Tokyo medical school admits changing

results to exclude women

University manipulated test scores for more than a decade to ensure
more men became doctors

Justin McCurry in Tokyo and agencies

Wed 8 Aug 2018 00.39 BSTLast modified on Wed 8 Aug

2018 05.15 BST

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Managing director of Tokyo Medical University, Tetsuo Yukioka and vice-president Keisuke
Miyazawa bow as they attend a press conference in Tokyo. Photograph: Jiji Press/AFP/Getty
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A Tokyo medical school has apologised after an internal investigation confirmed it

altered entrance exam scores for more than a decade to limit the number of female
students and ensure more men became doctors.

Tokyo Medical University manipulated all entrance exam results starting in 2006 or
even earlier, according to findings released by lawyers involved in the investigation,
confirming recent reports in Japanese media.

Tokyo medical school 'changed test

scores to keep women out'
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The school said the manipulation should not have occurred and would not in the
future. It said it would consider retroactively admitting those who otherwise would
have passed the exams, although it did not explain how it would do so.

The manipulation was revealed during an investigation into the alleged “backdoor
entry” of an education ministry bureaucrat’s son in exchange for favourable
treatment for the school in obtaining research funds. The bureaucrat and the former
head of the school have been charged with bribery.

The investigation found that in this year’s entrance exams the school reduced all
applicants’ first-stage test scores by 20% and then added at least 20 points for male
applicants, except those who had previously failed the test at least four times. It said
similar manipulations had occurred for years because the school wanted fewer
female doctors since it anticipated they would shorten or halt their careers after
becoming mothers.

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The education ministry official’s son, who had failed the exam three times, was given
a total of 20 additional points, which eventually elevated him to just above the cutoff
line.

The report said the manipulation was “profound sexism”, according to lawyer Kenji
Nakai. He said the investigation also suggested that the school’s former director took
money from some parents who sought preferential treatment for their sons and that
the manipulation was part of a deep-rooted culture that lacked fairness and
transparency.

Nakai said the report only covered the latest exam results because of time
constraints, and that further investigation was needed.

“We sincerely apologize for the serious wrongdoing involving entrance exams that
has caused concern and trouble for many people and betrayed the public’s trust,”
school managing director Tetsuo Yukioka said. He denied any previous knowledge of
the score manipulation and said he was never involved.

“I suspect that there was a lack of sensitivity to the rules of modern society, in which
women should not be treated differently because of their gender,” he said.

There was a lack of sensitivity to the rules of modern society in which women should
not be treated differently because of their gender
Kenji Naki

Yukioka said women were not treated differently once they were accepted, but
acknowledged that some people believe women were not allowed to become
surgeons.

Nearly 50% of Japanese women are college educated — one of the world’s highest
levels — but they often face discrimination in the workforce. Women also are
considered responsible for homemaking, childrearing and elderly care, while men are
expected to work long hours and outside care services are limited.

Studies show the share of female doctors who have passed the national medical exam
has plateaued at around 30% for more than 20 years, leading some experts to suspect
that other medical schools also discriminate against women.
The education minister Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters he planned to examine the
entrance procedures of all medical schools.

Gender equality minister Seiko Noda was quoted by Kyodo News as saying: “It is
extremely regrettable if medical schools share a view that having female doctors work
at hospitals is troublesome.”