The Attitude and Behavior of Japanese Managers Toward Male Employees Taking Long-Term Parental Leave1,2

Promoting male parental leave has become a concern for the Japanese government because of the large gender gap that exists in terms of availing parental leave. This study identified management attitudes and behaviors regarding long-term male parental leave. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 private-enterprise managers and supervisors whose male staff had taken at least 1 month of parental leave. The collected data were analyzed using a modified grounded theory approach, from which six groups, 19 categories, and 49 concepts were generated. It was found that (a) overcoming difficulties associated with long-term male parental leave resulted in diverse management behaviors; (b) managers often felt that male employees were being unreasonable by taking parental leave; and (c) managers realize the need for male parental leave systems once they observe changes in employees after returning to work.