“Because You’re a Girl”: One in Three Japanese Students Say Teachers Not Giving Equal Treatment

A Girl Scouts of Japan survey on gender aimed at teen girls revealed that 31% of junior high school students and 32% of high school students feel that “school teachers do not treat girls and boys equally.”

The survey, held online in mid–November 2023, targeted junior high school and high school girls nationwide. It received 764 responses from junior high school students and 799 from high schoolers.

The percentage of students who said they had been told it was “fine not to do something because you’re a girl” was 40% for junior high school and 52% for high school. In both instances, the person most commonly telling them this was their teacher.

Conversely, 20% of junior high school students and 30% of high school students had experienced being made to do something “because you’re a girl.” For both junior high and high school students, they often felt they were made to do something by their “mother” or “school teacher.” Many high schoolers also included their “father” and grandmother.”

Respondents were further asked if they had seen sexism in daily life, to which 45% of junior high girls and 61% of high schoolers said “yes,” with the most common place they had seen it being “in the media,” followed by “at school” and “in a public space.”

The Girl Scouts of Japan pointed out that “unconscious prejudices and division of roles by gender still exist among family members and teachers. Those words and attitudes influence girls and, through that, can lead to girls subconsciously setting limits on themselves.”

(Translated from Japanese. Banner photo © Pixta.)