Factors Influencing Japanese Women To Choose Two-Year Colleges in Japan

Two-year colleges in Japan have traditionally absorbed the major portion of female college entrants due to long-held gender stereotypes. Recently, Japanese women began to explore selfhood outside the traditional realm of marriage and motherhood. However, two-year colleges in Japan today continue to enroll mostly female students and few male students. Moreover, the general public continues to regard two-year colleges as a place for young women to prepare themselves for marriage and motherhood. The purpose of the study was to investigate whether traditional gender stereotypes continue to influence the decision of Japanese females pursuing a two-year college education. A sample of 214 Japanese female students enrolled in a two-year college participated in the study. The survey questionnaire was developed to examine factors perceived as influential by Japanese women on their decision to choose a two-year college. The questionnaire items were adopted based on a review of literature pertinent to gender roles an...