Center Director: Kikuko Ota (Professor, Faculty of Nursing and Medical Care)
Primary Campus: Shonan Fujisawa
Center Overview
The Work-Life Balance Research Center, as a promotional hub for the "Support for Female Researchers to Foster Social Capital" project under the Special Coordination Funds for Promoting Science and Technology's "Model Program to Support Female Researchers," conducts action research on the ideal form of work-life balance measures in universities. The center identifies the unique work-life balance challenges and needs of university researchers and subsequently examines, plans, implements, and evaluates which work-life balance measures are effective for the university. Through the outcomes of the center's activities, it is anticipated that universities will become more accommodating workplaces for everyone, enabling a better work-life balance and reducing the number of researchers who suspend their research due to life events such as childbirth, childcare, and nursing care. Furthermore, this will make it possible to attract individuals to the university as researchers who had previously hesitated to pursue higher education due to factors like childbirth and childcare. Consequently, the number of researchers with experience in childcare and nursing care is expected to increase, leading to research conducted from more diverse perspectives. Researching the process of formulating and implementing these measures and disseminating the findings is believed to contribute to strengthening the future international competitiveness of not only Keio University but also various other academic and research institutions.
Keywords and Main Research Themes
Work-life balance, support for female researchers, gender equality
2010 Fiscal Year Action Plan
Support for Female Researchers to Foster Social Capital
Development of a promotion system: Establish a foundation for continuous support for female researchers in collaboration with gender equality initiatives on each campus. This includes the trial implementation and evaluation of work systems to support female researchers; the operation and evaluation of an information support environment that provides information to female researchers and enables them to communicate and hold meetings smoothly; and the development, operation, and evaluation of a system for program development and human resource training related to supporting female researchers through community collaboration.
Childcare support: Assign assistants to reduce the burden on female researchers with children and evaluate the effectiveness; develop, provide, and evaluate programs to support childcare for sick children for female researchers with children; build and improve a temporary childcare support system and train student supporters to provide temporary childcare; operate temporary childcare facilities; and expand the disclosure of information on regional resources, such as case studies on career building and work-life balance, and information on childcare around the campus, to support female researchers in balancing their work and personal lives.
Empowerment support: Trial operation of a consultation service where female researchers and graduate students can receive advice on career building; consideration and trial implementation of internships for female students; planning and implementation of lectures and other events for high school students, university students, and young researchers to learn about building a career as a researcher; community building and networking support for information sharing to facilitate the research activities of female researchers; and holding symposiums and lectures to publicize initiatives to support female researchers both within the university and to society.
Promotion of surveys and research: Continued implementation of internal surveys on the support needs of female researchers, promotion of surveys and research related to work-life balance that lead to support for female researchers, and implementation of external evaluations by external evaluation committee members (third parties).
2010 Fiscal Year Business Report
■ Implementation Details for the Fiscal Year's Action Plan, Research Outcomes, and Degree of Achievement
Development of a promotion system: With the Office for Gender Equality at its core, we developed an environment to support female researchers in collaboration with gender equality initiatives on each campus.
Childcare support: We assigned assistants to reduce the burden on female researchers with children and evaluated their effectiveness; developed, provided, and evaluated programs to support childcare for sick children for female researchers with children; built and improved a temporary childcare support system and trained student childcare supporters to provide temporary childcare; operated temporary childcare facilities; and expanded the disclosure of information on regional resources, such as case studies on career building and work-life balance, and information on childcare around the campus, to support female researchers in balancing their work and personal lives.
Empowerment support: We planned and implemented lectures and other events for high school students, university students, and young researchers to learn about building a career as a researcher; considered and conducted trial implementations of internships for female students; provided community building and networking support for information sharing to facilitate the research activities of female researchers; and held symposiums and lectures to publicize initiatives to support female researchers both within the university and to society.
Promotion of surveys and research: We conducted the 2nd Survey on Work-Life Balance and Gender Equality (targeting all full-time faculty members at Keio University), promoted surveys and research related to work-life balance that lead to support for female researchers, and conducted an external evaluation by external evaluation committee members (third parties).
■ Number of Published Papers (count and major journal names), Number of Conference Presentations (domestic and international), and Achievements in Social Contribution, such as Events (date, location)
3rd Symposium on "Support for Female Researchers to Foster Social Capital": "Keio University's Initiatives for Gender Equality—Beyond Supporting Female Researchers" (November 13, 2010, Classroom D101, Independence Wing, Hiyoshi Campus)
FY2010 Symposium on Gender Equality (December 11, 2010, TKP Tokyo Station Nihonbashi Business Center 5F "Hall 5C")
5th and 6th "Evening for Researchers to Consider Work-Life Balance" (April 8, 2010, and January 12, 2011, Sosokan, Yagami Campus)
"Gathering of Shinanomachi Campus Researchers to Consider Work-Life Balance" (September 17, 2010, Lounge, 1st Floor, Center for Integrated Medical Research)
Lecture on "How to Obtain Research Funding for Young Researchers" (September 22, 2010, Classroom τ11, Shonan Fujisawa Campus (SFC))
"Keio☆Girls Work-Life Balance Symposium" (November 24, 2010, Forum, 7th Floor, Sosokan, Yagami Campus)
"Career Seminar and Career Advisor Exchange Meeting for Young Researchers and Graduate Students" (December 1 and 3, 2010, DNP House, ν Building, Shonan Fujisawa Campus (SFC))
Keio Girls Senior High School Symposium: "The Path to Becoming a Female Researcher or Professional" (December 11, 2010, Keio Girls Senior High School)
■ Notable Achievements through the Center's Activities
After the center was established, the results of its activities were recognized, and it was selected for the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology's (MEXT) Special Coordination Funds for Promoting Science and Technology's "Model Program to Support Female Researchers," carrying out the "Support for Female Researchers to Foster Social Capital" project for three years. As a result of the center's activities, we were able to implement research work support and sick child care support for female researchers who are pregnant or raising children, and clarify their effectiveness. We also empowered female students and young female researchers by compiling a collection of role models to support the careers of the next generation of researchers, holding career seminars, and developing communication systems. In addition, we conducted two university-wide surveys to understand the needs related to gender equality and work-life balance and to evaluate our measures. On each campus, we conducted networking activities tailored to the needs of that campus, creating an environment where we could identify and share challenges related to balancing career and life events for female researchers, which had not been previously apparent. At the Shonan Fujisawa Campus (SFC), we established "Kogamo no Su" (Little Duck's Nest) as a safe space for children on campus. Concurrently, we developed and implemented a student childcare supporter training program and have been running a temporary childcare support service at Kogamo no Su utilizing the trained student supporters. Furthermore, we approached various departments within the university and carried out projects using our own funds, such as establishing the position of Executive Director for Gender Equality and the Office for Gender Equality, and equipping all campuses with restrooms accessible to people with children.
Project Members
Principal Investigator
Kikuko Ota
ProfessorFaculty of Nursing and Medical Care, Specialized FieldNaoki Watanabe
ProfessorFaculty of Business and Commerce, Specialized Field