RDP Project
Nagoya University Initiatives within the MEXT Diversity Program Framework
About the Initiative for Realizing Diversity in the Research Environment (Leadership training for women)
Under the MEXT subsidy programs of support for the cultivation of human resources in the Science and Technology Fields, Nagoya University is pursuing an initiative for realizing diversity in the research environment. To boost diversity within research settings and harness it for the cultivation of excellence in the realm of research accomplishment, this initiative supports undertakings aimed at creating research settings that reflect consideration for the life events and work–life balance of female researchers as well as enabling them to strengthen their research skills. Moreover, it also supports the active recruitment of female researchers, the reinstatement of those who have suspended their research or temporarily left their jobs, and the proactive promotion of female researchers to higher-level employment positions.
Nagoya University's Program of Support for Female Researchers, the Seventh Initiative Adopted as a Component of the MEXT Diversity Program
Nagoya University's initiative for the creation of research settings that support diversity (with leadership training for women) was adopted in 2023 as the seventh initiative of the MEXT Diversity Program. Under this initiative, the university has implemented a Retention, Development, and Promotion Program to Maximize the Career Potential of Female Researchers (the RDP Program) aimed at promoting the professional activities and careers of female researchers building on the undertakings it has launched through this program to date.
Goals
Increase the recruitment ratio of female to male faculty members.
By the final year of the initiative (2028), boost the recruitment rate for female faculty positions to at least 30 percent and increase the percentage of faculty positions held by women to at least 25 percent, up from 19.2 percent in 2022.
Boost the share of faculty professor and associate professor positions held by women.
Appoint women to at least 23 percent of all professor and associate professor positions expected to be filled during the program term, and increase the share of professor and associate professor positions held by women from 13.1 percent in 2022 to at least 18 percent.
Actions
Promoting Women to Higher Job Positions through Support and Development Nagoya University Leadership Training Program
As an undertaking aimed at promoting the professional activities and careers of female researchers, Nagoya University's Retention, Development, and Promotion Program to Maximize the Career Potential of Female Researchers (the RDP Program) integrates a retention package for the creation of research settings that support diversity, a development package aimed at cultivating the skills, expertise, and leadership potential of female researchers, and a promotion package aimed at appointing more female researchers to higher-level faculty positions.
Implementation Platform
In 2002, Nagoya University became the first university in Japan to establish an office for gender equality. Since then, it has continued to promote gender diversity and gender equality university wide. Nagoya University considers this one of its most important missions, and to that end, has implemented pioneering initiatives for the advancement of women in seamless coordination with its Vice President for Diversity and Gender Equality, Gender Equality Committee, Center for Gender Equality (renamed the Center for Gender Diversity in 2022), its departmental committees on gender equality, and the Personnel Affairs & Labor Division in its General Affairs Division. Nagoya University's internal organization for the promotion of gender diversity serves as the platform for initiatives implemented through this program.
