A medical school in the Japanese capital has apologized Tuesday 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 – because its leaders thought female students would leave their careers when they became mothers.
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 internal investigation found the school first reduced all applicants’ first-stage scores to 20 percent then added up to 20 points only to male applicants with three or fewer application tries except those who had previously failed the test at least four times.
Studies have shown that the share of female doctors passing Japan’s national medical exam has remained at about 30% for around 20 years.
The education minister Yoshimasa Hayashi planned to examine the entrance procedures of all medical schools.
Gender equality minister Seiko Noda said: “It is extremely regrettable if medical schools share a view that having female doctors work at hospitals is troublesome.”
> Shiuly Rina
