In 2023, Professor Claudia Goldin from the United States was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics for her groundbreaking research on the gender wage gap. This issue has sparked widespread discussions in recent years, prompting companies to critically evaluate and address these disparities from various perspectives.
At Kioxia, we are committed to offering comprehensive welfare benefits and supporting the needs of pregnant employees and those on parental leave. The success stories of our colleagues have helped create an environment where working women feel empowered to pursue pregnancy and childbirth without hesitation.
In this blog post, I would like to share my personal experience with pregnancy, childbirth, and returning to work, as well as express my vision for the kind of society I hope for in the future. I also hope that my words can provide some support to anyone who may be facing challenges, regardless of their gender.
About Me and My work
Currently, I live in Yokkaichi, Mie Prefecture, which is in the southern-central area of Japan with my husband, three children, and a cute cat. Our entire family loves traveling, and we always look forward to the time spent together during these trips. Each of our children has different interests - one enjoys immersing themselves in nature, another loves visiting the museums, and yet another craves new experiences. To fulfill each child's wishes, we plan a trip every year. We value our family time greatly, as it is more limited than we realize.
In my job, I work at Kioxia's Yokkaichi plant, specifically in the field of flash memory process integration. Our company primarily focuses on manufacturing and producing flash memory, and my role involves analyzing collected data to contribute to quality improvement efforts. I work as the leader of a team responsible for these tasks. In recent years, the utilization of AI technology in this field has been remarkable, and all of the team members actively explore and validate the latest technologies. I feel fortunate to have such talented people around me.
Thankfully, my manager and team members are kind, courageous, and take pride in their work. They find joy in utilizing their abilities to solve challenges. I feel confident relying on them, and they feel comfortable suggesting ideas to me.
I do not see myself as an invincible leader, but rather, I enjoy working in collaboration with my direct reports. It's all about teamwork and team building. Working in a team allows my to compensate for the things I cannot do. While there is a hierarchical structure, we work together with mutual respect.
Furthermore, due to a lack of spare time, I prioritize thorough efficiency and collaboration with others. To foster creative thinking, I value my private time - especially time spent with my family. I make sure to engage in regular conversations with my children as well.
The Difficulty That I Faced
While I now manage to balance my family and work life, it has not always been smooth sailing up until this point.
The story goes back to when I gave birth to my second child. At that time, I felt lonely as I was living with the baby and my 2-year-old child. It was a challenging period where even accomplishing the everyday tasks of taking care of the children and managing household chores felt difficult.
I remember somehow managing to return to work, and during the post-parental leave meeting, I recall telling my boss that I was happy to be back working again - without actually realizing how difficult balancing my family and work life would be.
A few months later, due to taking time off for my child's illness and working reduced hours, I inevitably found myself with less time for work compared to my colleagues. This created a discrepancy in terms of experience and job proficiency.
I have always strived to make the most of my time and deliver work that is on par with my colleagues. However, I couldn't help but feel that while my coworkers were getting promoted, my own promotion as a working mother with three children was delayed. This caused me a great deal of anxiety and made me feel left behind.
Turning Point
The turning point came in the form of a letter I received from my aunt. It said, "Your children are kind, courageous, and they love you. They will surely support you. Believe in your children, work together with them, and create a happy family." These words have become my guiding principles in parenting.
During the birth of my third child, my 9-year-old son and 7-year-old daughter showed remarkable support. Of course, I must mention that my husband was also a valuable teammate. I learned that even within a family, if we work together as a team and support each other, we can overcome challenges. I also realized that I don't need to be perfect myself.
I believe that if I hadn't faced challenges in parenting, I wouldn't have arrived at my current motto.
Fortunately, I believe that this experience has also been beneficial in my professional life. In my case, I see my own vulnerability as a strength. By harnessing the collective power of my team members, we were able to create a highly efficient workplace, which ultimately led to earning trust. As a result, I was also able to receive a promotion. However, if I had not been fortunate enough to have supportive team members, I would not be where I am today.
Overcoming Challenges
From my experience, I feel that one of the reasons for disparities in the workplace is not just due to a lack of ability, but rather due to differences in the amount of time invested in the job. In other words, differences in experience. To overcome this, I communicated with my supervisor and demonstrated the value of the experiences that I gained from different parts of my life - including raising my children. Thanks to my supervisor's trust in me, he gave me a position to drive process improvements. As a result, I was able to establish data analysis tasks for quality improvement in the production site within the company, and reached a level where I could present the results at conferences.
In my case, I was able to resolve the issues I was facing thanks to my family, supervisor, and team members. However, when considering the situation from a broader perspective, I believe that disparities still exist, unfortunately - though they are gradually improving.
Women, in particular, face different circumstances in both their personal and professional lives due to pregnancy and childbirth, which are unique to them. These circumstances should not be obstacles that create disparities.
Closing Thoughts
I would like successful individuals who have experienced childbirth and childcare to share how they were able to gain trust and be promoted within their companies. If they were to share their experiences, it may provide courage to women who are about to give birth or those who are struggling with childcare.
While I shared the challenges faced by women during pregnancy and childbirth based on my own perspective and experience, it is important to note that not everyone faces the same circumstances. Some individuals may have different challenges, including family commitments, physical limitations and the like. Regardless of the circumstances individuals find themselves in, I have hope for a society where everyone is treated equally. I aspire to a society without disparities, and wish for my own children to grow up in a society without limitations. Therefore, I am committed to working hard towards achieving a society without disparities in my current capacity.