Gender Summit 10 (GS10) @ Hitotsubashi Hall, Tokyo
P8-1 (Fri., May 26, 2017)

The Japan Society of Applied Physics (JSAP) career advice meeting an activity for promoting diversity of young members' career paths
Ichiro Shoji: JSAP, Chuo University (E-mail: ishoji@elect.chuo-u.ac.jp, membership@jsap.or.jp)
Nahoko Kasai: JSAP, NTT Basic Research Laboratories
Atsushi Masuda: JSAP, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology

Background

Career support by JSAP

The number of students in Ph. D. courses is now decreasing in Japan.

 JSAP has more than 20,000 members from various organizations.
 The members' scientific and technological backgrounds and interests coverwide range.

The number of tenure positions in academia did not increase.

The JSAP annual meetings can give good
opportunities both for students/postdocs
and various recruiting organizations toencounter each other!
The speakers can use the career
explorer mark in the manuscripts
and slides to show that they are
seeking jobs.

*Data from School Basic Survey by MEXT, Japan

Policy of enhancement of graduate schools and the plan for supporting 10,000 postdoctoral researchers

Affiliations of Members (2016)

Career advice meeting

Poster of the meeting Purpose: to support the young members’ career design by presenting various career paths
 Participants: bachelor/master/Ph.D. course students and postdoctoral researchers including foreign members
 Advisers: - researchers and personnel representatives from around 15 supporting member companies/government institutes(examples of organizations: IBM Japan, Mitsubishi Electric, NEC, Nikon, NTT R&D, SanDisk, Sony, TechnoPro, Toshiba,
ULVAC, AIST, NIMS, JST, Nagoya Univ. B-jin)- APSG (Applied Physics Social Group) comprising voluntary senior members
 Date: held in half a day during each spring and autumn meeting Place: open space such as an exhibition hall at the venue of the annual meetingcf. Number of student participants ofthe spring meeting 2017 is 2,623.

 Number of participants is between 50 and 100 every time(the numbers before 2013 are rough estimations).
 Many Ph.D. course students as well as master course students
participate.

 Luncheon seminar is held before the meeting.
 Each organization gives a short presentation tointroduce the research activities and recruitment
information.
 The participants can obtain general information
before attending the career advice meeting.

A case of a woman Ph.D. student who took a job through the career advice meeting– Sept. 2014 (1st year of Ph.D. course): Her first participation to the meeting
She spent a good time by visiting several booths of companies and talking to some staffs. A researcher from one of
the companies gave his business card to her and the interaction began between her and that company.
– Mar. 2015: Her second participation to the meeting
The same person of the company suggested that she visit the company.
– Jun. 2015 (2nd year of Ph.D. course)
She visited the company, talked to about 10 employees, and asked them how they determined their career paths.
– Jan. 2016
She started job hunting.
– Jun. 2016 (3rd year of Ph.D. course)
She took a job at that company.
– Apr. 2017
She began to work at the company.

 The organizations run their booths at the meeting site.
 The participants can directly talk to the researchers ofeach organization and obtain detailed information on- how Ph. D./young researchers contribute to theorganizations,- what the organizations expect from Ph. D./young researchers.
 The staffs of the attending organizations can- understand current status of the participants,- also have chances of recruiting excellent persons.
 APSG members provide consulting services to theparticipants as second mentors, about various
concerns on their career paths.

Her comments on the career advice meeting"It was especially good for me that I could meet the adviser who isrecruiting students, without taking the employment examination.
Although we can consult our friends and elders until the master course
because many students go on, it would be difficult since there are few
students going to Ph.D. course. The career advice meeting then greatly
helped me with chances to freely consult the advisers on my career paths.
I would like JSAP to continue this event and hold it other than the dates
during the technical meeting; the number of participants is small because
only the persons who attend the technical meeting can participate."