Subhead: “…and yes, we still have to talk about it.”

On their way through life, men are rarely confronted with the same challenges and demands for sacrifice that women are, especially in the male-dominated business world. As a society, we have made progress in LGBT rights, same-sex partnerships and our thinking about what gender is. Meanwhile, the very basic differences between men and women in the workplace are not discussed. Sometimes, it feels as though this imbalance will last for decades to come.

Instead of finding excuses and trying to solve the problem from a male perspective, listening would be the first step in this long overdue process of achieving gender equality.

Aya Kimura (JP) is a master’s degree candidate at the University of Tokyo Graduate School of Public Policy. She wrote an essay for the Symposium entitled “No More Curators at Public Museums will Mature Society.”

“Many museum specialists tend to be women, but at the same time, at the administrative or director level there are many more men. It’s the same in my studies: We have many more female students, but they are not always going on to be professionals. Often it happens that they study culture and go into the household. If only one part of society or of an organization is dominated by women, things won’t change.