Tokyo medical school to pay $62,000 compensation for discrimination against female candidates

A medical school in Tokyo has been ordered to pay compensation to thirteen women for gender-based discrimination.

The medical school reportedly made it harder for females to pass the entrance tests so as to "narrow the gap with male students".

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According to an AFP report quoting a Tokyo district court official, Juntendo University has been ordered to compensate the claimants. According to local media, the total compensation was approximately eight million yen ($62,000). The university did not respond to requests for comment.

Juntendo in 2018 raised the bar for women in the entrance exam so as to bring them on par with male students. As per AFP, the institution took this step after a scandal over medical school admissions uncovered improper practices at many of the institutions.

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Back then, the institution claimed that women had superior communication abilities and hence had an advantage in the interview portion of their applications.

Four years ago, a government investigation was launched after it was found that another school, Tokyo Medical University admitted to lowering scores of female applicants. This was apparently done so as to keep women's numbers in the student body below 30 per cent.

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The government report found that female applicants face discrimination in four of the 81 schools investigated. The media reported at the time that admission staff believed that women would leave medicine or work less after they married and had children.

Several lawsuits were filed against the colleges after the report was published in 2018. St. Marianna University of Medicine refuted the charges, whereas Tokyo Medical School, Juntendo University, and Kitasato University accepted the problem and apologised.

(With inputs from agencies)

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