Japan's gender diversity push falters as women CEOs remain below 1%

The Japanese government aims for women to hold 30% of executive roles by decade's end, but current numbers indicate a challenging road ahead

Japan’s long-standing efforts to elevate women into senior roles in business have been dealt a setback, with a new survey revealing that only 13 chief executives (CEOs) at the country’s top companies are female. This equates to a mere 0.8 per cent of the 1,643 firms listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s top-tier prime market, according to a survey by Kyodo news agency, which analysed financial statements from FY23.

The findings underscore Japan’s sluggish progress in achieving gender diversity in corporate leadership, a long-standing issue the government has been working to address. With a goal of having women in at least 30 per cent of executive positions by the decade's end, the current figures indicate a challenging path forward.

 

Even when using a broader definition of ‘executive’, which includes corporate officers, directors, auditors, and executive officers, the proportion of women in senior positions remains critically low. This has become a persistent challenge for Japan, a decade after former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledged to create a society “in which all women shine.”

 

Japan lags behind in global gender rankings
 

Japan continues to perform poorly in international gender diversity rankings. According to a 2022 survey by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), women held just 15.5 per cent of executive roles in Japan, far behind countries like Britain (40.9 per cent) and France (45.2 per cent). Only China and South Korea fared worse.

A similar pattern emerges from other studies. Last year, The Economist ranked Japan 27th out of 29 developed economies in its ‘glass ceiling index’, which tracks barriers to women’s advancement in business.

However, there have been signs of progress. In January, Mitsuko Tottori became the first female president of Japan Airlines, and in July, Naomi Unemoto was appointed as the country’s first female prosecutor-general. Additionally, the number of female board members has more than doubled over the past five years, now exceeding 3,000.

Meanwhile, political dynamics may also be shifting. Economic security minister Sanae Takaichi is one of three candidates vying for leadership of the governing Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in a vote scheduled for September 27. If successful, she could become Japan’s first female prime minister, although her conservative views on same-sex marriage and separate surnames for married couples have divided opinions within the party.

India faces similar challenges in gender gap
 

Japan’s slow pace in advancing gender equality mirrors trends observed in other major economies, including India. A study released in March by Fortune India and SP Jain Institute of Management and Research highlighted a similar gender gap in leadership across Indian industries. The study found that just 1.6 per cent of companies in the Fortune India 500 had female CEOs, with the figure rising slightly to 5 per cent for the Fortune India Next 500.

A major challenge identified was the ‘leaky pipeline’, where women exit the workforce during middle management due to familial responsibilities, including maternity leave and caregiving duties. Over 30 to 40 per cent of women leave the workforce by the time they reach middle management, according to the study.

Biases in hiring practices and corporate culture further hinder women’s advancement, particularly in profit-and-loss (P&L) roles, where organisations are hesitant to appoint women due to stereotypes about their commitment and mobility.