University of Tokyo

Abstract
Survey Number 0285
Survey Title Survey of Job Selection Behavior and Professional Life among Female University Graduates, 1993
Depositor Hiroki Sato
(Former Name:Former Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Labor)
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Educational Purpose Only available for research.
Period of Data Use Permission One year
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Summary The purpose of this study is to investigate the changes in the labor market for female graduates from 4-year university programs during almost 10 years after the implementation of the Equal Employment Opportunity Law in April 1986. Immediately after the implementation of the law, the aftermath of the first high-yen recession continued, though an economic boom period called the 'bubble economy' arrived soon; the performance of women employed in main career tracks captured the headlines as a result of the Equal Employment Opportunity Law. However, along with the recession, which occurred around 1992, the turnover of female employees in main career tracks and the problems faced by female students when looking for jobs were featured in the mass media. This trend seems to indicate that the economic fluctuation has a greater influence on the possibility that women with college degrees will perform to their potential in Japanese companies as compared to the opportunities afforded by the Equal Employment Opportunity Law. Therefore, this study investigates how economic fluctuation and legal regulations affect the professional lives of female university graduates by comparing the professional lives of three groups: (1) students who graduated in March 1987, the first generation of the Equal Employment Opportunity Law, when the Japanese economy had not yet recovered from the first strong yen recession; (2) students who graduated in March 1991, when the labor market was favorable for job seekers because of a labor shortage in the bubble economy; and (3) students who graduated in March 1993, when the Japanese economy was in the second high yen recession after the bubble economy. This study examined female university graduates who are highly likely to be regarded as the core workforce equivalent to male university graduates.
Data Type quantitative research
quantitative research: micro data
Universe Women who graduated from 4-year university programs in 1987, 1991, and 1993 after the implementation of the Equal Employment Opportunity Law
Unit of Observation Individual
Sample Size 1987 graduates: Effective sample size 2,578 (6 universities) Effective response rate 1,024 Percentage of effective response rate 39.8%
1991 graduates: Effective sample size 1,434 (5 universities) Effective response rate 541 Percentage of effective response rate 39.7%
1993 graduates: Effective sample size 1,110 (4 universities) Effective response rate 392 Percentage of effective response rate 35.3%
Total: Effective sample size 5,085 Effective response rate 1,957 Percentage of effective response rate 38.5%

SSJDA note: The total number and rate in the report are described without modifications.
Date of Collection 1993-10-01 ~ 1993-10-01
1993/10/01
Time Period 1993 ~ 1993
Spatial Unit tokyo
Vicinity of Tokyo
Sampling Procedure Other
-Lists of university graduates are used as sampling registers.
-The target universities are 6 private co-education universities, which are presumed to have female graduate students employed as the core workforce in companies.
-Since the samples of analysis are students employed by private companies, the sample is limited to students who have graduated from schools of art and science, social science, and natural science; graduates in education and medical sciences were eliminated as in these cases, the labor market appears to be different.
-The sample size of the 1987 graduates was set as twice the number of the 1991 and 1993 graduates since it is highly possible that the list of graduates has not been updated. Therefore, by setting the sample size of the 1987 graduates as 3,000 and that of the 1991 and 1993 graduates as 1,500, a sampling size was allocated to each university.
-By referring to a list of graduates, the alumni employed by public offices or schools as well as students who continued with graduate school were eliminated from the sample.
Mode of Data Collection Self-administered questionnaire: Paper
Questionnaires were delivered and collected by post.
Investigator Tokyo Metropolitan Labor Research Institute
DOI 10.34500/SSJDA.0285
Sponsors (Funds)
Related Publications (by the Investigator) Daisotsu josei no shokugyo sentaku to shokugyo seikatsu [The career choice behavior and professional lives of female university graduates], Studies of Working Women No.9, September 1994, Tokyo Metropolitan Labor Research Institute
Related Publications (based on Secondary Analysis) List of related publications (based on Secondary Analysis)
Documentation [Chosa-hyo]
Major Survey Items (1)Job search in school:
Desired occupation and employers in school, methods for seeking a job

(2)The first job:
Labor market entered at first job (industry, occupation, and size of the company, if Respondent('R' hereafter) was assigned to the headquarters, employment conditions, and if the employer had introduced the career track employment system), evaluation for the choice of the first job, training right after employment (training period, content of training), description of the assigned job, perceived difference with male graduates who joined the company in the same year, and capabilities utilized by the direct supervisor

(3)Job switching:
Career, number of jobs switched, evaluation of jobs switched, industry, size, employment status after the job switch

(4)Current employment:
Years worked (total number of years worked, period of employment as a full-time employee), transfers experienced while employed, overall satisfaction with one's career including challenge, fairness, interpersonal relationships.

(5)Occupational aspirations:
Willingness to continue work, utilizing capabilities, promotion, and the availability of equal opportunities with men were explored by considering three points of time in their careers, that is, before they began their job search in school, when they were first employed, and in their present situation.

(6)Attributes:
Marital status, children, major in school, and the effects of the Equal Employment Opportunity Law
Date of Release 2003/05/07
Topics in CESSDA Click here for details

Employee training
Employment
Working conditions
Gender and gender roles
Topics in SSJDA Employment/Labor
Version 1 : 2003-05-07
Notes for Users Among the six universities that were considered for students who graduated in 1987, one school with 1991 graduates and two schools with 1993 graduates did not have lists of graduate students when distributing questionnaires; hence, these schools were not included in the sample. Therefore, 52.3% of the effective responses were obtained from the 1987 graduates; thus, the results of the summary are strongly influenced by their characteristics.