Attitudes of Middle and High School Students and Their Parents towards Gender

This second report of “The Survey on the Lives and Attitudes of Middle and High School Students,” which was conducted by NHK in summer 2022, focuses on the attitudes of middle and high school students (hereinafter “students”) and their parents towards gender. Female students hoping to go to university account for 54%, exceeding male students (48%) for the first time in 40 years. Likewise, ten years ago, there were more parents of boys wanting their children to “go on to university” than those of girls, but such difference was not found in the 2022 survey. While the gender gap in terms of desire for higher education is narrowing, domestic matters, or how parents treat their children, indicate different tendencies depending on the sex of the child. Many parents find their sons “lagging behind in studies” or “weak-willed.” Parents agreeing with the idea of “developing masculine traits for sons, and feminine for daughters” account for more than 70% of parents of male students. Still, many students are not preoccupied with traditional gender roles, being more tolerant with diversity. To a question what if a close friend confessed, “my gender identity does not match with my physical body,” those responding that it would be “understandable” were nearly 70% for middle school students, and as many as 80% for high school students. As to parents’ childcare-sharing, while “carried out mainly by mother” is still the majority, which is no change from 10 years ago, the future ideal of childcare-sharing envisioned by students shows many of them citing “father and mother sharing childcare equally,” which has markedly increased from ten years ago, from 50% to 70%.