The share of women in managerial positions at Japanese companies hit a record high this year, but was still far short of the government's target — apparently because of difficulty balancing home and work, a survey by research firm Teikoku has shown.

The survey found that the share of such women rose 0.2 percentage point from the previous year to 11.1% on average, growing for the 11th straight year. The government aims to raise the figure to some 30% as early as possible in the 2020s.

At large companies, the proportion of female managers was 8.3%. The figure was higher among smaller companies, at 14.3%, apparently because those firms are often family-run businesses.

The proportion of female board members hit a record high of 13.8%. Still, a majority of companies had all-male boards.

While 31.8% of companies expect the proportion of female managers to increase, 42.7% said it will not change.

A chemical company said that "there are still many hurdles for women to continue working, such as marriage, childbirth and the transfer of partners," according to the survey.

Meanwhile, the average rate of men taking child care leave rose 8.6 points from 2023 to 20%.

"It is necessary to support the creation of an environment that makes it easier to balance home and work," a Teikoku Databank official said.

The survey was conducted online on July 17-31. Responses were received from 10,626 companies across the country.