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Contemporary Japanese Career Women: Reflections On Profession, Life, And Purpose, Anne Stefanie Aronsson Aarons
Contemporary Japanese Career Women: Reflections On Profession, Life, And Purpose, Anne Stefanie Aronsson Aarons
The Qualitative Report
In this article, I explore what motivates Japanese women to pursue professional careers in today’s neoliberal economy and how they reconfigure notions of selfhood while doing so. I ask why and how one fourth of Japanese women stay on a career track, often against considerable odds, while the other three fourths drop out of the workforce. Employment trends indicate that more white-collar professional women are breaking through the “glass ceiling” and more women are now filling managerial posts. These trends have been supported by the recession, which has led to the liberalization of career paths that fit with women’s tendencies …