Womankind has experienced generations - well, thousands of years - of unfairness as women have been obstructed from taking senior roles in business or politics by their societies (not just by men). There was a time when promoting them into mid-management positions was perceived as being more risky than the familiar scene of promoting a man. Most people fear risk, so it wasn't seen as a good idea.

Although social attitudes had changed greatly in the 20th century, especially amongst younger people, change in professional spheres wasn't keeping pace. So, a few leaders decided to force the change.

Examples of Forcing Change

Back in the early 1990's, when I was a teenager, I volunteered to join the Irish Army Reserves. The uniforms came in two sizes only - too big and too small. It was around this period that women were allowed to join the military in Ireland for the first time.

The powers that be deemed it necessary to have a quota for a certain number of women to be fast tracked for promotion. There were male officers who'd been in the Army for 20 years who soon found themselves outranked by female officers who'd only recently joined. It wasn't fair when looking at the small picture, but it was establishing fairness from a big picture perspective.

After I graduated from college, I got a job as a software engineer. Some of the women who began their careers at the same time as me were being fast tracked for promotion, becoming project managers in record time. The IT sector was taking a leading role in setting quotas for this.

How People Felt At The Time

Generally speaking, most of the people from my generation understood why this was needed and accepted it, whereas others were critical of the women who accepted more senior roles.

Sour grapes?

Tough toffee!

Did those women care about the criticism? Some did, but I doubt they give it much thought 20-25 years later.

How To Go Nowhere

I went to an event in Tokyo for International Women's Day 2018 where the panel discussion was not about women in executive positions, but women in the workplace. I felt like I'd gone back in time.

Unbelievably, I actually heard several women (including Westerners) say that they were against quotas because they wanted there to be no doubt that women get their promotions on merit. They seemed to fear not being given credit for their abilities or being belittled behind their backs.

Early in my career, I was told that "the higher you go up the ladder, the more your arse is exposed." Unjust criticism is going to happen, so acknowledge that it's unjust and rise above the fear of it.

How many women are working in management roles today because their predecessors were willing to shrug off the pettiness of jealous colleagues? How many obstructions did they remove when they proved to add value after being promoted?

Abolish Fear

In my view, the quotas have had a lasting positive effect, but they didn't go far enough.

20-25 years from now, I can see the conversation in Japan continuing to be about women in the workplace rather than women in top executive or board roles. I have a daughter who's 4 years old and I don't think it's fair for girls from her generation to have limited options because some of the grown women of today were so afraid of having lesser people talk trash behind their backs that they began creating obstructions.

I don't respect fear as it doesn't serve the aim of greater inclusion. Anything which doesn't serve the aim should be ruthlessly extirpated.

Message For My Fellow Men

It probably won't get you included in the quota, but if you want to get ahead in a world of inclusion, you could do worse than becoming a drag queen. However, I can't support you dressing up as a nun if you're just doing it to keep men in a dominant position at the top.

Silent support isn't good enough. Platitudes aren't good enough. Only real inclusion will suffice, so demand it.