Who Supported the Career Development of Highly Educated Japanese Women between the 1970s and 1980s?

Abstract

Abstract In this study, the author considers the problems of married women continuing to work after giving birth in the historical case of Japan, a society with significant gender inequality. The author focuses on female elementary school teachers who managed to continue working after getting married and giving birth at a time when married women in Japan were increasingly becoming housewives. The author investigated the trajectories of female teachers who had no relatives in their neighborhoods. The results emphasize the importance of understanding workers in the reproductive and informal sectors who identify as housewives when considering the career formation of women in countries with a significant gender divide.