[Special Feature: Confronting the Gender Gap] What Kind of Workplace Allows Working Mothers to Thrive? Diversity and Workplace Management from the Perspective of Human Resource Development

As a management scholar, I study "organizations" such as private companies and government agencies, as well as the "human resources" who work there. I earned my degree at a graduate school of management (Keio Business School), and business schools that provide management education for practitioners often receive consultations regarding human resource education in various organizational settings. Consequently, alongside my research and teaching, I began working on human resource development for employees of companies and leaders or managers in administrative agencies. I primarily teach management using the case method, but 99% of the students are men. When I asked the human resources departments of the clients, I often received responses such as, "Female employees do not have a very high awareness of promotion or training; they lose their motivation as if they have become different people, especially after giving birth."

However, in 2014, when I gave birth to my daughter and was on childcare leave, a woman in corporate sales who was also on leave consulted me. She said, "Since I gave birth to my first child and faced time constraints, my sales performance has suddenly improved. Work has become interesting, so I want to use this second childcare leave to study business, but I can't go to business school with a child. What should I do?" Encountering women whose motivation increased after childbirth or who had a desire to learn during childcare leave was an eye-opening experience for me. Although I was half-skeptical, I developed teaching materials based on my previous experience in human resource development for managers and my specialized knowledge. I held a study group for those on childcare leave called "Ikukyu Petit MBA" in a single apartment room, and there were many more applicants than I had anticipated. Currently, I provide learning opportunities through a company I co-founded called Work Shift Institute, and the total number of participants has exceeded 8,000.

As I continued this "Ikukyu Petit MBA," I accumulated various insights regarding human resource development for women. From the perspective of someone who had previously provided education primarily targeting male managers, there were many surprising findings, such as expressions to stimulate women's desire to learn, teaching methods that make it easier for women to feel a sense of learning, and methods for operating learning communities. I also realized that the reason women lose motivation after returning from childcare leave is not so much a direct result of childbirth, but rather the influence of workplace factors that make it difficult to balance work and childcare, and the resulting inability to have a career outlook.

As a result of witnessing these facts and advancing my understanding of female learners, I have come to believe that "women do have a desire to learn and work, but it is not being drawn out because companies have not prepared the workplace environment or learning opportunities."

Regarding how to perceive diversity, the classification by Harrison and Klein (2007)*1 is helpful (Figure 1).

1. Disparity: A perspective focusing on inequality in organizations and society, such as gender gaps.

2. Separation: A perspective focusing on differences in values within a workplace or group, such as levels of motivation or commitment.

3. Variety: A perspective focusing on the distribution of knowledge, skills, and abilities.

Capturing the history of women's advancement from these perspectives leads to the following. First, from the perspective of "disparity," it was necessary to resolve the inequality where opportunities for advancement in business were limited simply because one was a woman. It can be said that equal opportunity measures for men and women, represented by the Equal Employment Opportunity Act (enacted in 1985), were carried out from this perspective. As a result, employment opportunities for women were secured, but at the same time, women were required to handle a workload equivalent to that of men who left housework and childcare to their stay-at-home wives. Women were forced to choose between "career or family," and about 60% left their jobs upon the birth of their first child*2. Most of those who left their jobs once would then either remain stay-at-home mothers or find re-employment in non-regular positions.

However, it is a bit premature to attribute the cause of this to "women's low motivation." Looking at the "reasons for not wanting promotion" in the same survey, the most common response among women was "it becomes difficult to balance work and family" (36.5%), showing that they do not feel like taking on professional responsibilities without support measures for balancing work with housework and childcare (Figure 2). Here, we can glimpse the impact that the gap in values regarding social roles for men and women—that is, the diversity of "separation"—has on workplace organizations.

And ironically, there is an aspect where systems for continuing employment promote this gap in values. For example, when only women utilize childcare leave or shortened working hour systems, the value of the gender-based division of labor—that "childcare is a woman's role"—is reinforced. In France and Sweden, where the average time men with children under six spend on housework is about three times that of Japan*4 and the ratio of female managers is high, it is easy to treat this purely as a matter of values. However, in Japan, the strong correlation between values and gender makes the problem complex, as the perspectives of "separation" and "disparity" are easily confused.

On the other hand, from a management perspective, what holds value for corporate organizations is the diversity of "variety." Innovation is essential, especially in an environment like the present where consumer preferences are diversifying and the speed of technological innovation is fast. It is said that to realize knowledge creation, an organization needs the same degree of diversity internally as the market (the principle of requisite variety). Even otherwise, human resources with various knowledge and skills are necessary for working as a team. In our country, where the birthrate is declining, it is no longer possible to secure this diversity of knowledge and skills using only highly homogeneous human resources. To realize and utilize the diversity of "variety," workplace managers and leaders are required to have the skill to tolerate the diversity of "separation" and "disparity" and minimize negative conflicts.

一方、経営学の観点から言えば、企業組織にとって価値を持つのは「種類」の多様性である。特に現在のように消費者の嗜好が多様化し、技術革新のスピードが速い環境ではイノベーションが不可欠だが、知識創造を実現するには組織の内部にも市場と同じ程度の多様性が必要だと言われる（最小有効多様性の原理）。そうでなくとも、チームとして仕事をする上では様々な知識やスキルを持つ人材が必要であろう。そして少子化が進む我が国では、この知識やスキルの多様性を同質性の高い人材のみで確保することはもはや難しい。「種類」の多様性を実現して活用するためには、「距離」や「格差」の多様性を許容し、マイナスのコンフリクトを最小化する手腕が現場の管理職やリーダーには求められるのである。

Specifically, regarding the perspective of disparity as women, as mentioned earlier, many women are more susceptible than men to the effects of life events such as childbirth and childcare. Therefore, it is first necessary to consider gender inequality. In particular, it is necessary to create a workplace where childbirth and childcare do not affect one's career. It is necessary not only to expand work-life balance support systems such as childcare leave and shortened hour systems but also to provide them in a form that can be used regardless of gender.

If a state with little disparity can be created, the next approach should be the diversity of "separation." For example, it is necessary to minimize conflicts between members that arise from differences in values—such as wanting to go home on time to make time for private life, or wanting to work as long as possible for experience and income—rather than attributes like gender or the presence of children. To achieve this, it is necessary to assume a diversity of values and to have evaluation criteria other than values. For example, in a workplace where the value that "being in the workplace for a long time is good" is strong, conflicts may arise where people who want to go home early feel guilty or are criticized by those around them. However, under an organizational culture where "as long as results are produced, the time to leave is left to individual judgment" and a supervisor who leads by example, such conflicts will likely not occur.

By realizing such a workplace environment, the diversity of "variety" can be secured. However, to have members demonstrate variety diversity and contribute to the organization, incentives are needed that make each member want to utilize their knowledge and skills. This is a necessary perspective in normal organizational management as well, but particularly from the perspective of diversity, it is important to create a situation where people can believe that they can produce results if they work hard and will receive appropriate evaluation if they produce results, regardless of diversity in disparity or separation. A workplace where people are evaluated fairly if they produce results, regardless of their personal circumstances, can draw out contributions from diverse members. In other words, in a workplace that eliminates gender inequality, assumes a diversity of values, and provides incentives to contribute to the organization, diversity can be converted into competitiveness. To achieve this, systems that can accommodate individual circumstances and management actions that draw out the will to contribute by setting expectations and providing necessary support are required.

こうした職場環境を実現することで、「種類」の多様性が確保できる。ただし種類の多様性を発揮して組織に貢献してもらうためには、各メンバーが自分の知識やスキルを活かしたくなるような誘因が必要である。これは通常の組織管理でも必要な観点であるが、特に多様性の観点からは、格差や距離の多様性に関係なく、頑張れば成果を出すことができ、成果を出せば適切な評価を受けることができると信じられる状況を作ることが重要である。個人が抱える事情に関係なく、成果を出せば公平に評価される職場は、多様なメンバーの貢献を引き出すことができる。つまり性別による不平等をなくし、価値観の多様性を前提とし、組織に貢献したくなる誘因を提供することができる職場では、多様性を競争力に転換することができるのである。そのためには、個人の事情に配慮できる制度や、期待をかけ必要なサポートを提供して貢献意欲をうまく引き出す管理行動が必要となる。

The abilities of adults are developed through work experience of appropriate difficulty (McCall et al. 1988, etc.)*5. So-called challenging work experiences lead to the development of a person's abilities, and through ability development, people gain confidence. Bandura (1977)*6 divides the structure of confidence into two parts: confidence that "I have the ability to act" (efficacy expectation) and confidence that "actions will be appropriately evaluated" (outcome expectation). When these two types of confidence are present, a person takes action (Figure 3). There are four means for fostering efficacy expectations: performance accomplishments, vicarious experience, verbal persuasion, and physiological states (Bandura, 1995)*7. Women who have fostered efficacy expectations by gaining successful experiences, observing role models, or being encouraged by a trusted supervisor will accept more challenging tasks and develop their abilities.

However, women are structurally in a situation where it is difficult to obtain challenging work experiences. For example, direct experience may be lacking due to career interruptions for childbirth and childcare or the constraints of working hours, as well as the actions of managers who consider it a risk to entrust work to such personnel. Indirect experience may be lacking due to the lack of opportunities to observe female managers. Furthermore, opportunities and support for development are more likely to be lacking compared to men due to statistical discrimination—the result of rational judgment based on past data that "there is no point in training women because they quit"—or gender bias such as "it's a pity to entrust a girl with difficult tasks." Furthermore, because they harbor anxiety about sudden early departures or absences due to a child's illness (children run a fever about 20 days a year on average), women themselves are less likely to feel like actively taking on tasks and responsibilities. This is not a state where women's motivation for work is low, but rather a state where efficacy expectations have decreased due to anxiety. However, to those around them, this may appear as a passive attitude of "lacking motivation" or "low awareness." Additionally, efficacy expectations are also likely to decrease when flexible working styles in terms of time and place are not permitted.

There is also the aspect of "outcome expectation," which is the belief that actions will lead to desirable results. If people think they will not receive appropriate evaluation even if they act, they will not feel like taking action. However, existing workplaces are environments based on the assumption of men with stay-at-home wives and are not adapted to women who assume a balance with childcare. In particular, methods for allocating work, setting goals, and evaluating employees with time constraints have not yet been well established, and women raising children lose motivation, thinking that "even if I work hard, I won't be evaluated." This is precisely a problem of outcome expectation. Furthermore, as pointed out by Munakata and Wakabayashi (1987)*8, women are exposed to a "double prejudice" where masculine behavior is evaluated in managerial leadership, whereas the evaluation of women who take strong, masculine leader actions is low. In a situation where female leaders will receive low evaluations either way, the number of women aiming for those positions will inevitably decrease.

In this way, the workplace environment causes women's efficacy expectations and outcome expectations to decrease, creating a structure where work motivation becomes low or they cannot have a desire for promotion. Therefore, if women's advancement is expected, measures to increase efficacy expectations and outcome expectations are necessary. Specifically, while giving challenging tasks that lead to growth, organizational support to increase efficacy expectations and a review of evaluation methods and culture formation to increase outcome expectations are necessary.

It may have sounded as if I have been discussing only women while talking about diversity, but this is because women primarily embody the challenges of diversity in Japanese companies. And in the coming era, this challenge will no longer be limited to women. For example, from a survey I conducted targeting university juniors, it can be seen that 60% of both men and women want to balance childcare and work (Figure 4). In the future, workplaces that cannot recognize such diversity of values will likely fail to attract human resources, regardless of gender.

なお、これまで多様性と言いながら女性だけについて論じているように聞こえたかもしれないが、これは日本の企業における多様性の課題を、女性が主に体現しているからである。そしてこれからの時代は、この課題は女性に限ったものではなくなっていく。例えば筆者が大学３年生を対象にとったアンケートからは、男性も女性も６割が育児と仕事の両立をしたいと考えていることが分かる（図４）。今後、こうした価値観の多様性を認められない職場には、男女ともに人材が集まらなくなっていくであろう。

While many schools are scrambling to deal with closures, some educational institutions have quickly switched to online classes to maintain learning opportunities for their students. While there are companies where employees are commuting using crowded trains, there are companies considering expanding the scope of remote work systems, flexible operation of leave systems, or allowing employees to bring their children to work. Organizations that can respond quickly to such emergencies likely had systems and cultures that could tolerate such diversity in working styles fostered from the beginning. I believe that the essential significance of the need for "new working styles"—that is, the value brought by diversity in working styles—is the diversity of options for living in an uncertain future.

〈注〉

＊１ Harrison, D. A. and Klein, K. J. （2007） What’s theDifference? Diversity Constructs as Separation, Variety, orDisparity in Organizations. The Academy of ManagementReview 32 （4）, 1199-1228

＊２ 国立社会保障・人口問題研究所「第14回出生動向基本調査」

＊３ 武石恵美子（2014）「女性の仕事意欲を高める企業の取り組み」『ワーク・ライフ・バランス支援の課題』（東京大学出版会）

＊４ 総務省統計局「平成23年社会生活基本調査結果」の参考資料

＊５ McCall, M.W. Jr., Lombardo, M.M. and Morrison, A.M.（1988） The Lessons of Experience: How Successful ExecutivesDevelop on the Job. New York: The Free Press

＊６ Bandura, A. （1977） Self-efficacy: Toward a UnifyingTheory of Behavioral Change. Psychological Review, Vol 84 （2）,191-215

＊７ Bandura, A. （1995） Self-efficacy in Changing Societies,Cambridge University Press

＊８ 宗方比佐子・若林満（1987）「女性リーダーに対する態度―二重の偏見―」『組織行動科学、２（１）』15- 22