From an older article in the Guardian:
“The investigation found that in this year’s entrance exams the school reduced all applicants’ first-stage test scores by 20% and then added at least 20 points for male applicants, except those who had previously failed the test at least four times. It said similar manipulations had occurred for years because the school wanted fewer female doctors, since it anticipated they would shorten or halt their careers after having children.”
Still think this is a laughing matter?
What does bring a smile is how polite the Japanese are about the productivity differences between male and female doctors - rather than acknowledge out loud the truth, they fudged the numbers. I don’t doubt that there are females every bit as “smart” on tests as males who want to be doctors. That is not the issue.
It is mathematically provable that productivity varies significantly based on gender. Hence, you will never have sufficient doctors if you do not recognize that reality. In America this is true as well, also factoring in that many doctors of both genders want to work 8-5, 4.5-day work weeks. I don’t begrudge the female doctors who take time off for having babies. It just needs to be figured into training a lot more doctors and nurse practitioners to compensate.
FYI-It is also notable that where doctors went on strike, the death rates in those communities declined noticeably.