Chinese and Japanese teens differ in aspirations
A glaring discrepancy has emerged between the career ambitions of Chinese female teenagers and their Japanese counterparts, according to a survey published on Tuesday by a leading Japanese think tank.
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The top five desired careers among Chinese female teens aged 16-19 include president or chief executive of a company, senior management or manager, or teacher. In comparison, the top-five list for Japanese teens include housewife, flight attendant and child-care worker.
“Against a backdrop of doubts about the future from a protracted recession, Japanese youths have a very strong desire for stability,” said the report, which was compiled by the Hakuhodo Institute of Life and Living. “In contrast, young Chinese want to move up in the world.”
The survey was conducted among 200 young men and women in Shanghai and the greater Tokyo area respectively this summer.
Prominent economists have noted that women are Japan’s most underutilised resource. A recent Goldman Sachs report said: “If Japanese female participation rates rose to levels currently seen in the US, this would add 2.6m people to the workforce, raising Japan’s trend GDP growth rate from 1.2 per cent to 1.5 per cent over the next two decades.”
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Though there have been several high-profile female chief executive appointments in Japan this year, including Tomoyo Nonaka as the CEO of Sanyo, the consumer electronics group, and Fumiko Hayashi as the president of Daiei, one of Japan’s leading retailers, women are still largely absent from top management positions and boardrooms.
Japan is ranked 43 in gender empowerment according to the United Nations Development Programme, putting it behind Barbados and Croatia.
According to the UNDP, the percentage of total seats in parliament held by women is 20.2 per cent in China, compared with 9.3 per cent in Japan. Meanwhile, the ratio of estimated female to male earned income is 66 per cent in China, compared with 46 per cent in Japan.
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Separately, the survey also noted Chinese teens thought that Japanese women made “good wives and mothers” and that Japanese were hard workers. Chinese teens said that they were concerned about problems such as wealth disparity and environmental problems.
中国少女：总裁日本少女：主妇
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本一智囊机构昨天公布的一份调查称，中日两国青少年女性的职业抱负存在巨大差异。
在中国16至19岁女性青少年的职业选择中，前5个理想职业包括公司总裁或首席执行官、高级管理层或经理、或者教师。日本女孩的前5个职业则包括家庭主妇、空中乘务员和儿童保育员。
“人们对日本经济未来能否摆脱长期的经济衰退存在疑虑，在此背景下，日本青少年追求稳定的愿望十分强烈，”由博报堂生活综合研究所(Hakuhodo Institute of Life and Living)编写的这份报告称。“相比之下，中国青少年想要升迁。”
这项调查于今年夏季在上海和大东京地区展开，调查对象为200名男女青少年。
一些知名经济学家曾指出，妇女是日本利用率最低的资源。
高盛(Goldman Sachs)最近的一份报告称：“如果日本妇女的就业率升至美国目前的水平，就业人口将增加260万，使日本的国内生产总值(GDP)趋势增长率在今后20年里从1.2%增至1.5%。”
今年，日本有几位著名女性被任命为首席执行官，其中野中知世(Tomoyo Nonaka)被任命为三洋(Sanyo)首席执行官，林文子(Fumiko Hayashi)被任命为大荣(Daiei)社长。但尽管如此，高级管理层和董事会中还是很少出现妇女的身影。三洋是日本家用电器集团，大荣是日本主要零售商之一。
据联合国开发计划署(United Nations Development Programme)称，日本在性别赋权(gender empowerment)方面的排名是第43位，位于巴巴多斯和克罗地亚之后。
据联合国开发计划署称，在中国人大代表席位总数中，妇女占20.2%，相比之下，日本妇女在国会中占9.3%。与此同时，中国女性估算收入与男性估算收入之比为66%，而日本为46%。
