Activities for diversity in physics field in Japan
Atsushi Masuda1,3, Noriko Chikumoto1,4, Atsuko Ichikawa2,5, Emiko Hiyama2,5 and Akiko N. Itakura2,6
1 The Japan Society of Applied Physics, 2 The Physical Society of Japan
3 Niigata University, 4 Chubu University, 5 Tohoku University, 6 National Institute for Materials Science

The Japan Society of Applied Physics (JSAP)
and The Physical Society of Japan (JPS):
There are two major academic societies related to physics inJapan: The Japan Society of Applied Physics (JSAP) and The
Physical Society of Japan (JPS). The former serves as anacademic interface between science and engineering and aninteractive platform for academia and the industry. The latter
deepens understanding for nature, enrich our culture, andcontribute to the welfare of human being, through search forthe truth in the field of physics. This paper introduces
current topics on diversity and related issues in bothacademic societies.

Women Presidents in Physics Societies:

The most impressive event is that women members assumed the presidents in these
two societies: Prof. Mutsuko Hatano for JSAP (2020-2021 FY) and Prof. Setsuko
Tajima for JPS (2021 FY). This is the first time for JSAP and the third time for JPS
among 34 and 59 successive presidents, respectively. The first woman president isProf. Fumiko Yonezawa in 1996, and the second woman president is Prof. Masako
Bando in 2006. From this April, Prof. Tajima has been appointed as the third woman
president of JPS. Both presidents, Prof. Hatano and Prof. Tajima, have a common
career path that they moved from industry to academia.

Number of Members and Affiliation：

Expectations for Women’s Leadership:

JSAP members are about 19,000 in 2021. 54% of the JSAP
members belong to universities, 9% public research institutes,
and 31% private companies. Women fractions are 7% for allmembers, 5% for members in private companies, and 8% for
those in universities. The member record covers researchersand engineers both in academia and industry. JPS members
are about 15,000 in 2020, and about 1,000 are women.
Majority of the JPS members belong to either a university ora research institute. The member record covers significant
Japanese physics researchers. Each year, more than 1,500
new members join as new JPS members, and the ratio ofwomen is typically about 10% since year 2000.

Fig. 1(a) shows the evolution in the ratio of women members of JPS and that ofwomen directors. The percentage of women directors in JPS has been about the sameas the percentage of women members from 2003 to 2015. From 2015, active
promotion of women began in JPS, expecting the leadership of the women directors.
As a result, the percentage of woman director in 2021 becomes higher than ever, but
it is still around 30%. JSAP has a similar tendency (Fig. 1(b)). The percentage ofwomen members is rising moderately, while that of women directors increase sharply.
The proportion of women in directors exceeds the proportion of women in members.
The tendency is the same for both JSAP and JPS.
It is expected that women presidents and directors not only promote activities
related to gender equality, diversity and inclusion in each society but also encourage
all the activities from the perspective of women, leading to the dawn of a new era.

Prof. M. Hatano
President of JSAP
(2020‐2021 FY)

Prof. S. Tajima
President ofJPS (2021 FY)(a)Promotion of Women Researchers:
In JSAP “Promotion and Nurturing of Female Researchers Contribution Award” was established in2009 based on the fund from Prof. Kashiko Kodate. Senior and young women researchers with great
achievement, and members or organizations contributing to nurturing of women researchers areawarded. “Fumiko Yonezawa Memorial Prize” in JPS was established in 2019 for women members incommemoration of Prof. Fumiko Yonezawa, the first woman president of JPS. These prizes areexpected to encourage activities of women researchers.
The good news for both JSAP and JPS is that the woman ratio of student member is higher than thatof all members, as shown in Fig. 2. It may be expected that the current proportion of women will
increase in the future. However, some of students, regardless of gender, withdraw when they graduate
from the universities and get a job at a private company, so an increase in the woman student ratio
does not necessarily lead to an increase in the woman ratio of members in the future. There are manycases where women withdraw from membership, as reported by JPS in the 2017 WIP-report.

Under Covid 19 Pandemic:(b)Fig. 1 The percentage of women members
and directors in JPS (a) and JSAP (b).

Fig. 2 The percentage of women members
COVID-19 pandemic also forces academic societies to fundamentally change systems of academic
and students in JPS and JSAP.
conferences, committee meetings, etc. using online system. Sophisticated knowledge and foresight ofboth presidents are required for overcoming the crisis. Nowadays virtual conferences are frequently
held and some are organized in hybrid style. It can be inferred that the new meeting style hasadvantages in promoting diversity.
The Japan Society of Applied Physics, 1‐21‐5 Nezu, Bunkyo‐ku, Tokyo, Japan, The Physical Society of Japan, 2‐31‐22 Yushima, Bunkyo‐ku, Tokyo, Japan