Closing the Gap Across the Pacific

Virginia Review of Asian Studies

CLOSING THE GAP ACROSS THE PACIFIC: GENDER STRATIFICATION OF JAPANESE WOMEN AND AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN

KeMI OYEWOLE

SPELMANCOLLEGE

Throughout most societies, there has been and continues to be a divide between the opportunities afforded to men and women. Often this divide is institutionalized and so engrained into the system that it takes in depth analysis of the issue to understand how these biases can be addressed to offer women more meaningful employment. Two of the world's strongest economies, Japan and the United States, continue to offer fewer opportunities for advancement in employment for women. In the United States, the difference in employment opportunity and wage has begun to close between most women and men, but African American women continue to experience fewer benefits of this progress. In both developed nations there are many historic and cultural factors that contribute to the differences in opportunity between the genders.

This paper presents a comparative and contrastive study of the gender stratification of Japanese and African American women in their respective societies. Based on some descriptive facts and perceived challenges, this paper also presents some proposals for closing the gap across the Pacific, that is, eliminating or narrowing the gap between women and men in socioeconomic opportunities.

This analysis will first lay a framework by exploring the historical experiences of African American women in the United States and the tradition of wage earning for Japanese women. As the narratives of these groups is presented, it is important to recall that discrimination is defined as "the process by which two stimuli differing in some aspect [gender] are responded to differently" (Merriam-Webster). Since this term is often relegated to issues of access, it is vital the reader recognizes discrimination in wage earning opportunity effects the status of women as much as, or more than, any other issue.

The African American Woman and Employment Opportunity

The United States has a unique relationship with African American women which has existed since the nation's inception. When Africans were brought to North America in the 17th century as slaves, female slaves were often placed in roles that allowed them to be exploited physically, emotionally, and sexually. Theywere asked to approach their lives with a type of duality. By character of their race African descended women forced into the backbreaking work of crop production as were their African American male counterparts. However, as women, African American female slaves were just as quickly expected to play a domestic role in the maintenance of a slaveholder's estate and of their own homes. The brutal nature of the institution of slavery also exploited women for their reproductive abilities. Slavery was hard and unforgiving regardless of gender, but the intersectional experience of African American women with race and gender that began in this era was only compounded in the centuries leading to today.

Following the Reconstruction era of the 1870s, some African American women in the South continued to manage household duties while working in a sharecropping capacity with their families. African American women who resided in the North following the Great Migration were relegated to work in mechanized steam laundries, meat slaughtering and packing houses, and crab and peanut factories, positions that reinforced a connection to domestic and agricultural work (Aptheker). However, the vast majority of African American women were employed in the "equally demeaning domain of domestic work" (Parker 47).

Following the Second World War, African American women were still put in a place of fourth class citizenship. This places them behind the more advantaged White American Man, White American Woman, and African American man. Looking at the more tangible ramifications of this inferior position, "African American women were often the first to be laid off when government policies caused industrial workers to reduce their workers" (Jones).Historical policies of discrimination affected the ability of African American families to generate wealth for their families, a phenomenon that impacts the African American community today.

The Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s paved the way for and overlapped with the Women's Rights Movement which continued on through the 1980s. As stated by Yoder and Aniakudo, "there is no raceless, classless, generic woman." This was emphasized by the movements of this era. However, many empirical scholars find it difficult to identify exactly how equality in the modern United States ought to be defined or advocated for given the long lasting effect of centuries of inequity. Often, the wage gap is attributed in large part to differences in skill levels and experience among women and some minorities. However, in all 20 industries and 25 occupation groups surveyed by the Census Bureau in 2007,women earned less than their male counterparts (Fitzpatrick). Following the presentation of the Japanese American woman's employment experience, it will become much more evident that issues created by historical experiences impact African American women's employment experience today.

Japanese Women in Employment

As in all developed economies, women play an important role of the Japanese labor force. Women in Japan participate in the labor force at rates of about 63%.Figure 1 shows that this rate is lower than the United States' rate of 67% and lower than most developed countries given the high rate of labor force participation among Japanese men (See Page 8, Figure 2). Nonetheless, in Japan and everywhere else in the world, development of women is important to economic growth. Human capital is one of the most valuable assets within any economy, especially in an economy as industrially developed as Japan's. Given some economies like China and India are rich in labor, smaller nations like Japan must maximize productivity in labor and capital in order to compete in a global marketplace countries. Since women traditionally have been underutilized across the board, their incorporation into the modern workforce will play an important role in economic growth in the 21st century.

Figure 1: Labor Force Participation Rates (Tabulated from 2010 International Labour Organization Estimates)

Any analysis of employment or workplace structure in Japan will bring forth discussion of the permanent employment system. The permanent employment system refers to the practice of an employee entering a company after graduation, receiving training a promotion within that company, and remaining there until retirement. In the West, it may be perceived that structure in this employment system is birthed from cultural norms. However, Robert Cole, longtime scholar of Japanese industrial relations, presents a different perspective. "Although there are some aspects of an unconscious persistence of custom in the evolution of permanent employment, for the most part it represents a conscious act of institution building" (Cole 2). However, the emphasis on study of the percentage of the labor force impacted by permanent employment policies is limiting. Only 30% of male labor force and an even smaller 15% of the female labor force are covered by the aforementioned policies (Brinton 14). Thus a much more important analysis arises from looking at the Japanese economy beyond the white collar issues surrounding permanent employment.

Since not as many Japanese workers are in jobs of permanent employment as one might have perceived, what is the role of many in the Japanese economy? One quarter of the Japanese economy is self-employed or active in a small business (Brinton 4). This number is greater than that of any other developed country. The self-employed can be classified as independent shop owners or piece-rate workers assembling modern or consumer goods from their homes (Brinton 4). The category comprising piece-rate workers are overwhelmingly women. Nearly 20% of the Japanese female labor force works as a family enterprise worker in contrast to fewer than 3% of all the Japanese male labor force (Brinton 6). As a result, the picture of employment for women in Japan differs tremendously from the roles women might enjoy in many Western economies. However, it is imperative employment of Japanese women is examined in a historical context.

Japanese women have historically played an important role as agricultural workers. However, with the advent of industrialization in the Meiji period (1868-1912), women entered the labor force primarily in factory work (Brinton 26). In most industrialized nations the narrative of women in the workforce is demonstrated by the transformation "from an agrarian to an industrial economy and then to a service-oriented economy" (Brinton 24). This is seen more explicitly as labor force participation rates are high prior to industrialization, decline in early stages of industrialization, and rise again with the birth of the service sector (Pampel and Tanaka). Often industrialization elucidates the separation between the public sphere of work and the private sphere of the home in a way not seen in an agricultural society. However, Japan's specific narrative differs from the norm in that women still played a larger role in family owned or home centered businesses than their foreign counterparts in industrial nations. This may be part of the reason they are being absorbed into today's traditional workforce more slowly.

Examining the Common Issues

Although the aforementioned histories of the women in this analysis are quite different, they still converge in some important areas that are relevant to women all over the globe. One is the way in which the role African American and Japanese women play in the labor force.

Given the lower level of labor force participation among African American and Japanese women presented in Figure 2, one might presume that they play a relatively less important role in their respective economies. However, it is important to note that women who are not in the labor force play an important role in a nation's human capital development through childrearing. Thus the duality with which women's roles in the economy are examined should not be limited to the tangible measures of their contributions as tabulated by governments.

Figure 2: Female Labor Force Participation Rates, Calculated as a Percentage of Male Labor Force Participation (Tabulated from 2010 International Labour Organization Estimates)

In addition, women around the globe still are not gaining education in relevant fields at the same rates as their male counterparts. As a result, women are often unable to obtain access to some fields in which higher wages are concentrated. Though it is important to note sexism and other constructs often create a glass ceiling across industries, many women are not well equipped to enter expanding industries. Among today's developed economies, much of the expansion is experienced in fields requiring experience in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics or STEM disciplines. Given that in Japan and the United States, the amount of female participation in tertiary education is near or outpacing that of male participation (Figure 3), the focus must shift to encouraging women to study in fields that contribute to the industrial prowess of their nations. It is important to note that in a specific examination of African American women, rates of educational attainment are not as high as those seen by Asian American or White American men or women (Figure 4). Thus, there is a need for African American women to have greater access to higher education inside and outside of STEM.

Figure 3: Percentage of the Population with Tertiary, or Post-Secondary, Degrees (Tabulated from 2010 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Data)

Figure 4: Percentage of the United States' Population with Tertiary, or Post-Secondary, Degrees by Race (Tabulated from 2011 United States Census Bureau Data)

Through this analysis there have been some metrics reflecting the disadvantage experienced by women in employment. However, the most commonly used measured is wage. Across the world women's wages as a percentage of men's range from over 90% in Sweden to less than 60% in Japan as seen in Figure 5. Similarly, African American women's wages as a percentage of White men's wages are just under 70%, less than the 80% of White men's wages earned by White women (Figure 6). This paints a very clear picture of the impact of the challenge facing Japanese women and African American women, especially during an economic slowdown like the one thatbegan in 2007.

Figure 5: Female Wages as a Percentage of Male Wages (Tabulated from 2005 International Labour Organization Estimates). *This data was obtained not from ILO estimates, but from 2005 Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

Figure 6: Wages in the United States as a Percentage of White Male Wages (Tabulated from 2011Bureau of Labor Statistics Data)

Another issue that plays into wage disequilibrium is the way organizations feel about the advancement of African American women. As presented by Parker in Race, Gender, and Leadership: Re-Envisioning Organizational Leadership From the Perspectives of African American Women Executives, "organizational members come to expect leaders to look, act, and think in ways consistent with the socially constructed meanings of organizational leader and leadership. Traditionally, those meanings have been in conflict with stereotypical assumptions about African American women (Parker xix)." This misperception of reality rooted in historic depictions of African American women might inhibit the promotion of African American women and prevent them from earning the wage they warrant.

This issue of perception as an impediment of advancement is not unique to the experience of the African American woman. As stated by prominent sociologist Mary Brinton, "the fact that Japanese women have not made greater inroads into white-collar jobs is therefore detrimental for their economic equality" (Brinton 35). It is easy to see how issues of perceptions or the anachronistic idea of a woman's place (being inside the home), might be an impediment to the promotion of women to positions of seniority within firms. Though most firms claim to be equal opportunity employers, "a 2000 double blind study found that after symphony orchestras introduced blind auditions, requiring musicians to perform behind a screen, women became more likely to get the gig" (Fitzpatrick). This is evidence that biases, no matter how unintended or subtle, prevent women from accessing opportunities for which they are qualified.

Policy Recommendations

In the United States, there has been an increased focus on providing women with pay that equals their male counterparts through legislation and other means. However, this presents issues. Employers would lose the flexibility they currently have to reward employees, regardless of gender, with compensation as they see fit. In addition, the slippery slope argument presents the potential of employers being forced to pay wages not commensurate with experience. Given these arguments and the lobbying supporting these interests, it is increasingly important to present more subtle ways of addressing this important issue.

Some of the problems presented earlier in this research present solutions of their own. Creating a framework more supportive of more attainment of tertiary education for African American women promises to open important doors for women of African descent in the United States. On a broader scale, encouraging more women to study STEM disciplines and to enter male dominated fields is one way of narrowing the divide. However, women often face an unwelcoming environment upon entering such industries. As such it is important for firms to develop support networks for all individuals unrepresented in leadership or the field as a whole. It is also imperative that young women are introduced to role models in non-traditional careers so that they are introduced to possibilities they may not have otherwise known.

It is also imperative that the roles women play within the home are celebrated. Although women play an important role in the labor force which can be increased, the importance of mothers and maternal figures in the home cannot be ignored. Mothers should be offered more resources to assist in the development of their children, who are the laborers of tomorrow. Working mothers should be offered resources and flexibility from their employers as they serve in both the formation of their children in the home and as role modelsdemonstrating the meaningful contributions women make in the workplace.

Even though there are some very viable ways to highlight issues relating to employment opportunities for women, many of them require a change in cultural perspective. As one might imagine, this will not come easily. As workplaces begin to give more female's opportunities for advancement, their abilities and accomplishments will become more visible. Once men come to see the benefits of a diversity of experiences in generating a quality work product, they will be more accepting of diverse individuals in the workplace and willing to compensate them accordingly.

Conclusions

African American and Japanese women have a rich history of contributions to their countries. Both groups worked within and outside of the labor force adding cloth the quilts of their nation's histories, though they were often relegated to a place of secondary status in their own societies. There are many issues standing in the way of women reaching equality in representation throughout many professions and in gaining parity in regards to wage. Despite systematic discrimination, there are many opportunities for programs, policy, and attitudes to change in a way that creates opportunities for African American women and Japanese women in their labor forces. The advancement of women promises not only to assist in the formation of agencies that can more adequately address the needs of the entire population, but also in allowing economies to use the entirety of their resources to stimulate economic expansion.

For centuries African American and Japanese women have combated issues on different sides of the Pacific Ocean that have prevented them from reaching their full potential. By serving in capacities rarely celebrated, but vital to infrastructure development, they have helped construct the framework for nations that are thriving today. By shifting the focus from what African American and Japanese womenhave done with limited resources to what they can do with renewed effort, the United States and Japan can experience unparalleled growth.