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2 Aug, 2018 12:14

Outrage as Tokyo medical school caught tampering with exam results to keep women out

Outrage as Tokyo medical school caught tampering with exam results to keep women out

Tokyo Medical University has found itself in hot water after it was discovered to be altering exam scores for female applicants to boost the number of male doctors, prompting widespread outrage.

The fudged exam results were discovered in an internal investigation following allegations of corruption over the entrance procedures for the Tokyo medical school, Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun reported. The internal probe will also investigate allegations that the university was entangled in bribery to admit the son of a senior official of the education ministry. 

The revelations have sparked outrage on social media, with one person on Thursday branding the “logic of systemic discrimination against women applicants” as “disgusting.” Another called it “crazy, disturbing… stuck in the 1950s,” while another pointed out that if the Japanese will apologize for “tiny train delays,” how many times will they say sorry for “how they treat their women.”

According to media reports, the investigation discovered that the altering of exam scores began in 2011 after the number of female applicants jumped significantly in the year prior. As a result, the university began reducing the exam scores of women and adding points for men in order to keep down the number of female undergraduate medical students at about 30 percent of the total cohort.

The Yomiuri Shimbun quoted university sources as saying the reduction of female applicants stemmed from a “strong sense” that many women quit medicine to get married and have children. The university source also said that female surgeons “tend to be avoided.”

Tokyo Medical University spokesman Fumio Azuma confirmed to Reuters that the investigation had already begun and the results of both investigations could come as early as this month. The revelations into potential malfeasance by the medical university fly in the face of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s goal to create a society “where women can shine.”

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