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Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives 1 (2019) 100009

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Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives


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i n te rd is ci pl in ar y- p er spe ct i v es

Progress or regress on gender equality: The case study of selected transport


STEM careers and their vocational education and training in Japan
Momoko Kitada a,*, Junko Harada b
a
World Maritime University, Fiskehamnsgatan 1, 21118 Malm€o, Sweden
b
Open University of Japan, 2-11 Wakaba, Mihama-ku, Chiba 261-8586, Japan

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Article history: This paper examines the role of vocational education and training (VET) in the STEM workforce to advance wom-
Received 7 March 2019 en's integration into traditionally male-dominated workplaces. In Japan, it has been reported that the size of the
Received in revised from 28 April 2019 workforce has been substantially decreasing since 2011. One of the effective strategies to mitigate the risk of the
Accepted 16 May 2019
shortage of human resources is considered to be making use of women in the STEM field. In this paper, the Japa-
Available online 03 June 2019
nese transport sector is studied to understand the role of VET to support women in the STEM workforce. We shed
Keywords:
light on the merchant marine as one of the most male-dominated industries. A comparative institutional analysis
Vocational education and training (VET) was elaborated with other transport industries, such as air and rail. In addition, a narrative analysis was con-
Gender ducted with the empirical data as well as archived literature. The paper reveals that the merchant marine has
Equal opportunities failed to establish an institutional arrangement of maritime VET from the women transport workers' career-cycle
Transport industries perspective. The paper concludes that the role of VET is important not only before the employment but also after,
STEM careers in order to make sustainable use of women as human resources. In order to remove barriers to including women
Life-cycle career in STEM careers, institutional arrangement of VET should be reviewed through gender-mainstreaming and life-
Life-long learning
long VET would help to stop the leaky pipe line of STEM women in Japan.

1. Introduction activities in Japan are initiated by women and highlights that Japanese
social and corporate worlds continue to perceive women as inferior com-
Japan's postwar recovery to become an economic giant tends to be pared to men (MasterCard, 2018, 31). Among the selected G-20 coun-
narrated as a legendary success. The process of its national recovery was tries, Japan is almost as low as Saudi Arabia, which was ranked as the
supported by strengthening the fields of Science, Technology, Engineer- lowest in terms of the representation of women on corporate boards and
ing, and Mathematics (STEM). Behind the scenes, it was Japanese executive committees, in a survey conducted in 2017 (Devillard et al.,
women who devoted themselves to support men's success in STEM by 2018). The lack of female political and business leaders is considered to
fulfilling their gender roles as wives and mothers. The expectation be one of the major reasons that Japan's social structure has not been
towards women as subordinates to men remains strong even today and fundamentally changed, endorsing a patriarchal system which discrimi-
this also reflects the fact that much fewer women are found in STEM nates against women.
fields in Japan. According to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, While evidence of gender inequality is widely observed throughout
Science and Technology (MEXT), female undergraduates in the Faculties Japanese society, the Japanese government recently started to promote
of Science and Engineering represent only 27.2% and 14.5% of the total, women in STEM fields to boost economic growth and meet the labour
respectively (MEXT, 2017). demands of the country. Though this campaign has created a degree of
While Japan has well-established its education systems throughout gender gap awareness from a top-down approach, the role of STEM educa-
the country, ensuring high literacy and diligence among its citizens, tion and training is not very clear in terms of driving for change in the sta-
opportunities are not always equally given between men and women. tus-quo of gender disparities and leading technology and innovation in the
Indeed, Japan is known as a low gender equality country in various future. Hence, this paper explores how STEM education and training, par-
reports. For example, the World Economic Forum (2017) reports that ticularly in the Japanese transport sectors where men are generally domi-
Japan is ranked 114th out of 144 countries in terms of the Gender Gap nant, can play an important role in empowering women in STEM fields.
Index, making it the third worst among the OECD countries after Turkey This paper is structured as follows: First, the literature on Japanese
and South Korea. The Master Card survey, which examines women's par- education and gender is reviewed. Then, the role of STEM education in
ticipation in business, reveals that only one out of four entrepreneurial the merchant marine is discussed in comparison with other modes of
transport, air and rail as well as medicine as a non-transport stem field.
* Corresponding author. The methods of this study are presented, followed by a preliminary anal-
E-mail addresses: mk@wmu.se, (M. Kitada), jharada@ouj.ac.jp, (J. Harada). ysis and discussions.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trip.2019.100009
2590-1982/© 2019 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open
access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/
4.0/).
M. Kitada and J. Harada Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives 1 (2019) 100009

2. Japanese women as under-utilised human resources 2.1. Japanese VET systems: An overview

Japan has been recognised as the leading country in technology, The opportunities for VET in Japan are embedded in the institutional
which has been considered to be a male domain. This attitude is framework of the Japanese education system. Compulsory education is
already embedded in the Japanese education system before young offered in the 9 years from elementary school (6 years) to junior-high school
people enter labour markets. Several studies on junior high-school (3 years). The majority of junior-high school graduates (98.8% in 2018)
pupils show that boys are expected to play central roles in science continue to high school. Of those, in 2018, 73.1% went to general subject
classes while girls are expected to assist boys and play auxiliary roles high schools and 26.9% chose a path to VET through specialised training
(Akai, 1997; Muramatsu, 2004). A low level of educational aspirations colleges and technical colleges, with majors in agriculture, commerce, fish-
leads to inferior human capital and low-status at work. Naturally, the ery, engineering or others (MEXT, 2018). Those who graduate from high
majority of women occupy assisting jobs and were, until the 1980's, schools can also choose VET schools, including vocational ability schools as
expected to marry and quit their jobs before reaching the age of 30. well as some VET-focused colleges and universities (e.g., law schools, mari-
Subsequently, their status at work has gradually improved in relation time schools, military schools). In Paragraph 1, Article 99 of the School Edu-
to legal changes, but equal employment has not been achieved. Wom- cation Act, some post-graduate universities are defined as VET in Japan in
en's careers tend to be interrupted whenever family priorities, includ- the areas of law, medicine, public policy, education, psychology, and others.
ing child-rearing and elderly care, arise. For those who prioritise Fig. 1 summarises VET in the Japanese education system.
family over work, the common options available in the labour market Abumiya (2012) explains the historical division of education by gen-
will be part-time contracts, where the tax system encourages women der as well as the need for VET focus in Japanese education. Before
to limit their working-hours in order to benefit the household. Due to World War II, the Japanese education system considered high school as
cultural expectations of gender roles, the Japanese women's workforce part of tertiary education and male-only preparatory institutions for uni-
is generally less valued compared to men; therefore, women tend to versity. During the post-war reform with interventions by the General
receive lower capital investment in their lifetime (Ono and Zavodny, Headquarters of the Allied Forces (GHQ), pre-war high schools were
2005). This is a vicious circle and the status-quo of gender gaps is rec- absorbed into the liberal arts courses of post-war national universities.
reated over generations (Brinton, 1993). Today's high schools are based on three pre-existing schools: male-only
While such concerns are generally shared as a sustainability issue pre-war middle schools, allowing a pathway to universities; female-only
of the country in conjunction with women's reproductive role, the general upper secondary education schools; and sex-separated voca-
institutions of Japanese education and career development are gener- tional schools. When Japan was recovering from the lost war and pro-
ally discouraging Japanese women from pursuing STEM careers, ceeding to industrialisation, it was necessary to focus more on VET with
which are traditionally regarded as unsuitable for women. The fol- diversification and subdivision of vocational courses, which Japan
lowing sections discuss an overview of Japanese vocational educa- accommodates today (Abumiya, 2012).
tion and training (VET) systems; why Japan needs to make more On the other hand, company-led VET has been also developed in
efforts to change the current work-life balance to support women's Japan. The Japanese education system focuses primarily on general sub-
participation in the labour market; how Japanese education has been jects (i.e., Japanese, Math, Science, and Social studies) in order to pass
reinforcing STEM as a male domain; and how strategic promotion of entrance examinations for privileged, branded universities, which is a
women into STEM careers has been nationally exercised in recent pre-condition for a promising future career. Therefore, it is criticised
years. that many graduates lack sufficient vocational skills when starting their

Fig. 1. VET in the Japanese education system at a glance. * Both special training schools (e.g., schools for car maintenance, cooking, elderly care) and other schools
(e.g., driving schools) are approved by the respective authorities and their admission requirements vary from no academic qualification to high school graduate
diploma. (Source: Authors.)

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M. Kitada and J. Harada Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives 1 (2019) 100009

jobs in a company where many tend to stay for the rest of their careers. valued and less unique human capital should be changed in order to
This justifies company-led VET as a high-return investment in employ- widen opportunities for women. Educating more women in STEM fields
ees. The question here is, however, who are those “invested” employ- makes a great deal of sense to break through such employment practices
ees? Women are less likely to be hired as managers and leaders, and this may be the point of departure where both national and organi-
compared to men. Hence, company-led VET opportunities “naturally” sational efforts can find common targets and priorities to promote
select men as recipients for training benefits. Unless a company employs women professionals.
women with the same expectations as their male counterparts, women
do not have the same level of access to company-led VET as men do. 2.3. Japanese education reinforcing STEM as a male domain
This phenomenon resonates the concept of company-specific skills
and general skills described by Becker (1993) in the human capital the- Behind the fact that fewer women work in STEM fields, it is assumed
ory. Students of engineering schools, for example, learn general skills in that the Japanese education system has been contributing to discouraging
engineering, but there is still a need for company-led VET to foster spe- women from studying in STEM fields. Isa and Chinen (2016, 104) discuss
cialists. In prestige enterprises, valuable opportunities to learn com- how the production of scientific knowledge has historically been the task
pany-specific skills in the company-led VET are hardly accessible to of men. There are two Japanese terms, rikei and bunkei. Rikei can be
women who tend to have a lower employment rate than men with directly translated to natural science fields (e.g., math, physics, engineer-
exactly the same qualifications. Gender division of labour (Walby, 1988) ing, computer science, medicine, biology, neuroscience) while bunkei refers
has been in common in Japanese employment, but this practice is appar- to social science fields (e.g., humanities, sociology, economics, laws, politi-
ently not sustainable for the labour demands in future Japan. cal science). The division of rikei vs. bunkei mirrors the dichotomy between
masculinity and femininity. Rikei is popular among boys as rikei subjects
2.2. Women as potential human capital in Japan are characterised as masculine and dynamic; and bunkei is favoured by girls
as bunkei subjects are thought of as feminine and static.
The dwindling birthrate and aging population foreseen in Japan will According to a survey conducted by the National Institution for
lead to a decline in the productive-age population. In Japan, it has been Youth Education (2017), 29.1% of female high school students
reported that the size of the workforce has been substantially decreasing answered that they like rikei subjects compared to 45.4% of male peers.
since 2011 (Chino, 2012). The problem is quite serious and it is forecasted Another survey reveals that only 18.5% of Japanese female high school
that by 2050 only half of the total Japanese population will be of produc- students want to be involved in STEM fields in the future, while in other
tive-age, which indicates that the current dependence on a male workforce countries female students show higher interest in STEM careers, for
would be unsustainable (Harada, 2018). According to the labour force example, 46.2% in the United States, 23.5% in China, and 43.3% in
report (Statistics Japan, 2017), the number of female job seekers is South Korea (National Institution for Youth Education, 2014). The fixed
recorded as 2.62 million, which is regarded as a great potential for the images of rikei and bunkei reflecting gender norms in Japan seem to pen-
Japanese labor force to fill the gap created by the predicted decline in the etrate throughout the Japanese education system to discourage women
future productive-age population as well as supporting the nation's sustain- from considering STEM as a life choice.
able development. At the national level, it is therefore reasonable to con- Recently, the Japanese government has been strategically promoting
sider a strategic approach to building a labour market to utilise women in women as human resources in STEM careers. This meets the needs of
all jobs (including STEM jobs) as potential human resources in Japan.1 companies since the shortage of human resources in STEM fields will be
Whilst such national-level promotion of the women's workforce is more serious. Prime Minister Abe established “kagayaku josei oen kaigi”
necessary to establish a framework based on its vision for sustainable (directly translated to ‘shining women support convention’), which
development, how can such a framework be translated into the organisa- aims at promoting the participation of women in male-dominated indus-
tional level? Generally, organisations have different concerns and inter- tries. The projects include, for example, supporting STEM careers for
ests in investing in human resources from that of the country. When female students; promoting women in construction; agriculture women
discussing the promotion of women workers, it is important to under- project; and women truck drivers project (Prime Minister of Japan and
stand how they can meet the needs of organisations. Lepak and Snell His Cabinet, 2014). Such Japanese political campaigns to promote
(1999) propose, in their theory of human capital allocation and develop- women in STEM fields, however, focus on VET in STEM schools only
ment, that different values and uniqueness of human capital determine and lack a dialogue with companies which can provide company-led
employment modes in organisations. For example, when human capital VET for empowering women professionals.
is found to be both valuable and unique, it is considered that the person
should be internally employed and trained within the organisation to 2.4. Challenges faced by women in STEM with higher degrees
play a key role for the long term. However, when human capital is val-
ued but not unique, it is more rational to recruit on demand or by term- Despite such state efforts to promote Japanese women in STEM
contract. When human capital is not valued but unique, it is reasonable fields, rikejo (directly translated to ‘science women’) carries a stereo-
to establish a human-capital alliance where specialised knowledge is type that women are unsuitable for STEM fields. Following the rikejo
capitalised on and transferable without relying on direct employment. path is largely regarded, by parents and teachers, as disadvantageous for
Finally, when human capital is neither valued nor unique, the organisa- women who would face reduced job and marriage opportunities (Osumi,
tion can rely on casual contracts or outsourcing for general skills. In 2018). This kind of perception by parents and teachers is likely to be
many organisations, women tend to be considered as less valued and found with Japanese women with high academic degrees because they
less unique human capital and they are assigned to jobs to assist special- generally need to study for several more years at post-graduate level and
ists and positioned at the bottom of the organisational hierarchy. It is even at post-doctoral level. By the time they are formally employed in a
arguable that this common employment practice of hiring women as less very competitive recruitment process and building their professional
careers, they might lose the opportunity to marry or be unable to find a
1 man with equivalent or higher qualifications (Honda, 2004).
Women used to be forbidden to work overtime and on night shift in Japan.
Theoretically, shown in Fig. 1, VET is offered in higher education,
Based on the understanding that both women and men should share family
responsibilities, such restrictions were abandoned during the revision of the including post-graduate level. However, in practice, STEM fields without
Labor Standards Act in 1999, except for the rules for expectant and nursing high academic degrees tend to be seen as more physically-oriented (e.g.,
mothers. Article 65 of the Act specifies maternity leave for women workers, usu- carpenters, plumbers) than intellectually-oriented (e.g., medical doctors,
ally six weeks before and eight weeks after childbirth. Both male and female bio scientists). This downgrading of fostering specialists in the field is
workers are entitled to parental leave until a child reaches one year old. sometimes understood as vocational training. Therefore, although it is not

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M. Kitada and J. Harada Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives 1 (2019) 100009

always the case, VET is generally regarded as different from higher educa- disadvantaged because they are not “selected” from their work entry
tion. In this respect, transport sectors which this paper deals with are rather point. Niemeyer and Colley (2015) provide deeper insights into the his-
fitting to the latter example, referring to VET without necessarily high aca- torical, cultural and socioeconomic reasons that impact the organisation
demic degrees. Instead of receiving a potential disadvantage of reduced of work and training. Social division of labour is, therefore, ‘a complex
job and marriage opportunities, women in transport sectors would have mixture of individual choice, social orientations and institutional
different disadvantages than those who study and work in medicine and arrangements’ (Niemeyer and Colley, 2015). In the case of Japanese
other natural sciences. The next section discusses the features of transport women in the transport sector, women are less encouraged to choose to
sectors which present cultural and social biases to women. study in the respective VET schools, and socially unselected in employ-
ment, which institutionally excludes them from company-led VET. There is
3. Transport sectors: Women in the male-dominated workplaces little research on how different transport sectors (e.g., sea, air, rail) are
including women in their VET structures. This paper, therefore, examines
Transport workers are generally regarded as blue-collar with an selected transport sectors in terms of their VET opportunities for women
emphasis on physical strength and lower degree of education, though by reflecting the six phases of the ILO model: Attraction Selection Reten-
such stereo-types are not necessarily correct when looking at the diversi- tion Interruption Re-entry Realisation. The paper also explores the role
fied group of high-skilled specialists within the transport sectors. How- of VET for the progress of gender equality in the work of transport sectors.
ever, the stereo-types regarding physical strength in dangerous
workplaces (relative to office work) is generating discrimination against 4. Methods
women in the transport sectors. In fact, a survey by the World Bank
(2018) reveals that 104 out of 173 economies restrict non-pregnant and From the literature review, it is evident that women are horizontally
non-nursing women from pursuing the same economic activities as men segregated in the male-dominated occupations. This social division of
and many of these restrictions were found in transport and logistics- labour relates to VET opportunities for women. In Japan, VET schools
related sectors. It is evident that gender inequalities are officially prac- focuses on teaching general skills, while company-led VET provides
tised by setting unequal regulations for women. training for company-specific skills. This paper uses selected transport
Women are often seen as unsuitable for work in the transport sectors. sectors as examples to explore VET structures and gender. Transport sec-
The International Labour Organization (ILO) made a comparison of the tors generally reflect male-dominated work environments, but they may
proportion of women in transport and other labour markets in Africa, present different VET structures. In order to explore the role of VET for
Asia and the Middle East. They found that in all the countries they exam- the progress of gender equality in transport sectors, a comparative analy-
ined, women are under-represented in transport work; and in Japan, sis of three different transport sectors (i.e., sea, air, rail) was conducted.
women were found to represent 41.9% of the total labour market but In this paper, we shed light on the merchant marine as one of the
only 20.9% in transport, storage and communications (Turnbull, 2013a, most male-dominated industries. According to Kitada (2017), the per-
3 4). The low representation of women in the transport sectors is con- centage of Japanese female officers on merchant ships was reported as
sidered to be a result of cultural stereotypes in the transport sector, 0.6% of the total Japanese seafarers on 440 ships sampled in June 2015.
determining that women are physically and mentally unable to perform In addition, a comparative institutional analysis was elaborated with
as well as male counterparts. Such gendered construction of skill reflects other transport industries, such as air and rail. These STEM careers are
power relations that maintain the gendered character of the labor mar- selected based on their common features: (1) male-dominated occupa-
ket (Steinberg, 1990). As a result, some employers are reluctant to hire tion; (2) irregular work patterns and odd work hours; (3) physical condi-
women (Corral and Isusi, 2007), ensuring the presence of horizontal tions required; and (4) transport sector.
gender segregation in the workplace (Hakim, 1979; Kitada, 2010).
Apart from cultural stereotypes, similar gender-related challenges 4.1. Selection of sample
are observed across transport sectors. For example, working conditions
may be poor in terms of wages, access to training, odd working hours In the merchant marine, VET to become a seafarer (i.e., deck officer
which are difficult to balance with family responsibilities, male-centred and engineers) is offered at maritime universities (4-year bachelor degree)
ergonomic working environments and equipment, and the risk of vio- or colleges (diploma). These VET institutions focus mainly on theories
lence and harassment (Corral and Isusi, 2007). These “women's” minor- and some practical skills, but shipboard training is offered by a specialised
ity problems are often overlooked at the organisational level due to the national institution which owns five training vessels with licensed instruc-
organisational structure of horizontal gender segregation. tors. It is mandatory for cadets to complete both maritime school studies
In order to address the common problems across the transport sec- and onboard training to receive an international license called a Certifi-
tors, ILO has developed a career cycle model for women transport work- cate of Competence (CoC). In the last decade, three giant Japanese ship-
ers, covering the six career phases: Attraction Selection Retention ping companies, Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK), Mitsui-OSK Lines (MOL),
Interruption Re-entry Realisation (Turnbull, 2013b, 13). Attraction is and K-Line have recruited Japanese seafarers not only from traditional
to attract women to STEM fields and make a successful transition from maritime VET graduates but also from graduates of non-maritime univer-
school to work. It continues to Selection where women are employed sities who have general skills to train them on their vessels. This shift
with sufficient STEM qualifications. Retention is achieved by human from VET from schools to companies appeared to be efficient and success-
resource development through training and work-life balance. However, ful in terms of training highly quality seafarers, though traditional mari-
Interruption may occur when women's family responsibilities arise with time schools felt discouraged. Though there is no restriction for women
children or elder family members. Re-entry enables women to return to to apply from ordinary universities to become seafarers, the male image
work after the peak of family responsibilities with flexible work hours or of the industry is striking and more men apply and are selected.
transfers, and eventually they reach promotion at work in the phase of Real- For air transport, we initially checked commercial aviation but this
isation. This model is indeed helpful to understand how, holistically, women sector used to set strict physical requirements, including height. Before
in transport sectors need different types of support at each career stage. the amendment of the rule in 2011, an applicants' height had to exceed
However, since the model is developed from the employment per- 163 cm, while the average height of a Japanese woman was 157.7 cm in
spective, it is not clear what role education and training, in particular the same year (Statistics Japan, 2014); therefore, average-sized Japa-
VET in STEM fields, shall play in order to feed qualified women into this nese women were not eligible. Due to our research interest in analysing
model. The model assumes that women are given the same opportunities the relationship between education and employment, we looked into
to study STEM subjects; however, in the case of Japan where company- the air force which implements a moderate requirement of 158 cm and
led VET may be a key to fostering STEM professionals, women may be has a reasonable welfare policy as a public sector employer. It may be

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M. Kitada and J. Harada Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives 1 (2019) 100009

arguable to regard the air force as a transport sector, but the nature of Agency of Maritime Education and Training for Seafarers (JMETS) which
Self-Defense Forces is defense rather than offense and part of their oper- operates five large training vessels with qualified instructors and trainers
ations is to carry goods by airplane or helicopter to natural disaster sites, in both deck and engine departments.
which meets the conditions of our research interest. These responsible institutions are differently managed under two
For the rail industry, our sample comes from the East Japan Railway Ministries. MEXT monitors maritime universities and colleges while the
Company, one of the largest rail networks in Japan. Some train driver can- Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) adminis-
didates study at specialised VET schools for train operations but others are ters JMETS and the CoC issuance. Indeed, the coordination of these dif-
directly hired after high school or university and trained by the company. ferent VET institutions is not always smooth or effective due to
bureaucracy and inter-organisational, co-management issues between
4.2. Data collection and analysis the two ministries. For example, the shortage of seafarers on domestic
vessels is a serious concern in Japan because 44.8% of the existing
The research data were collected by multiple methods, including lit- domestic seafarers are over 50 years old and expected to retire in the
erature review on research papers and archives from reports, news next decade or so (Tohoku District Transport Bureau, 2017). Campaigns
articles, website information, and international and national statistics to increase the number of domestic seafarers, including women sea-
for secondary data analysis. The analyses include the information of farers, are being undertaken by several District Transport Bureaus under
VET systems and flows to support women's careers in the three selected the MLIT. A focus group discussion including female cadets and marine
transport sectors. We also examined the accessibility of respective VET officers was held in 2015 under the coordination of the Kanto District
in terms of the selection of candidates as well as budgeting. In addition, Transport Bureau. From its press release, some participants stated that
the researchers generated empirical data through face-to-face interviews early exposure to maritime fields helped them to be interested in choos-
with both male and female transport workers, VET teachers, and human ing maritime VET. Some heard about seafaring jobs from their fathers,
resource managers. Interview data were transcribed and coded to extract brothers, or relatives who were working in the industry. Others took
key narratives. Any personal data were anonymised to ensure confi- part in sea scouts or marine lectures on a sailing ship when they were
dentiality. A comparative analysis among three transport sectors (sea, children. The need to widely promote maritime VET among young chil-
air, and rail) was conducted in terms of how different types of VET in dren was widely acknowledged in the focus group (Kanto District Trans-
respective transport modes were accessible by women and helped their port Bureau, 2015). In reality, only a few shipping companies are active
career paths in STEM fields. in employing women seafarers in Japan (Kitada, 2017). MLIT conducted
interviews with seven shipowners (3 domestic, 4 international) and a
5. Results
labour union in 2017. They shared a view that women tend to quit sea-
faring after marriage; therefore, their retention is low; It is not realistic
Cultural and social barriers are generally embedded in Japanese society
for women with small children to work on board for three months on
to accept the social division of labour, such as rikei and bunkei, discussed in
domestic vessels (MLIT, 2017a). What we notice here is the lack of insti-
Section 2.3. Social classification of gender roles rationalises horizontal seg-
tutional support for women for VET in both selection and interruption
regation in STEM jobs. It is evident that such social orientation discourages
phases. MEXT, which is a ministry responsible for VET schools is no lon-
Japanese women from studying in STEM fields, affecting individual
ger involved in supporting women once they graduate. This high-level
choices of work. The three transport sectors in our sample display different
of disconnection between VET schools and maritime transport employ-
patterns of institutional arrangements from VET schools to company-led
ment (with company-led VET) reflects an ineffective institution for train-
VET, highlighted in Becker's human capital theory.
ing women seafarers in the long term. Unless both ministries share the
The data uncovered several key issues relating to the lack of opportuni-
common goals of securing future maritime labour and utilising women
ties for women to participate in company-led VET in Japanese transport
as an important human resource and communicate regularly, it seems
sectors. Among three selected transport sectors, the merchant marine
strategically ineffective in terms of maritime VET as a whole.
appeared to be particularly ineffective in terms of the promotion of women.
In the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JADF), the connectivity between
The study identified that in the merchant marine, the linkage between VET
VET and employment is directly established. Some apply for a job after
and employment is weaker than in other transport sectors (i.e., air force
graduating from ordinary universities/schools and more experienced
and rail). The results are presented in three parts: (Section 5.1) A compara-
applicants with technical backgrounds come from the private sector.
tive analysis of VET school settings; (Section 5.2) An analysis of transition
The beneficiary of VET is in fact the employer itself. Unlike the maritime
from school to work and further training; and (Section 5.3) Who pays VET
VET model, women trainees will be employed if they pass all the
for whom?: there is less investment in women in Japan.
required study components. In addition, this air force VET model ena-
5.1. A comparative analysis in institutional arrangements of VET bles a high retention rate of women pilots and officers to be maintained,
as they can easily find female role models and mentors while in school.
Among the three transport sectors compared, the institutional arrange- In rail, there are some VET high schools and colleges in Japan where
ment of VET schools is very different in terms of the bodies responsible for students can learn the theory and practice of driving trains. Some train
various components of VET. For example, in the merchant marine, theoret- divers come from ordinary high schools and universities. It is because
ical knowledge and some practical exercises (e.g., rope work, simulator most railway companies provide VET after hiring the candidates and
training, rowing life boats) are provided at maritime universities for a this company-based VET is conducted over the long term to foster quali-
bachelor degree or maritime colleges for a diploma. In order to obtain a fied train drivers within the organisation. Similar to the air force, once
license, called a Certificate of Competence (CoC) as a third officer, cadets women are hired, they have equal training opportunities to men.
must complete 12-months' onboard training under the International Con-
vention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Sea- 5.2. The analysis of transition from school to work and further training
farers, 1978 as Amended (STCW). This required onboard training is
normally provided2 by a specialised national agency, called the Japan From the analysis, it is evident that VET interventions can influence
employment and retention of female STEM workers in the selected Japa-
2
Japan is one of the few countries that onboard training is offered on training nese transport sectors of sea, air, and rail. Fig. 2 shows the estimated per-
ships owned by the government through a specialised agency. Most other coun- centage of women in VET enrolment, employment and retention in
ties have different systems, which cadets apply for apprenticeship on commer- merchant marine, air force, and rail in Japan. In the merchant marine,
cial vessels to complete their 12-month mandatory onboard training (for the female cadets are the minority (6.7%, n = 6 out of 90 in deck and
case of third officer class). engine) in maritime VET institutions. Many female graduates are not

5
M. Kitada and J. Harada Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives 1 (2019) 100009

Fig. 2. Estimated percentage of women in VET enrolment, employment, and retention in selected transport sectors in Japan.1 1[Merchant Marine] The VET enrolment
and their employment percentage for women cadets were estimated based on the statistics from Faculty of Maritime Sciences, Kobe University. [Air Force] The VET
enrollment percentage was derived from JASDF (n.d.); the employment percentage was from the average recruitment data for executive trainees in all defense forces,
including air, marine, and land; the retention percentage of 10% was estimated based on the fact that some women may quit a job to be full-time mothers while the
others would utilise a job rotation within the organisation. [Rail] Out of 351 in the (Rail) transport course at Iwakura high school, 12 female students were studying in
2017 (JS Corporation, 2018); In the busy traffic of Yamanote-Line as part of the East Japan Railway, approximately 40% of train conductors (candidates of train driv-
ers) are women and it was reflected in the employment percentage; An overall retention rate for women after 10 years of its employment is reported as 85% (East Japan
Railway Company, n.d.) and we estimate that 34% of the female train conductors would retain. (Source: Faculty of Maritime Sciences, Kobe University, 2005, JASDF,
n.d., JS Corporation, 2018, East Japan Railway Company, n.d., Interviews by authors.)

hired as seafarers by shipping companies as discussed earlier; hence, were calculated to account for 13.7% (n = 54 out of 395)6 of total recruits.
women seafarers represent only 1.1% (n = 1 out of 90) or close to zero The current percentage of women train conductors (candidates of train
when freshly employed. This estimated figure of Japanese women drivers) is reported as 40.0% in Yamanote-Line (East Japan Railway Com-
seafarers is consistent with other reports, indicating 1 or 2% world- pany, n.d.), one of the most heavily trafficked lines in Tokyo.
wide (Belcher et al., 2003; BIMCO and ICS, 2016) and 0.6% nation- Women's retention rates after 10 years of employment were estimated
wide3 (Kitada, 2017). After 10 years of service, almost all women at 10.0% in the air force and 34.0% in rail. In the air force, based on the
seafarers are likely to leave the sea because of the difficulty of work- fact that some women may quit their jobs to be full-time mothers, while
life balance. One woman seafarer (n = 1 out of 90) who was the others would utilise a job rotation programme within the organisation,
employed in 2006 quitted after marriage so the retention rate after a small degree of drop from 13.7% was estimated and this study considers
10 years in Fig. 2 shows 0.0% (n = 0 out of 90). A Japanese female that 10.0% would be appropriate for the public sector where women tend
engineer states that: to stay longer. In rail, the interview data note that in the East Japan Rail-
way, life-long learning support during maternity leave helped to achieve a
‘Men will watch you what kind of job she is doing. They don't know
high retention rate (85%) of women after 10 years of employment (e.g.
how to work with women on board. We don't have a female role
Harada and Kitada, 2017). We calculated that 40% of female train conduc-
model, because women will eventually quit when they marry or
tors would become 34% (=40% × 0.85) if 85% of them remain.
become pregnant.’
It should be noted that the estimation of women's share in the Japanese
(Female junior marine engineer)
transport sectors, shown in Fig. 2, includes a degree of unreliability. In air
Both air force and rail have low estimated representation of women force and rail, the data used at three different career points (VET enrolment,
in VET institutions at 2.9% (n = 8 out of 280)4 and 3.4% (n = 12 out of employment, and retention) were not derived from the same sample group.
351),5 respectively. In the air force, however, employment in both sec- For estimation purpose, any available statistics were utilised to discover
tors is open to ordinary universities and high schools and these extra female participation rates in air force and rail, which are otherwise unable
entry channels encourage women to apply for STEM jobs. Air force female to make an estimation. The only consistent and trackable sample was the
employment statistics were adopted from the available data on number of one from the merchant marine. This particular sample group of female
fresh recruits in all defense forces (air, sea, and land) in 2016. Women cadets graduated in 2005, and they were employed in 2006. Their job sta-
tus in 2016 was traceable because one of the authors belongs to this sample
group. It made the merchant marine data accurate and reliable.
3
This figure was estimated by the author from the sample of 440 vessels dur- From the charted percentages in Fig. 2, both air force and rail, which
ing the month of June in 2015, derived from the data published by MLIT, allow a better integration of VET into employment, seem to succeed in
‘Seafarer Labour Statistics, 2016’. higher retention rates of women professionals after 10 years. This sug-
4
The JASDF recruitment website (http://www.mod.go.jp/asdf/recruit/ gests that continuous VET can help women professionals in STEM jobs
saiyou/index.html Accessed May 17, 2018) includes the interview message from to develop their careers and succeed in the male-dominated workplace.
a human resource manager of air force, stating that eight female applicants out
The fact that both air force and rail provide their own VET to foster
of the total of 280 successfully passed the entrance examination for the VET
human resources in the long-term matches the concept of valued and
institution in 2016.
5
The Iwakura high school has been traditionally offering VET for train drivers unique human capital discussed by Lepak and Snell (1999).
since 1897. Formerly called, Iwakura railway school was the first railway school
established in Japan. According to the database (https://school.js88.com/scl_h/
6
22038650/ Accessed May 17, 2018), the number of female students in the trans- https://job.rikunabi.com/2019/company/r212310034/employ/Accessed
port course were 12 out of 351 in 2017. May 17, 2018.

6
M. Kitada and J. Harada Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives 1 (2019) 100009

5.3. Who pays VET for whom?: There is less investment in women in Japan 0.7

0.6
Permanent employment (or standard work) has been customary in
0.5
Japan, especially for men who are considered to be higher human capi-
tal than women. Men's return on investment is regarded as high because 0.4

men are supposed to devote themselves to the company for approxi- 0.3
mately 40 years, until they reach their retirement age of, for example, 0.2
65 years old. Women are, on the other hand, generally expected to quit
0.1
after five to ten years of employment due to marriage and family. Some
0
women who work as standard workers have been forced to shift to non-
standard workers after having families in order to benefit from the Japa-
nese tax system, which justifies a patriarchal society. Indeed, this classi-
cal picture of Japanese permanent employment changed during Japan's
bubble economy in the 1980s by diversifying work patterns and being
tolerant of different career choices. However, women's employment sit-
uations have not significantly changed in Japan, maintaining more than Fig. 4. Public expenditure on training as a percentage of GDP in 2015.
a half of women's status as non-standard workers. This also makes it dif- (Adopted from OECD (2017).)
ficult for Japanese women to choose STEM fields where standard work
employment is expected from the organisational perspective.
Regardless of whether standard workers or non-standard workers, have the same qualifications or sometimes even lower. This globally
job training is generally assumed to be given by the employer across the common phenomenon was reported by a Swedish woman seafarer who
Japanese society. This is partly because the large majority of individuals was told by one shipping company that ‘girls fall in love and make prob-
attend ordinary high schools and universities without specifying their lems on board’ (Kitada, 2010). This attitude by the employer is also
unique skill sets before seeking a job in the labour market. Many Japa- observed in the Japanese maritime sector. Due to different versions of ster-
nese companies are in favour of employing those non-skilled fresh grad- eotypes about women, it is challenging for women in STEM fields to get
uates and training them for their company needs. As a consequence, employed and receive job training. The leaky pipe line in Japanese STEM
many companies play the role of providing necessary company-led VET women makes it difficult to seek substantial job training in reality.
to their employees. Fig. 3 shows that the necessity and conduct of job In the merchant marine, the situation is serious. Japanese seafarers
training are decided mainly by employers, rather than by employees, are standard workers hired permanently by Japanese shipowners,
regardless of whether they are standard workers or non-standard work- whereas seafarers in foreign countries are employed by contract (or by
ers. The problem is that companies tend to invest in men rather than voyage). In Japan, unless women seafarers are hired by the company as
women. A great number of women are on a job track that lacks the standard workers, it is no longer an individual level of effort to fulfil the
opportunity for promotion and cannot expect adequate and sufficient requirement of further onboard working records in order to apply for
job training by employers. Moreover, public job training cannot remedy promotion to higher ranks, including senior officers, Captains and Chief
the situation as it is significantly constrained in terms of budget. Engineers. It is also worth noting that seafarers on ocean-going vessels
As illustrated in Fig. 4, public expenditure on training is 0.01% of can be hired from outside of Japan. In fact, the number of Japanese mer-
Japan's GDP and far below that of the top countries such as Denmark chant seafarers significantly decreased from 56,833 in 1974 to 2237 in
0.60%, Austria 0.46% and France 0.37%, and considerably lower than 2015 (MLIT, 2017b). Many ocean-going seafarers are in fact supplied by
the OECD average 0.13%. Similar to Japan, the United States shows low foreign countries, such as the Philippines and India, with lower man-
public expenditure on training, and through an incentive scheme, the power costs than Japanese seafarers. It is therefore very difficult for
expansion of apprenticeship with diversity and inclusion policies is shipowners to justify hiring women seafarers as they can find better
reported in South Carolina (Kuehn, 2017). (and more economical) alternatives in foreign male seafarers. From a
The fact that the Japanese government does not invest in VET will life-long learning perspective, the Seamen's Employment Center of
have more impact on women than men. Japanese men are able to access Japan (SECOJ) offers various cost-free VET short courses on Electronic
job training provided by companies, whereas women especially in STEM Chart Display and Information System (ECDIS) simulators, tankers, radio
fields find it difficult to be hired and access training. For example, ship- communications and others, but these training courses are only for
ping companies tend to choose male applicants over females if they employed or early retired seafarers (SECOJ, 2017), meaning exclusively
for men. SECOJ's other business includes VET for foreign seafarers.
Again, it is possible to conclude that Japanese women seafarers are sys-
tematically excluded from equal access to life-long VET opportunities.
In the air force, VET and employment is directly linked. The promo-
tion of women in STEM in public sectors like the air force is much more
advanced by implementing the country's top-down gender equality poli-
cies. In the air force, along with a well-established welfare system,
including maternity and parental leave and family benefits, VET is
offered from a life-long learning perspective equally to men and women.
In the East Japan Railway Company, especially after the abandon-
ment of gender-specific laws forbidding women from night-shift work in
1999, various job opportunities became open to women, including train
conductors and drivers. To increase the retention of women professio-
nals in STEM jobs, distance learning has been introduced for women on
parental leave who can continue their VET from home and thus stay on
career track and even seek promotion (Harada and Kitada, 2017).
Fig. 3. Who decide job training in companies?: Job training is decided mainly These examples show that the role of VET should be recognised not
by employers rather than by employees. Note: The data is in 2014. only before employment but also after employment in terms of increas-
(Adopted from: Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan (2015).) ing women managers in STEM careers, highlighted as the “Realisation”

7
M. Kitada and J. Harada Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives 1 (2019) 100009

phase of the ILO model. The leaky pipeline in the case of the merchant implies the need for dynamic intervention to educate future skilled
marine can be argued as a failure in integrating VET into each stage of workers with the right qualifications, especially in STEM fields, through
the ILO's transport women's career cycle model. industry-academia-government collaboration. Without a long-term
vision and investment in education and training, the country cannot
6. Discussions socially and economically survive and would face a lack of human
resources which cannot be produced when needed. This is what Japan is
Based on the comparative analysis of three Japanese transport sec- paying a price for not investing in educating women as important human
tors (merchant marine, air force, and rail), it appears that the case of the resources in STEM fields.
merchant marine shows a gap between school-based VET and company-
led VET, limiting the participation of women in seafaring and contribut- 7. Conclusion
ing to their poor retention rate. Male seafarers have access to life-long
VET provided by the company or governmental agencies in an organised The paper reveals that among three transport sectors (sea, air, and
manner, while women do not have the same training opportunities rail), the merchant marine has failed to integrate VET into women sea-
unless they are recruited by the shipping company as standard workers farers' career cycle, therefore creating a leaky pipe line. For female
who benefit from all the training provisions. In addition, other human cadets, VET opportunities stop after the graduation from maritime VET
resources (foreign seafarers) as a low-cost alternative to Japanese schools unless they are employed by shipping companies, which is very
women seafarers decrease women's competitiveness in the labour mar- difficult due to the reluctant attitude of shipowners to recruit women
ket. The institutional arrangement of life-long VET in the merchant among Japanese and foreign male candidates. Stereotypes about women
marine is, therefore, creating a leaky pipe line wherein properly trained in STEM fields are strongly observed in the maritime sector.
female cadets after graduation from maritime VET schools are not fully The other transport sectors, such as air and rail, are clearly advancing
utilised as human resources.7 gender equality and present good practices to offer life-long learning sup-
On the other hand, the case of the air force shows a better linkage port during maternity and parental leave. This suggests that continuous
between school-based VET and on-the-job VET, and the case of the East VET can help women professionals in STEM fields to develop their skills
Japan Railway Company presents a good practice of offering distance and lead to career success in the male-dominated industries. Considering
learning while on parental leave from a life-long learning perspective, serv- Japan's low public expenditure in training among OECD countries, it is
ing as a tool to promote women STEM workers and increase their reten- suggested to increase the budget and prioritise women in STEM fields
tion. From these examples, it can be concluded that education and under the Japanese government's strategic promotional campaign.
training are the key to promoting women in STEM fields. It would be ideal Furthermore, the study also referred to a non-transport STEM sector,
to make necessary VET interventions at every stage of the ILO's women medicine, where a rapid increase in the number of female medical doc-
transport workers' career cycle model, stopping the leak in the pipe line. tors has been observed in Japan. The case of medicine again supports
The importance of VET for women especially in the interruption phase the findings of this research on women in transport sectors, largely
(when women's family responsibilities are in high demand and women benefitted from life-long learning support.
tend to leave the job) is also recognised in other STEM sectors. For exam- The paper concludes that the role of VET should be emphasised to
ple, in medicine, the number of female doctors has been significantly support women transport workers from the life-cycle career perspectives
increasing in the last 40 years in Japan. Female doctors' share was only proposed by ILO: Attraction, Selection, Retention, Interruption, Re-entry,
9.4% in 1976 but gradually increased to 19.7% in 2012 (Gender Equal- and Realisation. Based on good practices in STEM VET in air force, rail,
ity Bureau Cabinet Office, 2017). Medicine is also a STEM field in which and medicine, it can be proposed that institutional arrangement of mari-
VET and employment are closely linked. In addition, some university time VET should be reviewed through gender-mainstreaming to elimi-
hospitals take active measures to provide life-long learning opportuni- nate the systematic problems of excluding women seafarers from
ties for female doctors after maternity and parental leave. For example, training opportunities. Then, it can be considered to institutionalise VET
Shiga University of Medical Science started a gender programme in support at each stage of the ILO women transport workers' career-cycle
2016, targeting early retired female doctors by providing flexible VET. It model through the partnership of industry-academia-government as
is helping female doctors who had to leave the job due to child-rearing well as transparency in gender policies and practices.
but want to return to the hospital and support the local medical services The limitations of this research would be the small sample, which can-
(Shiga University of Medical Science, 2017). not represent and reflect the whole transport sector in sea, air, and rail.
While this study explains how Japanese women workers in selected Most significantly, the commercial aviation industry was not examined in
transport sectors (i.e., sea, air, and rail) can be attracted, selected, and this study due to the previous employment policy on minimum height for
retained through VET, there is very little literature on VET for women air pilots, limiting data generation for this particular study. The accuracy
transport workers in other countries and how life-long VET may affect of the estimation of percentages of female transport workers can be
their corporate performance. Bloomberg Finance LP (2019) reports that improved via large surveys and interviews with transport employers.
only 10% of eligible companies in their study of the 2019 Gender-Equal- Future research can also look into legal and economic analyses on
ity Index (GEI) are disclosing their workplace gender policies and practi- how VET-related regulations and company policies can make an impact
ces. Transparency in gender policies and practices is, therefore an on gender equality in STEM fields. It is predicted that transportation is
important factor in facilitating firm-led VET opportunities for women one of the most affected sectors by automation and robotics where many
workers. jobs may be replaced by computer-controlled equipment (Dolphin,
VET programmes need to be more open to women in transport sec- 2015, 75). This technology-driven context may create new opportunities
tors from a long-term socio-economic perspective. A rapid change in for those who have not traditionally been considered to be suitable for
industries and labour markets, such as the Fourth Industrial Revolution, working in transport sectors, for example, women and the elderly. It is,
therefore, interesting to investigate how STEM education and training is
7 possibly transforming its operations to adopt future technological
The majority of female cadets in merchant marine tend to work ashore in
change in transport sectors towards a diverse and inclusive workplace.
maritime or non-maritime jobs. Their maritime knowledge can be useful but
their qualification as seafarers is not fully utilised. In the last several years, some
major shipping companies in Japan started to recruit graduates from non-mari- Acknowledgements
time universities and train them by the companies. A few women are also
recruited in the process while those female cadets trained at the traditional mari- The authors express their appreciation to the anonymous participants
time VET institutions still face the same challenges in employment. and contributors to this study.

8
M. Kitada and J. Harada Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives 1 (2019) 100009

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Update
Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives
Volume 9, Issue , March 2021, Page

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trip.2020.100256
Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives 9 (2021) 100256

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives


journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/trip

Erratum regarding missing declaration of competing interest statements


in previously published articles

A Declaration of Competing Interest statements were not 8. “Physical activity of electric bicycle users compared to conven-
included in the published version of the following articles that tional bicycle users and non-cyclists: Insights based on health
appeared in previous issues of Transportation Research Interdisci- and transport data from an online survey in seven European
plinary Perspectives. cities” [Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives,
The appropriate Declaration/Competing Interest statements, pro- 2019; 1: 100017]
vided by the Authors, are included below. 9. “An informal transportation as a feeder of the rapid transit sys-
tem. Spatial analysis of the e-bike taxi service in Shenzhen,
1. “Evaluation on the coordinated development of air logistics in China” [Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives,
Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei” [Transportation Research Interdisci- 2019; 1: 100002]
plinary Perspectives, 2019; 1: 100034] 10. “Modeling bus passenger boarding/alighting times: A stochastic
2. “Progress or regress on gender equality: The case study of approach” [Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspec-
selected transport STEM careers and their vocational education tives, 2019; 2: 100027]
and training in Japan” [Transportation Research Interdisci- 11. “Disaggregation of aggregate GPS-based cycling data – How to
plinary Perspectives, 2019; 1: 100009] enrich commercial cycling data sets for detailed cycling beha-
3. “What passengers really want: Assessing the value of rail inno- viour analysis” [Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Per-
vation to improve experiences” [Transportation Research Inter- spectives, 2019; 2: 100041]
disciplinary Perspectives, 2019; 1: 100014] 12. “Reducing global warming by airline contrail avoidance: A case
4. “Audio on the go: The effect of audio cues on memory in driv- study of annual benefits for the contiguous United States”
ing” [Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives, [Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives, 2019;
2019; 1: 100004] 2: 100033]
5. “Michigan’s public transportation: An application of statewide 13. “Effect of social capital on the life satisfaction of paratransit dri-
performance assessment and management” [Transportation vers in Sri Lanka” [Transportation Research Interdisciplinary
Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives, 2019; 1: 100013] Perspectives, 2019; 2: 100050]
6. “Planning for walking and cycling in an autonomous-vehicle 14. “To drive or not to drive? A qualitative comparison of car own-
future” [Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives, ership and transport experiences in London and Singapore”
2019; 1: 100012] [Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives, 2019;
7. “Are you going to get a ticket or a warning for speeding? 2: 100030]
An autologistic regression analysis in Burlington, VT” 15. “Incorporating systems thinking approach in a multilevel frame-
[Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives, 2019; work for human-centered crash analysis” [Transportation
1: 100001] Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives, 2019; 2: 100031]

DOI of original article: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trip.2019.100027; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trip.2019.100041; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trip.2019.100050; https://doi.org/


10.1016/j.trip.2019.100030; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trip.2019.100033; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trip.2019.100031; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trip.2019.100009; https://doi.
org/10.1016/j.trip.2019.100014; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trip.2019.100012; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trip.2019.100017; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trip.2019.100013; https://
doi.org/10.1016/j.trip.2019.100034; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trip.2019.100001; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trip.2019.100002; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trip.2019.100004;

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trip.2020.100256
Available online 2 January 2021
2590-1982/© 2020 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

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