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Sanae Kawana Masters Thesis (PDF 10MB) COMMUNICATING GENDER EQUITY IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR WORKPLACE IN HOKKAIDO, JAPAN Sanae Kawana BA (Hons.), Hokusei Gakuen University, Sapporo, Japan A thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Business- Communication, 2003 through the Brisbane Graduate School of Business, Faculty of Business, Queensland University of Technology Principal Supervisor: Dr. Caroline A. Hatcher Associate Supervisor: Dr. June Lennie Statement of original authorship The work contained in this thesis has not been previously submitted for a degree or diploma at any other higher education institution. To the best of my knowledge and belief, the thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made. Signed: Date: 11 Acknowledgements First of all, I would sincerely like to acknowledge my Principal Supervisor, Dr. Caroline A. Hatcher, Director of MBA, Brisbane Graduate School of Business, QUT, for her continuous guidance, warm encouragement, strong and sincere support and friendship. I am most grateful to my Associate Supervisor, Dr. June Lennie, Centre for Service Innovation, QUT, for sound advice, warm encouragement and sincere and continuous support and friendship. I would also like to express my thanks to Ms. Susan Leggett for her professional knowledge and editing skills. I deeply appreciate the considerate advice and warm suppmi given by Dr. Greg Hearn, Associate Professor, Faculty of Creative Industries, QUT, and I am extremely grateful to Mr. David L. Wright for his everlasting encouragement, warm suppoti, and friendship. I am also grateful to many people working in Chitose City Council, Sapporo City Council and the Hokkaido Prefectural Government, who willingly cooperated in the data collection part of my research. This thesis would not have been completed without their generous assistance. The final big thanks goes to my husband, Norihito Kawana, my children, Hirokazu and Ayaka, Norihito's parents Shigem and Aiko Kawana, and my parents Shigeru and Yoshiko Kiryu, for their warm and continuous encouragement, support, patience, and understanding, especially during my time studying at QUT in Brisbane while they remained in Japan. 111 Abstract Very few qualitative studies based on first-hand research have been conducted regarding gender equity, especially in the public sector in Japan. The qualitative research in this thesis is therefore unique because it focuses on the public sector employees in a Japanese rural setting. Secondly, this exploratory ethnographic study elucidates the cultural and communication problems connected with gender equity policies in Japan and the social construction of the meaning of gender in a Japanese local government workplace. A feminist conceptual framework was developed to analyse the findings in this thesis, which provides a new interpretation about this social phenomenon. Triangulation was used to enhance the validity of this case study. The major methods used are: (a) open-ended, in-depth interviews with key persons and informal interviews with the employees of the public sector; (b) two focus group discussions: one of six males and six females from three levels in local government; (c) follow up questionnaires of30 male and female workers; (d) participant observation; (e) an analysis of archives of surveys of concepts on gender equity in local government employees, Chitose citizens, and Hokkaido people. As all public organisations are influenced by national government policies on gender equity, the findings are argued to have some generalisability. Being influenced by the world women's conferences since the 1970s, the Japanese government has enforced several gender equity policies. Nevertheless, some empirical secondary data indicate that working environments have changed little since the new law was introduced (Inoue et al., 1999). Under the umbrella of these national policies, local governments established their own plans; however, no effective implementation of these plans has been observed (Yazawa et al., 1997). One possible reason for this is that few people are aware of what gender discrimination means from a sociological point of view. Indeed, few women in Japan have spoken out about gender inequalities. The other reason is the communication barriers that exist between male and female employees in discussing gender relationships (Banzai, 1999; Hale, 1999; Kashima, 1999). Therefore, there is an urgent need to identify hidden cultural and communication barriers in the Japanese workplace in order to facilitate the implementation of gender equity policies. lV Following the research aims, a case study of work-life in Chitose City, Japan is developed. It considers the following research questions: (1) What are the cultural factors that have shaped the understanding of gender differences in the Japanese office? (2) What communication strategies are used by the Women's Policy Division of the Chitose Public Sector to implement gender equity principles? (3) What are the employees' experiences of the gender equity communication strategies used by the Women's Department of Chitose Public Sector to implement the gender equity principles in the workplace? (4) What are the communication mechanisms for the social construction of the meaning of gender awareness and diffusion of gender awareness in the public sector in Chitose? The findings show that Japanese linguistic and cultural communication problems concerning gender and organisation in the workplace shape daily organisational gendered practice. The research presents qualitative first-hand data that reveals the Japanese way of implementing gender equity policies lacks adequate discussion about gender equity. The concept of gender equity aiming at equality between men and women and between employees of the public sector reflects that of the current social climate of Japanese society in the workplace that claims a situation of harmony in the areas of gender equality and gender difference. The elucidation of communication barriers and styles via this research contributes to knowledge that may allow the Women's Policy Division in Chitose to move to more effective implementation of the Gender Equity Policy. Also, this study, which highlights the current cultural context of the Japanese workplace and gives voice to men and women in the public sector, provides first-hand data on important social phenomena. Keywords: Gender Equity, Power, Public Sector, Workplace, Communication v Table of contents Statement of original authorship ...................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................ iii Abstract .......................................................................................................................... iv Table of contents ............................................................................................................ vi List of tables and figures ................................................................................................ xii List of abbreviations ...................................................................................................... xiii Chapter One: Background and Overview of the Case Study in the Local Public Sector, Hokkaido, Japan ............................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Background to the research ..................................................................................................... 2 1.2.1 The City of Chitose as a research site .................................................................................. 2 1.2.2 The unique nature ofHokkaido people ................................................................................ 4 1.2.3 Gender equity policy of the research site ............................................................................. 4 1.3 Contribution of this project ..................................................................................................... 5 1.4 Research goals ......................................................................................................................... 6 1.5 The unit of analysis ................................................................................................................. 7 1.6 Research questions .................................................................................................................. 7 1. 7 Justification of research ........................................................................................................... 8 1.8 Linritations .............................................................................................................................. 9 1.9 Overview of methodology ....................................................................................................... 9 1.9.1 Ethnographic approach ......................................................................................................... 9 1.9 .2 Feminist methodology ........................................................................................................ 10 1.9.3 The case study approach ..................................................................................................... 10 1.9.4
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