1 Gender Gap in Japanese Higher Education

The aim of this paper is to explore the cause and mechanism of the gender gap in Japanese higher education in spite of an institutional equality of the entrance examination. Four hypothetical arguments are examined. The first one is that the labor market may regulate women’s behavior pursuing a higher education. The second one is that the educational experience of women in colleges which may be a form of consuming behavior. The third one is that the normative attitude or value consciousness about women’s life-course and social roles may regulate their educational choice. Final one is that the strategic behavior of women as related to their social status regulates their experience of choosing universities and academic disciplines. Except for the third argument about consumption, three other arguments are justified and proved by some evidence. However, the trends of these factors are changing so that they, in turn, will decrease the gender gap in higher educational experience. The gender gap of higher educational situation is very well-known. A smaller number of women go on to universities. And they often choose particular department or discipline, though this is changing. Most of existing research has not necessarily focused on this gap itself, dealing with it as one of causes to the unequal distribution of social resources and social opportunities including occupational opportunity. In other words, they discussed concerned the gap as related to phenomena of social stratification. For example, women are less educated and have had less human capital and less work experience and weak tenure so that they are less access to authority and autonomy in occupational arena. In the research framework adopted in such a discussion, the explained target is the structure of employment concerned gender. The educational system is treated as factors explaining the gap of employment or occupational opportunities. See Wolf & Fligstei