Embassy and Waseda University co-host Seminar on labour force participation of women

News article | June 7, 2012

Labour force participation of women, especially in higher positions, is not yet ideal, neither in Japan nor in the Netherlands. For this reason on 6 June, the Dutch Embassy, co-organized a seminar with Waseda University, the seminar, ‘Untapped potential: Labour Force Participation of Women in the Netherlands and Japan’.

Around 180 students and other invitees listened to Esther-Mirjam Sent, Professor at the Radboud University and Professor Hiroko Hayashi specialist in Japanese labour law at the University of Fukuoka. The seminar was chaired by women’s rights ‘veteran’ Ms. Masako Hiramatsu.

In her presentation, Professor Sent underlined that equal participation is not only fair, but serves a clear economic purpose. In an ageing society the potential of women should not be left unused. Furthermore, companies’ performances benefit from more diversity. Professor Hayashi supported this argument, emphasizing the need for better legislation and its enforcement, with the aim of improving the position of women in the work force.

After the seminar Prof. Sent met with representatives from the political world, civil society and the business world, to discuss the subject. The idea that improving participation of women in the work force is not only fair, but also economically necessary resonated well in Japan.