Abstract

This qualitative-research-based article discusses corporate transfers of dual-career couples in large Japanese firms. In Japan’s internal labour market, inter-regional transfers, or tenkin, are de rigueur in many companies for purposes of training and promotion of long-term employees. Their implementation is often taken for granted because of the gendered assumption that only men are subject to tenkin. Women, who take responsibility in domestic roles, are not able to accept tenkin. Rather, they are either exempted from tenkin regardless of their wishes or forced to remain in secondary positions that require no tenkin. This gendered division of labour in tenkin has hampered women’s promotion in Japanese workplaces and hindered dual-career couples from achieving dual careers through tenkin. Using Acker’s (1990) theory of gendered organisations and Nemoto’s (2016) study of gendered practices in Japanese firms, this article elucidates the processes by which these cultural, gendered corporate transfers (a) reproduce gendered organisations, (b) are changing from dictates to negotiations in some companies where female workers are given more opportunities alongside intensification of the firms’ global competition, but (c) nevertheless continue to be in tension with dual-career families in contemporary Japan. To make a dual-career-couple model mainstream, the labour market structure that views corporate transfers as an absolute necessity needs radical change.

中文翻译：

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双职业夫妇的公司转让：从性别Tenkin到性别平等谈判？

摘要

这篇基于定性研究的文章讨论了日本大型企业中双重职业夫妇的公司转让。在日本的内部劳动力市场中，许多公司出于培训和晋升长期雇员的目的而进行区域间调动（简称tenkin）。由于性别观点认为只有男人才能服从Tenkin，所以人们常常将它们的实现视为理所当然。承担家庭责任的妇女无法接受tenkin。相反，无论他们的意愿如何，他们都可以免于从事Tenkin，或者被迫继续担任不需要Tenkin的次要职位。Tenkin中的这种性别分工阻碍了女性在日本工作场所的晋升，并阻碍了双重职业夫妇通过Tenkin实现双重职业。本文使用Acker（1990）的性别组织理论和Nemoto（2016）对日本公司中性别实践的研究，阐明了这些文化，性别上的公司转移（a）复制性别组织的过程（b）从命令变为在一些公司的谈判中，随着公司全球竞争的加剧，给女工提供了更多的机会，但（c）尽管如此，在当代日本，双职工家庭仍然处于紧张状态。为了使双重职业夫妇模式成为主流，将公司转移视为绝对必要的劳动力市场结构需要彻底改变。