Woman Successor Tenure Track (WSTT)
Purpose
The proportion of female researchers in Japan remains low compared to developed countries in Europe and the United States, and there is a tendency for the promotion of female researchers to senior positions to lag behind. At our university as well, it is important to work toward increasing the number of female researchers and to enhance the educational and research capabilities of female researchers (faculty members)—not only from the perspective of gender equality but also to incorporate diverse viewpoints and ideas and thereby enhance the organization’s overall creativity.
The "Innovative Marine Technology Researcher Development" project, launched in fiscal year 2010 to foster interdisciplinary marine science researchers,Leveraging our experience with the Tenure-Track Promotion and Establishment Project (School of Medicine) launched in fiscal year 2011 and the university-wide tenure-track faculty system, we will promote and establish a tenure-track system across the entire university that aims to improve not only research capabilities but also teaching capabilities. Furthermore, to promote the employment of female researchers at our university, we will establish the Woman Successor Tenure Track (WSTT) program.
The purpose of this program is to recruit young female researchers as successors to departing faculty members in their respective departments and to provide them with an environment where they can independently devote themselves to teaching and research. By doing so, the program aims to nurture them into high-caliber researchers and to enhance and sustain educational and research capabilities in their respective fields.
Overview
Departments selected within the university to participate in this program will conduct a fair, open international recruitment process to hire young female researchers who have obtained their doctoral degrees within the past 10 years as tenure-track faculty members (Specially Appointed Assistant Professors or Specially Appointed Lecturers). Upon hiring, the university will provide an independent research environment, including dedicated research space and research funding (including startup costs), and will assign mentors to offer guidance and advice, thereby fostering their development into high-caliber researchers.
We will also collaborate with the Office for the Promotion of Gender Equality to support female researchers by taking into account life events such as childbirth, child-rearing, and caregiving, as well as the balance between research and personal life (work-life balance).
For tenure-track faculty, an interim review is conducted within the first three years of employment, and a final review is conducted in the fifth year.
Female researchers who, following the evaluation process, are determined to have demonstrated outstanding achievements and personal qualities during their tenure-track period and to meet the standards for university faculty members will be hired on a permanent basis until they reach the mandatory retirement age specified in the Retirement Regulations for Employees of Kochi University, a National University Corporation.
