Medical School Lowered Women's Entrance Exam Scores to Restrict Number of Women Doctors

[ad_1]


It’s not a secret that women face discrimination in the workplace: We are still paid lower wages than men, encounter hostility for rightfully taking maternity leave and face consequences for expanding our families.

A university in Japan proved that biased attitudes toward women’s capabilities begin far before they enter the workplace: Tokyo Medical University is under investigation for methodically altering women’s entrance exam scores to prevent many of them from gaining entry. The goal of the modifications was to keep the female population at approximately 30%.

The unethical score slashing allegedly started in 2011 after the number of successful women entrants increased significantly from the year before.

The Yomiuri Shimbun Daily reported that the exam score adjustments were discovered in an internal investigation of suspected corruption that surfaced this spring. According to the paper, university sources said there is a “strong sense at the school” that many women leave medicine after graduation for marriage and motherhood.

This attitude is particularly perplexing, not only for its gross and outright prejudice, but because it is incorrect. Unfortunately, many Japanese women are forced to choose between motherhood and career. Many choose the latter, and as a result, the Japanese population has steadily declined for more than three decades.

The reports of the obvious gender inequity have sparked outrage across the Internet, and have people demanding steps to ensure equality. Although the conversation is a good start, one problem remains pointedly obvious: how can women ever win in a society that degrades their value in the home and disqualifies their worth in the workplace?

“Women are told they have to give birth; if they don’t, they’re mocked as being ‘unproductive,’ but then again, just the possibility that they might give birth is used to cut their scores,” said one social media commenter. “What’s a woman supposed to do?”

[ad_2]

Source link

Reply