"Transgender Students Also Eligible for Admission" Japanese University Takes Desperate Measures as Female Enrollment Declines

4-Year Women's Universities: 98 in 1998 to 73 This Year
Liberal Arts Focus... Lower Employment Rate than Engineering

As the popularity of women's universities declines in Japan, some universities are transitioning to coeducation or considering 'admission approval for transgender students.'

According to the Asahi Shimbun on the 24th, the popularity of women's universities among Japanese university applicants continues to fall. Coupled with the government's university structural reforms, the number of four-year women's universities, which reached 98 in 1998, has sharply decreased to 73 this year. Recently, two private women's universities, including Kobe Kaisei Women's Academy University, announced their closure and suspended student recruitment for the next academic year.

[Image source=Pixabay]

The primary cause of the decline in popularity of women's universities is Japan's chronic social issue of low birthrate. The population of 18-year-olds in Japan has nearly halved over 30 years, from 2.05 million in 1992 to 1.12 million last year.

Additionally, there is a growing perception that employment prospects for graduates from women's universities, which mainly focus on humanities, are less favorable compared to those from coeducational universities with science and engineering programs. In fact, among 71 private women's universities nationwide last year, 49 schools, accounting for 69%, had fewer enrolled students than their capacity. Three women's universities had enrollment numbers that did not even reach half of their capacity.

As a result, some women's universities are planning to expand their science and engineering departments. Nara Women's University, a national university, established the first engineering faculty among Japanese women's universities in 2022, and Ochanomizu Women's University is accelerating the establishment of an engineering faculty in 2024.

There are also cases of transitioning to coeducation. According to the newspaper, from 2000 to 2022, a total of 26 schools switched to coeducation. Universities such as Keisen Jogakuen University have announced plans to transition to coeducation starting in 2025.

The number of women's universities allowing admission of sexual minorities is also increasing. In 2020, Ochanomizu Women's University, a leading national women's university in Japan, fully permitted admission of transgender students who are legally male but identify as female. It is reported that four other women's universities are also seriously considering admission approval for transgender students.

The Asahi Shimbun stated, "Unlike in the past, with higher education for women now widely accessible, questions are being raised about the significance of women's universities in Japan."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.