山形大学の河野銀子さん(先に紹介した「ジェンダーと学校教育」の章の執筆者)より、日本のRikejo(理系女子)に関するコメントが、ニューヨーク タイムス(NYTimes)に、載ったという知らせをいただいた。
河野さん自身は「前後の文脈が切り取られていてコメントの趣旨が伝わっていない」と少し不満のようだが、ニューヨーク タイムズに、コメントが載るなんて、すごい。(下記に一部転載)
The topic of women entering these fields has suddenly become fashionable. They even have a nickname: “Rikejo,” roughly meaning “science women.” Publishers print magazines for young women interested in science, and there is even a novel about a “mathematics girl.”
Masao Togami, editor of Rikejo magazine, a free publication with 17,000 subscribers, said he wanted to give young women encouragement, career tips and a vision for the future. “Universities have been strengthening efforts to recruit more female students,” Mr. Togami said. “That’s clearly evident just in the last few years.”
“Rikejo fairs” aimed at high school girls have become popular. When TiTech announced campus and lab tours online last year, the slot for about 30 students “was gone in one minute,” said a university official. “We wish we could let in more.”
The tide turned around 2008, when the government began subsidized programs to support scientific research conducted by female scientists and increased funding to help universities employ more of them, said Ginko Kawano, associate professor of social education at Yamagata University