technology wasrevised to include provisions pertaining to non-STEM fields. Initiatives should be implemented
even further toward creating a research environment that will not only lead to the development ofwomen researchers in STEM fields but also promote active exchange between women researchers
in both STEM and non-STEM fields.