Gender Inequalities in Japan and South Korea: Labor Market, Employment, and Education

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Announcement

Japan and South Korea have the highest gender wage gap among OECD countries, and a group of scholars in the US, Japan, and South Korea have been concerned with the commonalities and differences between these two societies in the causes of gender inequality. Their studies have focused on various factors related to the gender wage gap, such as gender differences in employment status, women's underrepresentation in management and the STEM professions, and inequality associated with gendered roles in the family. This symposium is the third in their ongoing series, following previous meetings held in South Korea and Japan. This time, the symposium focuses on the relevance of studies on gender inequality in Japan and South Korea to research in Western societies by clarifying the former's theoretical implications. The symposium also has the honor of hosting a keynote speech by Marianne Bertrand, the Chris P. Dialynas Distinguished Service Professor of Economics.

Information

  • Time and Date: Saturday, April 25, 2026, 10:00-17:40 (CDT)
    *Sunday, April 26, 2026, 0:00-7:40 (JST)
  • Venue: Hybrid
  • Host: Center for East Asian Studies
  • Supporting Organization: Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI)
  • Language: English
  • Admission: Free

Registration Required

Contact

https://www.eventbrite.com/o/9796766662?contact_organizer=true

Program

10:00-10:05 Opening Remark

Kazuo Yamaguchi (University of Chicago / Visiting Fellow, RIETI)

Presider:

Juyeon Kim (University of Seoul)

10:05-11:45 The first session: "Gender Inequality in Education"

Moderator:

Juyeon Kim (University of Seoul)

"Looking Up the Ladder: The Gender of Top Peers and Student Outcomes"

Youjin Hahn (Yonsei University)

"Which Female Peers Matter? Role Models, Conformity, and STEM Persistence Before Academic Tracking."

Makiko Nakamuro (Keio University / Faculty Fellow, RIETI)

"The Role of Imagined Futures in Gendered Educational Trajectories: Adolescents' Expectations and the Leaky Pipeline in Japanese Selective College Admissions"

Fumiya Uchikoshi (Harvard University)

"Female Students' Underrepresentation in STEM Field Majors: What Japan's Social Climate Tells Us About Gender and Science."

Hiromi Yokoyama (University of Tokyo)

11:45-12:45 Lunch break

12:45-13:45 Keynote lecture

Moderator:

Hitoshi Shigeoka (University of Tokyo)

"Gender Inequality, Stereotypes and Identity"

Marianne Bertrand (University of Chicago)

13:45-14:00 The first coffee break

14:00-16:05 The second session: "Gender Inequality in the Labor Market and Employment"

Moderator:

Youjin Hahn (Yonsei University)

"Gender Bias in Evaluation and Promotion."

Yukiko Asai (University of Chicago)

"Incentive Compatibility of ESG and Gender Equality for Firm's Own Performance"

Hyeok Jeong (Seoul National University)

"Persistent but Narrowing Gender Gaps in Early Career Outcomes in South Korea."

ChangHwan Kim (University of Kansas)

"Gender Earning Gap in Japan and its Multidimensionality: A Re-evaluation of the Segmented Labor Market Theory"

Kazuo Yamaguchi (University of Chicago / Visiting Fellow, RIETI)

"Diverging Shifts in Occupational Gender Segregation and Wage Inequality: A Cohort Analysis of the Korean Labor Market"

Yoosik Youm (Yonsei University)

16:05-16:20 The 2nd Coffee Break

16:20-17:35 The third session: "Gender inequality and childbirth"

Moderator:

Yukiko Asai (University of Chicago)

"How does Parental Leave Shape Perceptions of Women and Men as Parents and Workers? Survey-experimental Evidence from South Korea, Germany, and the US."

Youngjoo Cha (Indiana University Bloomington)

"The Differential Effects of Childbirth on Men's and Women's Labor Market and Health Outcomes"

Juyeon Kim (University of Seoul)

"Making Information Stick: Evidence from Correcting Misperceptions toward Paternity Leave-Taking in Japan"

Hitoshi Shigeoka (University of Tokyo)

17:35-17:40 Closing remark

Yoosik Youm (Yonsei University)

Presider:

Yukiko Asai (University of Chicago)