Job Discussion Forums

[jello1]

Just thinking out loud, but it appears a healthy majority of posters here are men...If true, is this representative of the ESL teachers in Japan? If so, this stikes me as curious. In the states, the majority of teachers to younger students through High School are female, at least in my experience.

Are male teachers more in demand in Japan, more heavily recruited, paid better etc...? Conversly, are females discouraged, whether actively or passively, from finding good ESL jobs. Is this cultural?

In my experiences, traveling and studying in Latin America, Anglo women are very desireable (at least my girlfriend at the time found this to be true). My intuition tells me it would likely be similar in Japan, but my intuition and lack of Japan experience could easily prove me wrong.

Do western men have some incentive, perks, job experiences that their female colleagues do not? Or is it simply that men seek these jobs at greater rates than women??

[Brooks]

Where I work we have far more male teachers than female ones. I am sure my school would like to hire more foreign female teachers, but males are more likely to apply.
Especially for the high school and university, since most of the students tend to be female.

If I recall, some women I used to work with, the reasons they quit were:
1. didn`t like Japan, and mother was sick back in the US
2. husband was tired of Japan after 5 years, so they left
3. boyfriend left Japan so she decided to as well
4. missed boyfriend who was outside Japan

I think the main reason was a lack of a relationship.
I think some men are willing to stick it out due to money, getting experience etc. whether they have a relationship or not.

If I think of women willing to stick it out,
one woman has a boyfriend and knows Japanese well, and is flexible and puts up with a lot of shit. She is staying.
Another woman is driven, has lots of experience, wants to make money, but may leave in a year. But she has a husband who probably isn`t crazy about being here.

But if I think of three other women, their experiences were different.
These women had goals before coming to Japan.
One stayed for seven years, saved a lot of cash, then went back home and bought a house.
Another is getting her Ph.d. After she finishes, I guess she will leave.

Another wants to make money and will leave after her contract is up.
All three are non-native teachers.

western men are more likely to hook up with Japanese women and get hitched, then western women are to hook up with Japanese men.
There is a glass ceiling here, and I have known women who should have been promoted, but less competent men got promoted.

Some women have a hard time adapting to Japan because they can feel they are stuck in a time warp.
It must be tough, coming from a place like New York, where women are independent and interested in having a career, to come to a place like Japan where there is a lot of sexism.

[TokyoLiz]

I've been here two years. One aspect I find most difficult to deal with is male chauvanism, both from men and women. The perception of the power balance between men and women, heavily weighted towards men, is perpetuated by Japanese women themselves. It's impossible to fight because few women see any possibility of change.

The few women that I've met and worked with who are imune t osexism are entrepreneurs. Because they can choose their clientele, they don't have to deal with sexist attitudes if they don't want to.

Brooks mentions men finding partners here more often than women do. It's true. All the women I've met who have hooked up with Japanese men and married them are very happy. The western women who do have relationships with Japanese men seem to have lasting ones. Although the majority of foreign marriages are between Japanese men and foreign women, a very small proportion of those are between Japanese men and western women.

Anyway, the result is fewer western women are here for the long term. We're underrepresented is all.

This makes the ELT job market a peculiarly unbalanced affair. We just went through the whole recruiting rigamarole. Of the dozens of resumes we received, there were only four or five female applicants. We've been trying to strike a better balance in our office by bringing in another female teacher. Fortunately, we found a candidate who has all the right stuff and then some and happens to be a woman.

[Glenski]

I read somewhere that in Japan male EFL teachers outnumber the female ones by 60-70% to 30-40%. Can't recall the source.

[denise]

Regarding relationships--I'd guess that more men than women are initially attracted to Japan because of the various stereotypes of the opposite sex and the odds for men/women of getting dates.

I've talked to a few women here who mentioned lack of dates as a factor in their decision to leave.

I don't mean to suggest that ALL men come here looking to score, but there is a subset of men for whom that is a factor. (See the other current thread started by this thread's OP!) Women EFL teachers who are looking for love might be scared away from Japan, again because of the stereotypes.

I've been here nearly two years and have met both foreign and Japanese men, but I would never consider staying here solely for a relationship. Are men just more willing to do that?

d

[VanKen]

[denise]

Coincidentally, I'm headed there next. Watch out, boys!!!

d

[PAULH]

[jello1]

Denise,

you wrote, "I've talked to a few women here who mentioned lack of dates as a factor in their decision to leave."

Really, with all the western teachers there, why don't they date those guys? It would seem like a natural fit....

[jello1]

Denise,

You say you are going to Latin America next...can I ask why?

I am taking a CELTA course soon and just beginning my esl teaching career, and so would love to hear about what you have found in Japan and how you think LA might be different.

Thanks!

[denise]

Mostly because a lot of Western guys here go ga-ga for Japanese girls. Stereotypes, stereotypes.

d

edit: Oooops, should have used that little quote function. This post is in response to your first post, the next one to your second post.

[denise]

I'm going to Latin America primarily because my school is closing and, while I have truly enjoyed my job/colleagues/students, I just don't like Japan enough to find another job here. I've chosen Latin America because I want to go somewhere where, for a change, I've already got a head start on the language. I've always wanted to go to South America. Also, of course, I'd like to meet men that aren't intimidated by us Western gals! (I'm not a very intimidating person myself, so I find all of the anti-western woman stereotypes both comical and highly inaccurate. And of course a tad insulting.)

d

[Iwantmyrightsnow]

I actually think that in someways employment opportunities are better for females than males. At my last school there was a serious imbalance in favour of males. For the last few years we went out of our way to try and find females. It just happened that there were more males with the skills. Males tend to stay longer beause more of them end up in long term relationsships and so have a chance to develop better skills.

Not sure about in general eikaiwa though.

[denise]

[Iwantmyrightsnow]