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Notes

Aspirations for Career and Marriage among Young Japanese
Women: The Case of Okayama University
Inoue-Smith Yukiko

School of Education, University of Guam, UOG Station, Mangilao, 96923 GuamE-mail: yinouesmith@uguamlive.uog.edu

Abstract
The current study examines young Japanese women’s attitudes toward work and marriage, andthe degrees to which they see their career goals as complementing or conflicting with other aspects of
their lives. The data were collected using a questionnaire-based survey: providing unique information
on awareness of gender differences in workplaces among undergraduate women (N = 577) at a large
national university in Japan. The results are complex: indicating an increase in the numbers of careerminded women, but also that many women still approach their careers in a very conservative way.
This implies that Japan remains far behind many other developed countries in terms of how womenare encouraged to approach their careers, and in how companies make use of female human capital aswell. The results indicate a need to educate both male and female students on these issues in order tosupport female students in their decisions on how to participate in the labor force. Implications of theresults and directions for future research are also discussed.
Key words: career development, Japanese college women, occupational aspiration, sex roles

Introduction
The increasing trend of remaining single in Japan is due to thepostponement of marriage both by those who still believe in the
traditional gender norms as well as those who no longer believe in thosenorms (Matsuda 2005: 5).
In Japan, historically, men have been expected to develop career plans and to achieve
success in their chosen careers, but women have not been encouraged to do so. With theend of high growth in the Japanese economy (and Japan has entered more and more into an
aging society), women are now facing a new challenge. Thus, not only men but also women
have to develop their career plans in order to make optimum use of work life and home lifecombined.

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Received: 23 April, 2013
Accepted: 24 September, 2013

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If one’s career is a total of all events and relationships among family members, friends,
in education, and at work, then one’s college days, and even one’s high school days, arevery important times for thinking about—and developing a plan for—one’s future career.
Note that the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology
is considering a plan to require career education as a high school course (Yomiuri Shinbun2013).
Appearing in a book, titled Advice on Living, for Women, published 40 years ago, thefollowing message was written for women who were close to graduating from universities:“soon you are going to become housewives, mothers, and homemakers, and will have toestablish the way in which your household will be managed” (Tatewaki 1973: 35). As thisquote illustrates, at one time in Japan, women went to universities mainly to enhance theirmarriage prospects: to get married to high ranking officials, for example, and only a limited
number of women could obtain higher education. Furthermore, at that time, women werehighly expected to learn the basics of becoming ‘good mothers’ and ‘wise wives’ throughhigher education.
Many women in Japan currently can pursue higher education and can select from avariety of lifestyles, including working outside the home to earn their own incomes. Yet thetraditional way of thinking (“men are breadwinners and women are homemakers”) rooted
in Japanese conceptions of family life has not much changed. Even today, many Japanesecontinue to expect men to be the sole breadwinners, and for these people, especially,
it becomes difficult to find suitable partners in a situation where males’ employment
environment has deteriorated (Matsuda 2005). In a period supposedly marked by equal
opportunities in employment, many Japanese women, even those with a college degree, stillwant to depend totally on their husbands financially. It worked well during a time when theJapanese economy was growing.
This study therefore seeks to contribute to the quality of life experienced by women:
by examining Japanese undergraduate women’s attitudes toward work and marriage, with afocus on women’s reemployment after raising children. The study was designed especiallyto examine women’s career consciousness: in the hopes of identifying ways of guiding these
women to consonant career plans, and thus, to success in careers over the course of theirlives.

Literature Review
Aging population
Japan’s elderly people now account for a proportion of the nation’s population thatis larger than any other country’s case, and this shows no sign of changing. “The national
birthrate in 2008 was 1.37 children per woman—up from a record low of 1.26 in 2005,
but still nowhere near what the country needs to replenish its population. If current trends
continue, Japan’s population will fall to 95 million by 2050, from about 127 million now”
(Twaronite 2010). (Data on population trends specific to Okayama Prefecture are notavailable.) As of December 2012, the projected population of Japan by 2020 is as follows:Inoue-Smith: Aspirations for Career and Marriage among Young Japanese Women: The Case of Okayama University

43

0-14 years old (145,780,000 or 11.7%); 15-64 (734,080,000 or 59.2%); 65 and over (361,
240,000 or 29.1%); and the mandatory retirement age for most companies in Japan is
60 years old now, and even if the retirement age is extended to 65, 3% of the population
will not be working and will require all kinds of support from family, society, and thegovernment (National Women’s Education Center of Japan 2012).
Japan is also far behind other developed countries in terms of the use of female humancapital in companies and businesses, and Japanese women’s opportunities to contribute toleadership in workplaces are relatively few. For this reason, the roles of women in Japanesecompanies and businesses should be very much improved. However, in the following
opinion by Miyake (cited in National Women’s Education Center of Japan 2012): “theformation of market societies, and the incidence of associated work-life balance challenges
as issues inextricably linked to realization of a gender-equal society before raising issues
pertaining to individual lifestyles and society.”

NEET and late marriage
Getting employed in well known companies has long been viewed in Japan as a symbolof future success especially for male college graduates. But after the economic bubble
burst, the situation of finding employment for college graduates (even those who graduatedfrom famous universities) are getting so difficult, and thus, the number of a job-hopping
part-time worker is increasing, in addition to those who called ‘NEET’ (Not in Education,
Employment, or Training).
As evidenced by the NEET phenomenon, recent years have seen an increase inwhat the Japanese refer to as ‘moratorium syndrome,’ such that significant numbers ofundergraduate men do not want to get employed after graduation and do not want to getmarried, either (Yachi 2005). These men consider working full time and supporting a wifeand children to be huge responsibilities, and such men target freelance or part time work,choose to get married later, and may choose not have any children (Morotomi 2007). As of
the year 2000, for instance, “69.3% of Japanese men and 54.0% of Japanese women aged
25-29 were unmarried; for the aged 30-34, 42.0% of Japanese men and 26.6% of Japanesewomen were unmarried, causing the drop in fertility rate, has become a target of social
concern in Japan” (Matsuda 2005: 3).
One contributor to the tendency of women marrying later in Japan is that there aremany men who cannot easily get married, given their limitations of income. That is, it isso difficult for many young men to propose marriage on the base of their incomes alone,
given the cost of living for a family, and such men prefer to marry a woman who is willingto continue with work even after marriage. Yet such men are unattractive to many young
Japanese women, who want to stop working after marriage and be supported financially. In
the absence of a proposal from a man who will agree to this arrangement, these women tend
to stay single and keep working. As indicated by Kaneko and Ueda’s (2012) study, Japanesewomen tend to believe that getting married leads to a loss freedom over one’s lifestyle,
reduced ability to manage one’s time.
The following research supports the argument outlined above. Okayama University’s44South Pacific Studies Vol.34, No.1, 2013

Gender Education Group (2008) previously conducted an independent survey with 225
male and female students enrolled in the liberal arts programs: although most male students(93.8%) answered that they would like to continue to work until retirement, the majority of
the female students (51.1%) answered that they would like to quit their jobs after marring.
Even women who complete higher education think about marriage and work in a fairly
conservative way, and they still desire a way of life which involves the traditional gendernorm: “Men at work, Women at home.” Based on the results, the Group recommends that
the University educate both male and female students on these issues in order to support
female students in their decisions to participate in the workforce.

Exchange of kane and kao
Japanese women today resemble American women in terms of their perspectives on
marriage and life in general. They desire a rewarding work, a successful marriage, and child.
According to Yonezawa’s (2010) examples of women in the occupational categories of showbusinesses, newscasters, and comic writers, once women have everything (work, marriage,
child), they tend to divorce. In that way, they can live on their own terms and explore
opportunities for finding a better partner. Of course, the latter is more feasible for successful
women who also have talent and beauty. But the notion that divorce is a sin does not exist
any longer in Japan.
Women want to get married to men who have high incomes, and so bide their time in
the hopes of such opportunities. Contemporary young Japanese women are realistic; andif they cannot find such ideal partners, they prefer not to marry, as discussed earlier, andeven not to have children: instead they choose to become ‘parasite singles,’ which meansthat they earn enough to live alone but prefer to live rent-free with their parents. As Ogura(2003) notes, the large numbers of childless women have less to do with lack of nurseries
or day care centers, and more to do with women not finding ideal marriages, defined ashusbands with high incomes.
Ogura asked her college students the following question: “What is most importantin evaluating a potential marriage partner?” The majority of women said that “the man’s
earning power” is most important. The majority of men said: “the woman’s beauty.” Thesefindings emphasize that even in the more gender-equal society of contemporary Japan,
women desire men’s money and men desire women’s beauty. Marriage is an exchange ofkane (money) and kao (face)—an exchange of different resources between a man and awoman. But, these days, many young Japanese men and women are not even testing their‘market appeal,’ instead men and women increasingly do not want to get married (and do
not want to have children).
Junior colleges vs. universities
Just as Japanese women often wish to marry men who have high educational
attainments and high incomes, so Japanese men tend to desire marriage with women who
have some postsecondary education (e.g., having graduated at least from junior colleges).
Therefore, women with only high school diplomas may have difficulty finding their future

Inoue-Smith: Aspirations for Career and Marriage among Young Japanese Women: The Case of Okayama University

45

husbands. In this regard, as indicated by Ogura, a woman who has obtained a junior college
degree is more likely to fulfill her ambition over the course of life. Compared with a woman
who graduated from a four-year university or a graduate school, a junior college graduate
may not have much ambition for a career, but may be ambitious enough to seek employment
in a famous company, in support of her search for an ideal partner: one who has attained
higher educational status and has the potential for high earnings. If she is successful infinding such a partner, she can quit her job only a few years after graduation, to become afull time housewife and have children.

MethodData and sample
The current study was conducted at Okayama University located in western Japan.
The University, one of the largest comprehensive universities in Japan, consists of elevencolleges, ranging from medicine to the physical sciences and humanities, and seven graduate
schools. It was established in 1949, and currently has approximately 2,000 faculty and staff
members with approximately 14,000 students, of whom approximately 3,400 are graduate
students.
The author of the current paper developed a questionnaire, which was approved by
the University for using with a sample of undergraduate students who had taken career
education seminars and workshops offered by the University’s Career Development Centerin the fall semester of 2012. Outcomes from the current study are to be used as part of theCenter’s career education program and at the same time to enhance the Center’s careeradvising and career coaching. Currently participation in the Center’s career education
program is optional, but eventually it will become a requirement for all the students enrolled
at the University.
The questionnaire had three sections (see Appendix A). The first section asked
about participants’ plans after graduation, focusing on their vocational consciousness.
The second section asked participants’ life course perspectives and aspirations formarriage, focusing on their opinions about gender issues in employment and women’s
reemployment after the period of their child rearing. The third section collected participants’
background information, including reasons for pursing higher education. Since most of theundergraduate women in Japan are of traditional age (late teens and early twenties), theparticipants were not asked to record their ages.
Among the 577 participants, 554 (96%) had attended coeducational high schools,
with only 4% of them coming from all-female high schools. This reflects a trend inJapanese education: for formerly all-female high schools to merge with or be converted
to coeducational high schools. All-female institutions (including colleges) are no longer
popular in Japan.
Most of the participants, as seen in Table 1, were freshmen and sophomores: 148(25.6%) self-identified as enrolled in the college of liberal arts, and were taking general
education courses. Although 88 were majoring in literature (which is considered a typical46

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Table 1. Participants’ background information.
Grade▪ Freshman

287 (49.7%)▪ Sophomore

219 (38.0%)▪ Junior

39 ( 6.8%)▪ Senior

32 ( 5.5%)

Major▪ General education

148 (25.6%)▪ Literature

88 (15.3%)▪ Law

87 (15.1%)▪ Engineering

72 (12.5%)▪ Economics

53 ( 9.2%)▪ Medicine

27 ( 4.7%)▪ Other (specify)

102 (17.7%)

What is the most important purpose for which you entered the university?
◦ To obtain general knowledge and wisdom as a person

111 (19.2%)◦ To be employed at a well known company

172 (29.8%)◦ To obtain specialized knowledge and skills to get a high income job

252 (43.7%)◦ I had nothing in particular to do, so I became a college student

31 ( 5.4%)◦ Concentrating on club activities

9 ( 1.6%)◦ Gaining an advantage for marriage

2 ( 0.3%)◦ Other (specify)0 ( 0.0%)

major for women), 72 were in engineering (which is considered a typical major for men); 53
were in economics, and 87 were in law. These results suggest that contemporary Japanesewomen would like to have professional degrees that afford access to high paying jobs.
Although such careers may have increasing intrinsic appeal for women, another possible
contributor is that such careers may provide a fallback plan in the event that the woman
cannot find a partner who is able entirely to support her financially.

Results and Discussion
Plans after graduation
When participants were asked about their plans after graduation, their most frequentanswers were as follows: “to find employment” (467 women or 80.9%); “to continue
their education” (67 women or 11.6%); and “have not decided yet” (40 women or 6.9%).
Although the majority of the women in this sample are freshmen and sophomores, it seems
that they are making serious plans for their lives after graduation: including their future
employment.
In comparison with the United States, where graduate programs (especially master’s
degree programs) have high enrollments, graduate programs in Japan until recently enrolledInoue-Smith: Aspirations for Career and Marriage among Young Japanese Women: The Case of Okayama University

47

fewer women. One explanation is that most companies were reluctant to hire women with
graduate degrees: women who expected higher salaries than those with baccalaureate
degrees, but might still resign after marring. Women with graduate degrees therefore might
have had as much trouble finding ideal jobs as ideal husbands. This situation is changing,
however.
Japanese women now realize that there are many options for them, in addition togetting married and ending their careers. They are motivated to pursue professional careers
as physicians, lawyers, or certified public accountants, and they have begun to seek theincreased wealth, power, and prestige, attaining a set of status dimensions, that come withsuch careers. Such choices are now considered just as legitimate as becoming a housewife
soon after finding a husband.

Gender issues in employment
When participants were asked, “Do you think there is sex discrimination in
employment?”, 222 (38.5%) marked “substantially,” while 218 (37.8%) marked “not somuch.” These two modal answers conflict with one another. An additional 115 (19.9%) said:
they “do not know”; which is not surprising, given the fact that most of the participants were
freshmen and sophomores and perhaps they had never been employed. Participants werethen asked, “If sex discrimination exists, which area(s) of employment is/are the most likely
source of differences?”, and allowed the participants to mark as many areas as they deemed
likely. Their answers regarding the given areas were as follows: “job content” (31.2%);“promotion” (29.3%); “placement” (25.7%); “recruitment and selection” (20.6%); “wages”(18.4%); “retirement” (2.6%); “training and education” (1.6%); and “other” (no example
listed) (0.5%).
“Invisible barriers prevent women from fully demonstrating their talents and inhibit
the promotion of women to upper management. . . . Japanese society is still overwhelmingly
male dominated as far as the workplace is concerned” (Marikkar 2007: 92). Japanesecompanies still do not consider women a major human resource, and the participants’
answers suggest that they are aware of this. The answers summarized above reflect thereality that Japanese women will not be promoted easily or often. As discussed earlier,
women are more likely to experience career interruptions, so employers are disinclined to
pay for training them. This results in a labor market in Japan that is based on a conceptionof women as dispensable and temporary.
Japanese women are not assigned to responsible jobs that afford promotions, as there
are marked differences between male and female workers in terms of “job content” and“placement.” The results also reflect the reality that “the share of women promoted to the
management class in Japan is the lowest in the world. . . managers are expected to continue
with work after marriage or the birth of children and are required to have a high level ofjob training and experience” (Nakano 2010: 23-24). Many Japanese women find it very
challenging to balance their careers with taking primary responsibility for housework andraising children: a dilemma that fewer Japanese men experience to this degree, given theirmore limited responsibilities at home.

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According to Delaat (1999), although many undergraduates in the United States, bothmale and female, seem to believe that sex discrimination in the workplace and its causes
are the things of the past and that gender inequality has been ‘solved,’ there is substantial
evidence that women continue to lag behind their male counterparts in the contemporary
American workplace. In cross-sectional studies, on the other hand, Knoke and Ishio (1998)
found that women’s disadvantages in job training widened after controlling for theoreticallyimportant human capital, occupational, industrial, organizational, and family-stage variables;
and they concluded that the gender gap in company-provided job training programs remains
robust and tenacious.

Continuations of women’s careers
Participants were asked, “What are most important measures that can be taken sothat women can continue to work outside the home? (Mark two.)” Their answers were:“availability of public facilities such as day care centers or nursing homes” (29.3%);“eliminating the idea: Men at work, Women at home” (28.6%); “availability of maternity
leave and reemployment systems” (56.3%); “improving women’s vocational motivation”(9.7%); “increasing men’s understanding of women and men’s support in housekeeping”(35.4%); “correcting instances of sex-based discrimination in employment” (17.2%); and“other” (e.g., “the difference between men and women’s roles at home especially”) (0.9%).
Although the majority of the women selected the measure (i.e., “availability of maternity”),
two other measures (that is, “increasing men’s understanding” and “eliminating the idea”)
are relatively high also.
These results may parallel trends described by Bianchi and Spain (1996), such that
American women of the late 1990s continued to perform more household tasks than men,and had to find a balance between their care giving roles and their careers. Time has changed
the situation in Japan, in particular, and the view that a woman’s place is in the kitchen is an
historical relic. Another practice maintained throughout earlier periods in Japan, such that“female workers are expected to quit and marry after working a few years” (Amano 1997:227), is also becoming a relic. Moreover, one income is oftentimes not enough to maintaina household under the current conditions imposed by Japan’s diminished economy. Thisis simply a reality of life in twenty-first century Japan, and the research participants seem
aware of that.
The future of women and work
Participants were asked, “What would you predict concerning women and work in
the future?” Table 2 shows their answers. The majority of the women agreed with four
predictions: the proportion of women “who stay in their jobs after marriage will increase”(87.3%); “who work in areas ‘suitable’ to women will increase” (80. 8%); “who start
their own businesses will increase” (76.8%); and “will increasingly hold professional jobs
requiring advanced skills” (55.3%). The majority of the participants disagreed with two
predictions: women “will continue to take jobs that support the jobs of men” (65.2%); and“will increasingly decide that being a homemaker is most important and will forego work

Inoue-Smith: Aspirations for Career and Marriage among Young Japanese Women: The Case of Okayama University

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Table 2. Predictions’ predictions on the future of women and work.
Agree

DisagreeDon’t know

— the proportion of women who stay in their jobs
after marriage will increase504 (87.3%)

24 ( 4.2%)

49 ( 8.5%)— the proportion of women who start their own
businesses will increase443 (76.8%)

53 ( 9.2%)

81 (14.0%)— the proportion of women who work in areas‘suitable’ to women will increase466 (80.8%)33 ( 5.7%)

78 (13.5%)— the proportion of women in professional jobs
requiring advanced skills will increase319 (55.3%)

91 (15.8%)

167 (28.9%)— women will continue to take jobs that support
the jobs of men

59 (10.2%)376 (65.2%)

142 (24.6%)— women will work more and more as part timers
or temporary workers

99 (17.2%)

287 (49.7%)

191 (33.1%)— women will increasingly decide that being ahomemaker is most important and will forego
work outside house

49 ( 8.5%)350 (60.7%)

178 (30.8%)— equal employment between men and women
will drastically increase284 (49.2%)

121 (21.0%)

172 (29.8%)

outside house” (60.7%).
“Japanese corporations and established businesses have traditionally not welcomed
women into their upper echelons. . . although some companies are making great efforts tochange this. . . and the dominance of the old-boy government-industry network stand asde facto barriers to female advancement” (Pulvers 2012). The participants, contemporary
young women, realize that they may be able to establish their own businesses (thoughperhaps typically, on a small scale), taking the future into their own hands, as described(below) by Pulvers:
Many [Japanese] women today are opting to start their own
enterprises, creating businesses whose direction they can control. The
potential for women to latch on to ideas and turn them into profitableventures is enormous—so much so that last month this model wascalled “an engine for the expansion of domestic demand and economic
growth” on the popular NHK [Nihon Hoso Kyokai (Japan Broadcasting
Corporation)] news program, “Closeup Gendai” (7; material in brackets
added)．
Additionally, the result, showing about 87% of the participants predict a large increaseof women who stay in their jobs after marriage, does conflict the same sample’s answers, ina different section, that nearly 60.0% of them would like to ‘quit’ their jobs after marriage.

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Women’s contributions to society
Participants were asked the following questions: “Do you agree with the idea that thebiggest contribution of women to society is to raise children and manage households?” Onlya minority agreed. Their answers were: “strongly agree” (4.9%); “agree” (23.6%); “neutral”(36.4%); “disagree” (23.2%); and “strongly disagree” (12.0%). The results parallel Mainesand Hardesty’s (1987) observation that many people continue to believe that childcare isbest performed by the mother. Accordingly, the participant women’s anticipations of workand family roles reflect a complex combination of continuing traditional gender roles andnew expectations of and by women: as breadwinners and as people equally deserving ofcareer opportunities.
In recent years more and more Japanese women have begun working in business, yetmost are secretaries, clerical workers, and sales representatives: the fact that many of themarried women of all age groups work on a part-time basis is a reality, and the concept ofwomen having their own occupations has not yet entered the national consciousness (Inoue
1999a). Specially, persistent vestiges of a Confucian norm requiring that a woman obey
her father, husband, and son have created difficulties for women in East Asia, especially inJapan (Hayhoe 1995). Such norms may continue to influence the long-established genderroles in Japan which are still profoundly traditional: such that women are expected to be‘home-oriented.’
In a 2012 public opinion survey by the Japanese government, although it is not
surprising, 51.0% of the total respondents (men and women combined) agreed with the ideathat “husbands should do work outside the home and wives should stay at home managing
the household”: a 10.3% increase from the previous year (Kyodo News 2012). It is possiblethat people renewed their values of family ties after the horrible experience of the 2011
Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, which claimed about 16,000 lives; with 3,000 classified
as missing. With so many aspects of material life damaged, and enhanced sensitivity to thefragility of life, only moral goods such as affection and dedication to family retained highvalue, for many.
Life course perspectives
Generally American women who desire both to marry and have a family and also to
pursue a career will try not to give up either goal. In contrast, Japanese women who desire
both a family and a career will often give up one of these goals. Japanese women’s such
attitudes do not greatly change even after obtaining higher education. As an example, of 735
college women who were surveyed, 529 (72.0%) said that they would prefer to quit their fulltime jobs when they get married (Inoue 2004). Women in the current study were also asked
a similar question: “If you were given five alternatives, which one would you choose? And
which option was the one your mother chose?” Patterns in the selections of these womenand their mothers were very similar (see Table 3). These patterns parallel Kerpelman’s(2007) discussion of career goals: in which the mother has more influence than the father on
the daughter’s career aspirations.
The majority of the women (58.2%, alternatives 2 and 3 combined) would like to quit

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Table 3. Participants’ life course choices: daughters vs. mothers.
Alternatives

Her choice

Mother’s
choiceAlternative 1―― finish university, then get married, and then have afirst child and concentrate on the household

3 ( 0.5%)

11 ( 1.9%)

Alternative 2―― finish university, then get a job, then get married,then quit the job for the first child and concentrateon the household

84 (14.6%)

134 (23.2%)

Alternative 3―― finish university, then get a job, then get married,then quit the job for the first child, and be
reemployed later on

241 (41.8%)

264 (45.8%)

Alternative 4―― finish university, then get a job, then get married,
and then have the first child but do not quit the job

159 (27.6%)

165 (28.6%)

Alternative 5―― finish university, then get a job but ignore thepossibility of marriage and concentrate on pursuinga career90 (15.6%)

3 ( 0.5%)

their full time jobs when they get married or have a child, but about 28.0% would like bothto be parents and continue their full time jobs. Similarly, the majority of the participants’mothers (69.0%, alternatives 2 and 3 combined) had “quit their full time jobs,” but about
29.0% had continued in both roles. Unlike their mothers, however, almost 16.0% of thewomen in this sample answered that they would like to focus on pursuing their careers (andnot pursuing marriage, in particular): providing evidence of a slow but definite increase in
the desirability of being a career-oriented woman, rather than a home-oriented woman.
Careers for women are strongly influenced by life events, such as marriage, childbirth,and child rearing (Imada and Hirata 1989). Such events also greatly affect the careers formen, but women are more likely than men to lose promotions and opportunities because of
having children: to a greater extent than men, then, the obstacles faced by working womenare centered on entrance to and retirement from the labor market, and those transfers andother occupational changes are also strongly influenced by life events (Kato 2009).

Opinions about women’s reemployment
Participants were asked, “Women may intend to quit their jobs after getting married or
having their first child, but start working again after a certain interval. What is your opinionof this practice?” Their answers were: “this is a realistic approach” (59.8%); “it is better tocontinue to work instead of quitting one’s job”(8.1%); “it is a natural response to today’s
working environment for women” (26.5%); “housekeeping is most important, so it is not agood idea to work outside the home again” (4.0%); and “other” (e.g., “each one’s freedomof choice”) (1.6%).
The majority of the women thought quitting one’s job but resuming work later was
reasonable, reflecting the reality of the society in which they grew up: the society where
men have traditionally been the breadwinners and women have traditionally been the caregivers. These results invite comparison to Ryker’s (cited in Di Dio et al. 1996) study, whichindicated that female college students placed a higher value on equality and self-respect,52South Pacific Studies Vol.34, No.1, 2013

whereas male college students placed a higher value on a comfortable life and social
recognition. Such reflects the reality of life for Japanese men, who are expected to attainhigh social status and at the same time, be responsible for providing most resources for theirfamilies.
Participants were then asked, “If women search for reemployment, when do you thinkis the best time for them to do so?” Their answers were: “soon after giving birth” (8.3%);“before the child enters an elementary school” (17.3%); “after the child enters an elementary
school” (40.2%); “after the child enters a middle school” (21.3%); “after the child enters ahigh school” (9.9%); “when the child has become an adult” (1.7%); and “other” (e.g., “after
the child reaches at least 3 years of age”; “after the child enters college”) (1.2%). About
40.0% thought returning to work after the child entered an elementary school might berealistic. There is no one best time for all women, simply because each family’s situation,
including financial details, is different. The results above mirror Kato’s (2009) observationthat Japanese undergraduate men perceive their careers as the ‘centers’ of their lives, while
Japanese undergraduate women perceive their careers as ‘secondary’ to their roles ashomemakers.
In order to identify predictive relationships between the women’s specific beliefs about
reemployment (as expressed in responses to survey questions 10-1 through 10-15), Pearson
correlation coefficients were computed. Correlations of absolute magnitude of less than 0.4
are considered weak, and those of magnitudes between 0.4 and 0.7 are considered moderate.
As shown in Table 4, results indicated five moderate positive relationships that werereliable at p < 0.01: between items 1 and 14 (r(68) = 0.41) (participants who view women’s
reemployment as a good opportunity also tend to believe that working outside the homeaffords a more stimulating life); between items 6 and 10 (r(69) = 0.40 (participants whobelieve that reemployment will broaden their horizons also tend to believe that they can findreemployment that supports their personal choices among schedules and life styles); between
items 7 and 9 (r(69) = 0.46) (participants who believe that women seeking reemployment
increasingly experience reduced motivation also tend to agree that reemployed women
represent a convenient labor force); between items 9 and 10 (r(69) = 0.48) (participants whobelieve that reemployed women represent a convenient labor force also tend to believe thatsuch women can work with their choice of schedules); and between items 9 and 12 (r(69) =0.44) (participants who believe that reemployed women represent a convenient labor force
also more often say that earning income can improve their positions at home).
Results of the analysis summarized above indicate that participants are aware of thepresent state of women’s employment in Japan. The first point to discuss here is connect to
Okutsu’s (2008) study in which a majority of women who reenter employment after raisingchildren work part-time, and most of these reemployed women engage in clerical work orservice work. Participants in the current sample appear to realize that reemployment cannot
offer ideal career opportunities, but many of them believe that by working outside the home,they can obtain a more stimulating life and broaden their horizons. Such women may lookforward to contributing to society, and to consequent increases in self-esteem.
The second point is also connected to Okutsu’s study in which the most common

-0.147-0.0952 most cannot find a suitable job

3 housekeeping will be abandoned
0.088
0.386** -0.096
0.021
0.217
0.025
0.045

5 need to be reemployed, but cannot
get a good job

6 it will broaden their horizons

7 women will experience reduced motivation

8 working outside the home keeps womenyoung

9 rehiring represent a convenient labor force

10 women can work with their choiceof schedules

11 should not have quitted jobs in the first
place

2.100
0.870

15 children become independent when
their mothers are working

MeanStandard Deviation**: Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).

**: Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

0.159

14 will experience a more stimulating life

0.853

2.606

0.123

0.944

2.775

-0.2420.298-0.0920.096
0.413** 0.151

13 increased conflict regarding housekeeping
*

*

*

0.253

-0.0470.232

0.257*

12 earning can improve their positions at home
0.274

0.097

0.136

0.907

2.324

0.208

1.026

2.493

0.177

1.000

7

0.403

**

0.187

0.264

*

0.209

-0.0350.025-0.0360.155-0.038

0.376

**

0.850

2.183

-0.147

1.078

3.211

0.172

0.914

2.859

-0.01410

0.033-0.019

0.876

2.944

0.153

1.027

2.873

0.244

*

0.084

-0.290*0.440** 0.215

0.110

0.484** 1.000

1.000

9

0.313** -0.370** 0.245* -0.173

0.019

0.296*

1.000

8

0.456** 0.150

0.327** -0.115

0.067

1.000

6

0.380** -0.171-0.062

0.127

0.045

-0.031-0.0391.000

50.305** -0.006

*

0.184

0.108

0.336** -0.160

0.179

0.095

0.090

0.032

0.181

0.256*

1.000

4

0.075

-0.136-0.153

0.204

0.141

-0.090

0.086

1.000

3

-0.118-0.0740.008-0.127-0.017

0.307

**

0.344

0.223

0.048

1.000

2

4 it will help with household expenditure

**

1.000

1 good opportunity for women to use skills

1

0.960

3.366

0.251

*

0.014

0.000

0.211

1.000

11

0.998

3.493

0.032

0.061

0.133

1.000

12

Table4.Correlations,means,andstandarddeviationsfortheparticipants’perceptionsofopinionsonwomen’sreemploymentafterraisingchildren.

0.862

3.000

-0.032

0.058

1.000

13

0.853

2.239

0.064

1.000

14

1.043

2.694

1.000

15

Inoue-Smith: Aspirations for Career and Marriage among Young Japanese Women: The Case of Okayama University
53

54

South Pacific Studies Vol.34, No.1, 2013

reason that women decide to return to work is financial. Increasing numbers of families inJapan are relying on two incomes to finance their chosen lifestyles, and the two-income
family structure is becoming more normative than exceptional. And most of the current
participants realize that the time when men were the sole income providers is almost overin Japan. Women in the present sample indicated that they could improve their positionsin their families by bringing in money, and to some degree, they expect to do so on terms
consistent with their personal preferences of schedules and lifestyles. Even though manyof the women recognize that employers find it convenient to hire women for some types ofwork, these women appear to expect some measure of convenience in balancing work withother aspects of their lives.
The third point is, as noted by Ueno (2012), that in comparison with male workers(who usually devote their primary attention to work until retirement), women more typicallylearn to balance work and life through the following sequence of experiences: entering theworkforce after school; eventually leaving their jobs for marriage or childbirth; and finding
employment again after the early years of child rearing. In many cases, these phases overlap.
In this way, women train themselves since early adulthood to balance responsibilities atwork and at home.
And the final point is that most of the participants of the current study appear torecognize that Japanese employers prefer to hire young applicants newly graduated fromuniversities. Items 11 (M = 3.37) and 12 (M = 3.49) showed the highest mean levels ofagreement, indicating participants’ awareness of the reality that once a Japanese woman
quits her full time job to get married or have a child, it is very difficult to get another fulltime job.

Summary and Future Directions
Less traveled path
The results of the current study might be unique to the sample of the study. Yet it
is also arguable that these participants are representative of the population of Japanese
undergraduate women today, and that such women are preparing to stay in their jobs for as
many years as possible: combining their work and family responsibilities. At the same time,
many such women may hope to quit their jobs and stay at home after getting married or
having a child.
In Japan, historically, women have been considered home-oriented, but women
increasingly choose not to give up their careers. This reminds one of Robert Frost’s (1992:
163) well known poem, part of which is quoted below.
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by
And that has made all the difference.
There are two main roads (paths) that women employed can choose: 1) quitting their

Inoue-Smith: Aspirations for Career and Marriage among Young Japanese Women: The Case of Okayama University

55

jobs after marriage or 2) retaining their jobs after marriage. From now on, increasing
numbers of Japanese women are going to take the historically less traveled road (path),and so, they will experience both difficulties (e.g., balancing time and effort between workand home) and benefits (e.g., financial independence). It is natural for women (as well asmen) to want to combine a family with a career. It is natural for women to pursue higher
education: because women wish to improve their occupational status as well as social status(Inoue 1999b).
Conducting research that considers self- and environmental exploration, as in Adachi’s(2008) study, will also help to illuminate ways in which women can maximize their
vocational opportunities. The results of Adachi’s study showed that Japanese undergraduate
women with high self-efficacy in career decision making engaged in both self-explorationand environmental exploration activities with greater frequency. Also, applying sociologicaland psychological perspectives to women’s life trajectories will support understanding of
why and how young women aspire to and achieve higher occupational status through higher
education.
It is hoped that the current study contributes to an understanding of Japanese young
women’s aspirations, and to an awareness of issues of gender as these relate to motives
for pursuing careers and marriage—two of the most important parts of their lives. Further
research with data from participants in other universities across Japan is necessary tocorroborate and expand on the findings of the study. The present study did not include
interviews, and such would provide additional insights into women’s attitudes toward workand marriage.
To conclude, because Japan is not alone in facing the economic challenges that
confront women with such choices (thus, whether to continue to work after marriage, and if
so, whether to continue after having children), results from the current study will benefit not
only educators and counselors advising women in Japan, but also their colleagues in manyother parts of the world.

Acknowledgements
The author greatly appreciates the contributions of the participants in this study. The
author also gratefully acknowledges the faculty of Okayama University, especially thefaculty and staff of the University’s Career Development Center, for their encouragement
and support.

References
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Appendix A
A Survey Questionnaire for Undergraduate Women
Part I Work after graduation
Q1. What is your plan after graduation? (Circle one only)
1 to get employed
2 to engage in housework
3 to continue your education
4 not to get employed but to prepare for marriage
5 have not decided yet
6 others (please specify) ___________________________________________
Q2. What kind of job would you like after graduation? (Circle as many as appropriate)
1 job using license
2 job using specialized skills
3 job using women’s knowledge and skills
4 job using foreign languages
5 job using creativity and imagination
6 job using physical strength
7 job like secretarial work
8 job which is equal to those of men
9 others (please specify) ___________________________________________
Q3. Do you think there are gender differences in employment? (Circle one only)
1 extremely
2 substantially
3 not so much
4 not at all
5 do not know
If gender differences exist, which area(s) of employment is/are the most likely source of differences? (Circle as
many as appropriate)
1 recruitment and selection
2 placement
3 job content
4 training and education
5 wages
6 promotion
7 retirement
8 others (please specify) ___________________________________________
Q4. If you experienced gender discrimination at work, what would you do? (Circle one only)
1 quit the job immediately
2 try to improve the situation
3 ignore it and continue to work
4 find another job first and quit the company
5 reduce your effort at work and concentrate on other things such as hobbies
6 others (please specify)____________________________________________
Q5. Some say that it is difficult for women to continue to work outside the home throughout adulthood. Whatdo you think about this statement? (Circle one only)
1 strongly think so
2 somewhat think soInoue-Smith: Aspirations for Career and Marriage among Young Japanese Women: The Case of Okayama University

3
4

59

do not think so
do not know

If it is difficult for women to continue to work outside the home, what are the major reasons, in your opinion?
(Circle as many as appropriate)
1 women’s lack of motivation to work
2 giving birth and child-rearing
3 housekeeping and elderly care
4 companies not considering women a major element of their work force
5 lack of equal employment systems in general
6 getting married and maintain the household
7 the husband’s lack of support at home
8 women’s lack of ability and skills at work
9 others (please specify)____________________________________________
Q6. What are most important measures that can be taken so that women can continue to work outside thehome throughout adulthood? (Circle two)
1 availability of public facilities such as day-care centers or nursing homes
2 eliminating the idea: “men at work, women at home”
3 availability of maternity leave and re-employment systems
4 improving women’s vocational motivation
5 increasing men’s understanding of women and men’s support in housekeeping
6 correcting instances of sex-based discrimination in employment
7 others (please specify)____________________________________________
Q7. In recent years, women have become increasingly engaged with society. What do you predict concerning
women and work in the future? (Circle only one each)
2…………1…………0
agree
disagree
don’t know
1

the proportion of women who stay in their jobs after marriage will increase
2…………1………..02

the proportion of women who start their own businesses will increase3

the proportion of women who work in areas ‘suitable’ to women will increase
2………….1…………0

4

the proportion of women in professional jobs requiring advanced skills will increase
2…………1………0

5

women will continue to take jobs that support the jobs of men

6

women will work more and more as part timers or temporary workers

7

increasingly, women will decide that being a homemaker is most important and will forego work outsidehouse
2……… …1…………0

8

equal employment between men and women will drastically increase

2………….1…………0

2…………1…………0
2………. 1……….0

2…………1………….0

Part IIWomen’s reemployment
Q8. Women may tend to quit their jobs after getting married or having their first child, but start working
again after a certain interval. What is your opinion? (Circle one only)
1 this is a realistic way
2 it is better to continue to work instead of quitting one’s job

60

3
4
5

South Pacific Studies Vol.34, No.1, 2013

it is a natural response to today’s working environment for womenhousekeeping is most important, so it is not a good idea to work outside the home again
others (please specify)___________________________________________

Q9. If women search for reemployment, when do you think is the best time for them to do so? (Circle one
only)
1 soon after giving birth
2 before the child enters an elementary school
3 after the child enters an elementary school
4 after the child enters a middle school
5 after the child enters a high school
6 when the child has become an adult
7 other (please specify)____________________________________________
Q10. The following is a list of opinions regarding women’s reemployment or rehire. What do you think about
each of the opinions? (Circle only one answer for each)
1 strongly agree
2 agree
3 neutral
4 disagree
5 strongly disagree
1Re-employment/rehires offer good opportunities for women to use their knowledge or skills.
1…………………2…………………3…………………..4…………………..5

2

Most cannot find a suitable job.
1…………………2…………………3…………………..4…………………..5

3

Housekeeping will be abandoned.
1…………………2…………………3…………………..4…………………..5

4

It will help with household expenditures.
1…………………2…………………3…………………..4…………………..5

5

Many women badly need to be reemployed, but most cannot get a good job.
1…………………2…………………3…………………..4…………………..5

6

It will broaden their horizons.
1…………………2…………………3…………………..4…………………..5

7

Women trying to get rehired will increasingly experience reduced motivation.
1…………………2…………………3…………………..4…………………..58Working outside the home keeps women young.
1…………………2…………………3…………………..4…………………..5

9

Rehired women represent a convenient labor force for companies.
1…………………2…………………3…………………..4…………………..5

10 Women can find reemployment with their choice of schedules and life styles.
1…………………2…………………3…………………..4…………………..5
11 Women should not have quitted their jobs in the first place.
1…………………2…………………3…………………..4…………………..5

Inoue-Smith: Aspirations for Career and Marriage among Young Japanese Women: The Case of Okayama University

61

12 Women earning income can improve their positions at home.
1…………………2…………………3…………………..4…………………..5
13 Women working again outside the house will experience increased conflict regarding housekeeping.
1…………………2…………………3…………………..4…………………..5
14 Women who are reemployed will experience a more exciting, stimulating life.
1…………………2…………………3…………………..4…………………..5
15 Children will become independent when their mothers are working full time.
1…………………2…………………3…………………..4…………………..5
Q11-1. If you are given the alternatives, below, which one will you choose? (Q11-2. Which is the one your mother had chosen? (
)
1
2
3
4
5
6

)

finish university, then get married, and then have a first child and concentrate on the household
finish university, then get a job, then get married, then quit the job for the first child and concentrate on thehouseholdfinish university, then get a job, then get married, then quit the job for the first child, and be reemployed lateronfinish university, then get a job, then get married, and then have the first child but do not quit the job
finish university, then get a job but ignore the possibility of marriage and concentrate on pursuing a careerothers (please specify) ___________________________________________Part IIIBackground Information
Q12. Which types of high school did you complete? (Circle one only)
1 female high school
2 coeducational high school
Q13. What is the most important purpose for which you entered the university? (Circle one only)
1 to obtain general knowledge and skills as a person
2 to be employed at a well known company
3 to obtain specialized knowledge and skills to get a high income job
4 I had nothing in particular to do, so I became a college student
5 concentrating on club activities
6 gaining an advantage for marriage
7 others (please specify)___________________________________________
Q14. Do you agree with the idea that the biggest contribution of women to society is to raise children andmanage households? (Circle one only)
1 strongly agree
2 agree
3 neutral
4 disagree
5 strongly disagree
Q15. You are: (Circle one only)
1 freshman
2 sophomore
3 junior
4 senior
5 other (please specify)
Q16. What is your major? Please specify __________________________________