Examining Womenomics: Comparing Women’s Impact and Experiences in the Workforce in Taiwan and Japan
Event Description
Please join the Global Taiwan Institute at noon on December 21, 2016, for a public seminar focused on the “womenomic” policies of Taiwan and Japan, and the impact of women on their economies. Womenomics, the term coined by Goldman Sachs strategist Kathy Matsui in 1999, refers to a holistic approach to increasing female participation in the workforce and encompasses policy reforms at the governmental, private, and social levels. Faced with an economic crisis, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe revitalized the term in 2013 and rolled out policies to increase women’s labor participation in Japan. Taiwan’s womenomic policies are less well known, but no less ambitious and have been implemented for the past two decades. This panel seeks to compare the policies, outcomes, and experiences of women in the workforce in Taiwan and Japan, as well as their impact on their respective economies.
We are joined by Abigail Friedman, CEO and Founder of The Wisteria Group; Shihoko Goto, Senior Associate for the Northeast Asia Program at The Wilson Center; and Gloria Kuo, a Political Division Officer at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO) in the United States. This panel will be moderated by GTI Research Manager Melissa Newcomb.
Doors will open at 11:30. A light lunch will be served, and the event will begin at 12:00. Kindly RSVP by December 19. Please direct questions or concerns to abell@globaltaiwan.org.
**Media: Please contact Anna Scott Bell at abell@globaltaiwan.org if you would like to bring additional crew members or equipment, so that we can be sure to accommodate you.
Panelists
Abigail Friedman is founder and CEO of The Wisteria Group, an international advisory firm dedicated to expanding the global presence and effectiveness of non-profit and business clients. A core focus of The Wisteria Group is advancing women’s economic empowerment internationally. Abigail brings over twenty-five years of experience as a U.S. diplomat with postings in Japan, Afghanistan, France, and Canada, and as White House National Security Council Director for Afghanistan. Abigail is a senior associate at CSIS and senior advisor to The Asia Foundation where she supports the women’s empowerment team and provides strategic direction on Japan engagement. She is a graduate of Harvard University (B.A. with honors) and the Georgetown University Law Center (J.D.).
Shihoko Goto is the senior Northeast Asia associate at the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Asia Program, where she is responsible for research, programming, and publications on Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. She is also a contributing editor to The Globalist, and a fellow of the Mansfield Foundation/Japan Foundation U.S.-Japan Network for the Future for 2014 to 2016. Prior to joining the Wilson Center, she spent over ten years as a journalist writing about the international political economy with an emphasis on Asian markets. As a correspondent for Dow Jones News Service and United Press International based in Tokyo and Washington, she has reported extensively on policies impacting the global financial system as well as international trade. She received the Freeman Foundation’s Jefferson journalism fellowship at the East-West Center and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation’s journalism fellowship for the Salzburg Global Seminar. She has a M.A. in International Political Theory, from Waseda University in Japan and a B.A. in Modern History, University of Oxford, UK. Ms. Goto is fluent in Japanese and French.
Gloria Kuo is currently a Political Division Officer at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO) in the United States. She previously served in Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA). Ms. Kuo has a M.A. in translation and interpreting studies from Fu-jen Catholic University, and B.A. in English Literature from National Sun Yat-sen University, both in Taiwan. Her current portfolio includes women empowerment, with focus on identifying and facilitating opportunities that can bring Taiwan and the United States together to empower women at home and in the region.