Kiyoshi Murata    Department   Undergraduate School  , School of Commerce    Position   Professor
Language	English
Publication Date	2010/04
Type	International Conference
Peer Review	Peer reviewed
Title	Work-life Balance in the Japanese Information and Communication Technology Industry: Who Thwarts Female Workers' Career Development?
Contribution Type	Co-authored (other than first author)
Journal	Proceedings of ETHICOMP 2010
Journal Type	Another Country
Volume, Issue, Page	pp.13-18
Author and coauthor	Ryoko Asai and Kiyoshi Murata
Details	Even in the recession, the Japanese information and communication technology (ICT) industry has been expected to provide many workers, especially female workers, with employment opportunity. ICT has been recognised as an important factor to enhance economic efficiency, and to realise the gender-equal environment in terms of career opportunity and status in society. However, it is alleged that workers in the ICT industry are often forced to sacrifice their daily lives for their demanding works and some female workers even give up their marriage and children to continue to work. In order to examine the actual situation of female ICT workers, the authors interviewed seventeen female ICT workers. Through the interviews, it becomes clear that the most serious gender issue in the Japanese ICT industry is that almost all of the female workers don't notice the existence of gender issues at all. The present gender equal treatment has been established so that women are forced to behave similarly to men in their workplaces.