SHIFTING SPHERES - THE WORK AND FAMILY-LIFE OF JAPANESE FEMALE GRADUATES

Women occupy a subordinate and peripheral place in the Japanese paid workforce and most women experience a considerable interruption to their employment history while they have young children. This is especially true of university graduates, who are less likely than average to continue in paid employment. This paper draws on the Sino-Japanese Survey of Working Women's Lives to provide insight into that minority of women who continue in paid work in this phase of life. The data confirm the general picture of the female workforce, but make it possible to highlight a sub-group of graduates who have secured a foothold in primary sector employment and whose domestic life exhibits a shift away from the sharp gender division typical of Japanese households. It is suggested that the life courses of Japanese women show signs of increasing differentiation.