P1-1 Actions of the Japan Society of Applied Physics on

Women’s Empowerment and Diversity

Nobuyuki Matsuki JSAP, Kanagawa University
Nahoko Kasai JSAP, NTT Basic Research Laboratories
Atsushi Masuda JSAP, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology
E-mailmembership@jsap.or.jp❑ Japan Society of Applied Physics: Profile
Establishment
Number of members
Member affiliations
Current President
Regular meetings
Recent topic

1946 (Est. of the Society Journal: 1932)
JSAP URL
https://www.jsap.or.jp/english/index.html
20,584 (24th May, 2017)
Fig. 1 JSAP meeting.
Non-government/Companies: 34.2%, univ./colleges: 52.0%,
national Institutes: 8.3%, academic societies: 1.1%, others: 4.5%
Prof. Dr. Kazuo Hotate (32nd), executive vice-president of the University of Tokyo
Spring and Autumn, 6,000-7,000 attendees present at each meeting (Fig. 1).
Three Nobel laureates in physics (2014) from JSAP members:
Fig. 2 From the left: Prof. S. Nakamura,
Professors Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano, and Shuji Nakamura (Fig. 2).
Prof. H. Amano and Prof. I. Akasaki.

❑ Issues on Gender Equality in the Field of Applied Physics in Japan30

Woman
researcher% (%)

Too small fraction of women in the field of applied physics (AP):i. Woman researchers% in the field of engineering (Fig. 3) [1]: 5.0%
ii. Univ./college woman students% in the field of engineering [2]: 14.0%.
iii. Woman Professors% in the field of engineering [3]: Prof. 3.1%, Assoc.-Prof. 8.3%,
Lecturer 13.6%, Assist.-Prof. 11.3%, Res.-Assoc. 21.2%.

35

Research fielda. Engineeringb. Sciencec. Agricultural Sci.
d. Medical Sci.
and dentistryd. Pharmacy
e. Art and Social Sci.

2525.126.4

de

28.0

19.6

201512.6105.050abcfFig. 3 Woman researcher% in various research field.

❑ Commission for Gender Equality in JSAP1999 Jun. Basic Act for Gender Equal Society, Act No. 78 of 1999, June 23, Cabinet Office, Japan.
2001 July Establishment of the Gender Equality Committee in JSAP.
2002 Oct. Establishment of the Japan Inter-Society Liaison Association Committee for Promoting Equal Participation of Menand Women in Science and Engineering (EPMEWSE) in cooperation with the Physical Society of Japan and other 14societies.
Members Chairperson, vice-chairperson, 12 committee persons, 6 advisors and a vice-president of JSAP,from companies, national institutes, universities and a national agency for science and technology.

❑ Our Actions on Women’s Empowerment and Diversityi.

Fig. 4 At NEWMAP in 2016.

Fig. 5 Summer school.

Fig. 6 On-site nursery service.

Fig. 7 At APPC-AIP in 2010.

Fig. 8 The award ceremony.

Fig. 9 At a symposium in 2017.

❑ Outcomesi.
ii.

The number of woman member of JSAP are increasing in 10 years (Fig. 10).
Special symposiums for gender equality have been rising also in divisions covering
specialized fields in JSAP.
iii. The ratio of woman representatives in JSAP has been increasing up to 9.2% (2017).

Suggestions derived based on the actions and discussion in 2016:
Work-life balance
Assessment system
i. To provide suitable working
i. To emphasize qualitative
hours to each person, but not toassessment thanapply uniformed shortening ofquantitative one.
the working hours.
ii. To introduce various
ii. To promote utilizing stay-homeevaluation axes forwork and meeting systems
diverse human resources.
extensively.
iii. To compensate (extend)iii. To implement personnel
contract period if a fixed–decisions in view of individual life
term employee were
events such as childbirth,
involved in individual life
caregiving and work-life balance.
events such as caregiving.

Science educationi. To provide balanced
education opportunity bothin science/engineering andliterature/culture.
ii. To promote participationof high school students inJSAP meetings.
iii. To leverage post-docs. foreducation in schools to
promote student’s
interests in STEM fields.

Number of woman member of JSAPNEWMAP (NEtwork of Women and Men in Applied Physics (Est. 2016 Mar.)):Luncheon meetings to promote forming interdisciplinary network (Fig. 4).
ii. Summer school for junior high school and high school girls to promote theirinterests in sci., technol., engineer. and math (STEM) fields as their career (Fig. 5).
iii. On-site nursery service in every meetings (Fig. 6).
iv. Presentations in international conferences: APPC-AIP (2010), ASEPS (2010), GenderSummit 8 (2015), IUPAP-WIP (2008, 2014) and WIP of APPC12 (2013) (Fig.7).
v. Publicity activities: An original website, booklets and columns in the membership
journal of JSAP.
vi. Awards for promotion and nurturing of woman researchers contribution (Fig. 8).
vii. Special symposiums in JSAP spring meetings to discuss various issues on women’s
empowerment and diversity in AP fields (Fig. 9).
viii. Discussion on a focused theme in each committee meeting.

1,250
1,181

1,200
1,148

1,150

1,086
1,049

1,100
1,050

1,128
1,140

1,018

1,000
981

950
953

900
850

853

800

YearFig. 10 Change in the number of woman
member of JSAP.

References[1] From the Statistical Topics No. 80,
Statistics, Ministry of Internal Affairs
and Communications, Japan (2014).
[2] From the Basic Survey on Education,
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports,
Science and Technology , Japan (2012).
[3] From the White Paper on Gender
Equality Bureau, Cabinet Office, Japan(2012).