Bio

Kumiko Nemoto is a professor of management in School of Business Administration at Senshu University in Tokyo, Japan. Her research focuses on gender, race, work, organizations, and institutional conditions. She completed her Ph.D. in sociology at the University of Texas at Austin. Nemoto is the author of Too Few Women at the Top: The Persistence of Inequality in Japan (Cornell University Press, 2016) and Racing Romance: Love, Power, and Desire among Asian American/White Couples (Rutgers University Press, 2009). Too Few Women at the Top: The Persistence of Inequality in Japan questions why the number of women in upper management in Japanese companies in Japan remains so low, and examines organizational customs at five Japanese companies, in addition to state policies and court interventions. The book illustrates how gender inequality in Japan is closely connected to the country’s unique system of capitalism: the slow changes in Japanese business practices relate to the reluctance of business communities and political elites to destabilize the traditional stakeholder-driven business system and the close ties of business with governments, courts, and bureaucrats. Nemoto is currently working on comparative research regarding gender differences in corporate career mobility and pathways in different institutional contexts in Japan, Norway, and the United States. In this comparative project, she examines the unique roles of labor markets, employment customs, corporate management, and policy and legal interventions in contributing to the distinct career pathways of women and men in each country. Nemoto resides in Tokyo, Japan.