On Friday 14 June 2024, we organized a roundtable discussion with Ms. Tokiko Shimizu, former Assistant Governor of the Bank of Japan and one of the world's 100 Most Powerful Women(2023), on "Applying the knowledge of active professionals to your own career".
Ms. Shimizu, an engineering graduate with a long career at the Bank, has recently been working as an outside director of a company and preparing a start-up with a UoA faculty member while actively being involved in visiting higher education institutions and companies in science and engineering in various regions.
The roundtable discussion was attended by students, faculty members, and others who wanted to make use of the advanced knowledge of professionals for their own career development and to support career education for their students.
Ms. Shimizu engaged the participants with questions on a wide range of topics from the students ("What should I keep in mind and how should I act in order to become a powerful woman?", "What experiences should I have while I am a university student?", "What is needed to increase Japan's birth rate?", "On deciding on a female quota to increase the number of female students", etc.), touching on policies in different countries and weaving in previous research to give her own opinions.
After the roundtable discussion, participants commented that ‟all the stories were interesting. They have raised my perspective".
We will continue to work on creating touchpoints between students and people from science and engineering backgrounds and professionals working in the same field.