Eric Takabayashi <etakajp@yahoo.co.jp> wrote in message news:<3F079E22.102670D6@yahoo.co.jp>...
> "John W." wrote:
> 
> 
> > After a year or so it was
> > obvious that this situation wasn't going to change,
> 
> Why did it take one year to find that out?
> 
Because when you're young and full of dreams it's very easy to be
misled. We've all been there at one time or other.

> > so she decided to settle down and be a mom.
> 
> Why did she not look for another job after just one year? My wife is a victim of discrimination,
> and she's now 35 with two kids, but she continues to study for national exams for a full time
> office job or home work, while getting money at a crap job. I know women who are not so fresh out
> of school, yet have not given up on work or further study. I applaud them. I did not give up on a
> job search after about 14 months unemployed, either, and neither did you. The vast majority of men
> have no choice about working at all, no matter how crappy the job, salary, or the economy.
> 
> This is one of the important differences between men and women as seen in Japan.
> 
> > I tell this story because I feel it's a damn
> > shame that Japan lost a very, very, very intelligent, dedicated, and
> > capable member of the work force
> 
> But unfortunately not willing to stick a situation out or look for a job longer than a year. 

I didn't say that. She worked there for several years. But after the
first year or so she figured out her coworkers in the same job were
moving forward whereas she wasn't.

> If
> the market were so stacked against me, as it indeed is now after ten years in Japan, I would go
> back to school for a new education, and look for a new job, even if it means starting a totally
> brand new career such as nursing as a man at 40 with a wife and two children to support. I see
> what laid off men, or men who quit unsatisfying jobs in mid career do. 

One thing I love to hear is what employed people will do when they are
unemployed. Let me educate you. For starters, you continue to think
that you will soon be employed. After six months or so, it becomes
obvious that things are not going according to Hoyle, so you look for
education. But, of course, there are admission deadlines,
restrictions, etc., so it's not all that easy to just go back to
school. There is, of course, technical education; but the cost is
prohibitive (and student loans, too, have certain deadlines and
restrictions), and you still have to find some work while you study so
that you can pay the bills. But since you haven't been able to get
work for nearly a year by this point, you can't find that part time
job (after all, they didn't hire you when you weren't a student,
either) because you're overqualified (and you have a fairly impressive
resume). Try to lie on it, and you will get caught and in all
likelihood fired. So it isn't that easy to just regear; most people I
know who have done it had spouses with a good salary, or had access to
some good career resources (that many companies supply when they fire
you).


> > Note that this male mindset
> 
> Note the FEMALE mindset when giving up on work after one year, or ONLY 
> getting a junior college
> education, not sticking out crap jobs or job searches or pursuing 
> competitive university education
> like the men, and not working the same hours, sometimes to the detriment of > their health. 

What women do you know? Most women I know in professional careers went
to Junior College because, at the time (mid 80s/early 90s) that was
what they were strongly advised to do. And many Junior Colleges are
better respected than four-year institutions. That aside, they still
work the same hours men do (or are told to go home because they aren't
given the same amount of work to do in the first place), stick to crap
jobs (my s-i-l did) and eventually grow so disillusioned that they
become 'freeters' or some other type of social parasite, and do suffer
many of the same health problems men do (except, perhaps, the
smoking/drinking related illnesses, which as we all know have precious
little to do with actual work).

> Major
> reasons for the obvious differences in "men's" work and "women's" work in 
> Japan. It is wrong to
> discriminate against an applicant just because she is a woman before giving 
> her a chance, but men
> and women are quite different in Japan.
> 
I know. And that's the problem. Moreover, that mindset is the problem.
From the start women are often not given the same chances men are,
and, though it's changing, are generally given less attention than the
men (how many girl's high school sports, for example, get national
attention twice a year, including major network TV coverage).

> > is the reason that I most likely will never get to
> > permanently live in Japan again, because my wife knows she can succeed
> > faster and more easily in America.
> 
> That is true. But your wife is also willing to get a valuable education

In AMERICA. Most of the female PhDs I know from Japan that work in the
US really don't want to return. One is a surgeon, and is facing losing
her career because she chose to have a baby.

> and 
> stick out a job search
> more than one year, without giving up.

Actually she went to one of the nation's best universities, so she
didn't really have to 'search' for a job too hard.

> She is even willing to be the breadwinner of your family.

Unfortunately she has no choice on this one. If you asked her, she
would gladly give up this responsibility.

> Your wife is a very uncommon woman and I hope she is appreciated. If she were typical of women,
> most kinds of discrimination would practically disappear in a few decades, because employers would
> know they could be relied upon to support the company.

She is without doubt most untypical. What I admire about her is that,
in general, she doesn't care a whit if someone feels negatively
towards her because she's female/asian/whatever. What she dislikes
greatly is anyone that stands in the way of her research.

John W.