Norway-Japan: Bridging Research and Education in Gender Equality and Diversity
Norway-Japan: Bridging Research and Education in Gender Equality and Diversity
About the project
The NJ_BREGED project has now been completed.
Norway-Japan: Bridging Research and Education in Gender Equality and Diversity (NJ_BREGED) was a three-year research and teaching collaboration between the Center for Gender Research (CGR) at Department of Interdisciplinary Studies of Culture at NTNU (Norway) and the Institute for Gender Studies (IGS) at Ochanomizu University (Tokyo, Japan) in the fields of gender equality and diversity.
The project explored to what extent and in which ways we can envisage and/or problematize the ‘export’ of the Norwegian dual earner/dual career model of gender equality to a national context with differing political systems and culture. It asked how the political ideal of gender equality relates to other axes of difference, such as social class, ethnicity/race, sexuality and age within and across the Japanese and Norwegian national contexts. The research questions was addressed through the mutual exchange of both scientific staff and students.
Gender equality and the construction of a more inclusive society have been expressed as distinct political goals for both Norway and Japan. At the same time, national politics, cultural sentiments and economic developments have made the forms and contents of gender equality politics different for the two nations. NJ_BREGED’s aimed to generate comparative global research that will serve to cultivate new perspectives within Scandinavian research by revealing alternative pathways, models and cultural contexts.
The project laid the foundation for UTFORSK, a four-year collaborative project between NTNU and Ochanomizu (2021-2025). Funded by DIKU, this project seeks to develop new pedagogical strategies to strengthen the quality of gender studies education at both institutions.
NJ_BREGED was funded by INTPART, The Research Council of Norway (2019-2022).
Activities and results: Upcoming events
Visiting scholar from Ochanomizu University
Autumn 2022
Uika Ogo, a doctoral student in Human Developmental Sciences at Ochanomizu University, will be joining NTNU’s Centre for Gender Research this spring (2023). She will carry out research on her project:
During her stay, Uika will conduct interviews with young Norwegian women in their 20s and 30s to understand how they feel and think about the practice of (unmarried) cohabitation. She will do parallel interviews in Japan in 2023, in order construct a comparative study of the two contexts. Given that over 20% of Norwegian couples are living together outside of marriage, compared to only about 1% of Japanese couples, Uika seeks to shed light on the contrasting cultural practices that influence young women’s decisions on cohabitation.
Activities and Results: Previous Events
We are pleased to announce that Prof. Jennifer Branlat has joined the board of Alumni Club in Norway (ACN) for Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS). The JSPS Alumni Club in Norway (ACN) was established in 2019 by the initiative of former JSPS fellows, and the club has 89 members. The ACN organizes symposia on various themes, Norway-Japan Academic Network, the annual General Assembly and Board Meetings. It also works in close collaboration with Innovation Norway in Japan, The Norwegian Embassy in Japan, HK-Dir and Research Council in Norway on a webinar series.
2022 Asianet Conference
NTNU, 16-17 June 2022
Prof. Priscilla Ringrose and Prof. Jennifer Branlat participated in Asianet Conference with their paper, 'Same but different? Transnational research and educational collaboration in
gender equality and diversity education'.
In their paper, Prof. Ringrose and Prof. Branlat reflected on the two ongoing projects NTNU's Centre for Gender Research has with Ochanomizu University, namely UTFORSK and INTPART. They discussed their experiences thus far with building research on gender equality and diversity education from a cross-national comparative perspective between Norway and Japan. They share what factors have presented challenges, and what strategies have proven successful.
Information about the conference
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Read more here.
Webinar, 4 April 2022
Prof. Guro Kristensen participated in the Women in Japan seminar to speak on the culture of work-home balance in Scandinavia and whether/how this could be applied to the Japanese society. As an increasing number of women are becoming employed outside the home, women are becoming saddled with the 'double burden' of maintaining their homemaking role even whilst participating in the public sphere. During the webinar, policy recommendations were made to foster change in the gender situation in Japanese society.
Following her INTPART-funded field work in November 2019, Kozue Matsuda of Ochanomizu University completed her dissertation in April 2022, entitled:
"A Study of Norwegian Early Childhood Education Approach Towards an Equitable Society".
The purpose of this study was to link early education with the development of an equitable society. Focusing on Norway's early childhood education policies, early childhood education curriculum, childcare, parental rights in early childhood education and children's rights, the study examined the development of early childhood education and early childhood equity in Norway.
Dr. Matsuda has since obtained an assistant professor position at Musashino University in Tokyo and will continue her research in early childhood education. Contact Kozue Matsuda.
Series: Women’s Leadership in Asia 4, 18 February 2022
Prof. Guro Kristensen participated in an international symposium, hosted by Ochanomizu University's Institute for Global Leadership (IGL) and Institute for Gender Studies (IGS). The symposium provided stimulating discourses and exploratory debates that criticized the celebration of the superficial diversification of leadership, in order to uphold the university’s aim of developing future women leaders.
New book about gender equality: Comparative Perspectives on Gender Equality in Japan and Norway. Same but Different?
This book compares perspectives on gender equality in Norway and Japan, focusing on family, education, media, and sexuality and reproduction as seen through a gendered lens. What can we learn from a comparison between two countries that stand in significant contrast to each other with respect to gender equality? Norway and Japan differ in terms of historical, cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. However, the authors attempt to show that a comparative perspective of two countries in the West and East can be mutually beneficial to both contexts in the advancement of gender equality.
International online Symposium, 30 November 2020
Institute for Gender Studies (Ochanomizu University) & Center for Gender Research (NTNU)
The Institute for Gender Studies (IGS) hosted an online symposium, entitled ‘The Egalitarian Norway: Scrutinizing the “Success Story”’, on 30 November 2020. This symposium was held as part of NJ_BREGED, an international collaborative project between IGS and The Center for Gender Research at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). Prof. Priscilla Ringrose of NTNU delivered the keynote presentation, entitled ‘Gender Equality in Norway: Advances and Paradoxes’. She spoke on how Norway has promoted state feminism and achieved an advanced level of gender equality that many other countries see as a landmark. However, Prof. Ringrose argued that Norwegian policymakers and gender researchers have yet to address unsolved issues, as well as those that have emerged in the process of this achievement.
About the The Egalitarian Norway: Scrutinizing the ‘Success Story’ seminar
INTPART Seminar, 17-20 September 2019
by Prof. Guro Korsnes Kristensen and Prof. Jennifer Branlat
The third week of September 2021 marked the first of three yearly teaching and research seminars in the project, a collaboration between the Center for Gender Research at NTNU and the Institute for Gender Studies at Ochanomizu University, a leading women’s university in Tokyo. The project’s primary aim is to develop comparative and interdisciplinary perspectives on gender equality in the two national contexts characterized by differing political systems, culture and prevailing social attitudes toward gender.
Summer Program in Japanese Culture & Society
27 July - 9 August 2019
Three of KULT’s M.A students in Gender Equality and Diversity will travel to Tokyo to participate in Ochanomizu University’s summer program entitled ‘Japanese Culture & Society’. In addition to the summer program, the students will carry out research in connection with their M.A. theses and participate in a research presentation session in the Gender Studies Fieldwork Methodology course.
Three M.A. students from the Center for Gender Research will participate in the summer program at Ochanomizu Unviersity.
A travel letter from Marte on her experience in Tokyo (in Norwegian).
INTPART Conference: «Hvordan skape bærekraftige partnerskap mellom institusjoner?» [How to create a sustainable partnership between institutions?], Universitetet i Oslo
12 June 2019
NTNU participated in the INTPART Conference on how to strengthen education, research and innovation and prepare collaborating institutions to address societal challenges. About the INTPART Conference (in Norwegian).
Norway-Japan Academic Network Seminar in Oslo
6 February 2019
Prof. Guro Korsnes Kristensen and Prof. Jennifer Branlat travelled to Oslo to participate in the Norway-Japan Academic Network Seminar co-organized by the Research Council of Norway and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS). The career talks, presentations, and network building activities targeted researchers interested in building a Norway-Japan reseacher community.
Work package leaders
Work Package 1: Project management
Guro Korsnes Kristensen (Head of Department, NTNU)
Masako Ishii-Kuntz (Professor Emeritus, Ochanomizu University)
Yoko Totani (Professor & Director of the Institute for Gender Studies, Ochanomizu University)
Kumi Yoshihara (Project Research Fellow, Ochanomizu University)
Jennifer Branlat (Associate Professor, NTNU)
Work Package 2: Mobility
Guro Korsnes Kristensen (Head of Department, NTNU)
Kumi Yoshihara (Project Research Fellow, Ochanomizu University)
Jennifer Branlat (Associate Professor, NTNU)
Derek Matsuda (Lecturer, Ochanomizu University)
Work Package 3: Research & Ph.D. co-supervision
Masako Ishii-Kuntz (Professor Emeritus, Ochanomizu University)
Siri Øyslebø Sørensen (Professor & Head of Center for Gender Research, NTNU)
Ryoko Kodama (Professor, Ochanomizu University)
Work Package 4: Joint curricular development
Guro Korsnes Kristensen (Head of Department, NTNU)
Masako Ishii-Kuntz (Professor Emeritus, Ochanomizu University)
Ryoko Kodama (Professor, Ochanomizu University)
Work Package 5: Joint publication & annual workshop
Priscilla Ringrose (Professor, NTNU)
Masako Ishii-Kuntz (Professor Emeritus, Ochanomizu University)
Junko Sano (Project Lecturer, Keio University)
Work Package 6: Dissemination & seminars
Masako Ishii-Kuntz (Professor Emeritus, Ochanomizu University)
Jennifer Branlat (Associate Professor, NTNU)
Junko Sano (Project Lecturer, Keio University)