Only a tiny fraction of female workers have been able to snag top roles at public, private and nonprofit organizations in Japan, according to data from Teikoku Databank Ltd. released earlier this week.
The percentage of company presidents who are women was just 7.8 percent at the end of April, even though the prevalence of female chiefs is on an upward trend over the long term, having risen from 5.5 percent in 1998, the credit research agency's most recent report showed.
The report is indicative of the recent trends in women's employment in Japan, a mixed bag of positive developments and harsh realities indicating that there is still a long way to go until the country catches up with other developed nations.