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[Info. File] Japan Faces an IT Talent Shortfall of 790,000; A Serious Push to Grow Women in STEM
Based on surveys by METI and the Cabinet Office
Goal: Lift STEM majors by 50% in ten years, National universities roll out “women-only” admission slots
According to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry’s Survey on IT Human Resource Demand (2019), it is estimated that by 2030 there will be a shortage of up to 790,000 IT personnel.
In September 2022, the government’s Council for Creating the Future of Education issued its first set of recommendations, which called for raising the proportion of students majoring in the natural sciences (STEM fields) from the current 35% to around 50% within ten years. Behind this target lies a strong sense of crisis that Japan is falling behind in international competition in the field of AI.
In July 2023, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology announced a plan to support 118 national, public, and private universities and technical colleges in expanding science, engineering, and agriculture-related fields, as well as to establish new science-related faculties and departments at 62 public and private institutions.
Japan ranks lowest among OECD member countries in the proportion of female students in faculties of science. To improve gender balance in STEM fields, the first set of recommendations proposed the creation of “female student quotas” starting with the 2023 university entrance examinations. In response, an increasing number of universities have introduced such quotas—for example, the School of Engineering at Nagoya University has limited half of its recommended-admission seats to female applicants.
According to a 2021 Cabinet Office commissioned survey (Research on Regional Characteristics in the Career Choices of Female Students for STEM Fields), the proportion of students enrolling in STEM fields among all university entrants was 2.1% in “Science” and 11.5% in “Engineering.” Not only is students’ overall career choice skewed toward the humanities, but within STEM fields there is also a significant gender imbalance. Looking at the proportion of female entrants by field: “Health and Other” stood at 71.5%, “Medicine, Dentistry, and Pharmacy” at 58.1%, and “Agriculture” at 45.7%, whereas “Science” was only 30.2% and “Engineering” just 15.2%. In FY2021, only 7% of female students majored in STEM, far below the 28% of male students.
Source: Compiled by the author based on the Cabinet Office study cited above.
In November 2022, the Tokyo Institute of Technology decided to introduce a “female student quota” in its 2024 entrance examinations, aiming to raise the proportion of female students from the current 13% to over 20%. Furthermore, on May 25, 2023, the faculties of science at ten national universities across Japan issued a joint statement declaring their commitment to “working to increase the proportion of female students” with the goal of “realizing a gender-balanced environment.”
However, the introduction of “female student quotas” at national universities has drawn criticism, with concerns that it may “undermine fairness and equality in entrance examinations,” constitute “reverse discrimination,” or “lead to a decline in academic standards.” At the same time, moves to enforce stricter fairness and equality in admissions are also underway—for example, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government has announced that it will abolish gender-based enrollment quotas in metropolitan high schools starting in the 2024 academic year. There is a growing recognition that measures are needed to promote the establishment of science and engineering faculties at women’s universities and to foster female talent in STEM. That said, the issue of “female student quotas” is expected to remain a subject of ongoing debate.
(Published with additions and revisions to the August 2023 issue of EN-ICHI FORUM)
