
The issue of "akahara", or academic harassment, has often been considered a major barrier to the advancement of female scientists in Japan and educators have been considering ways to improve the situation. Kyushu University has now announced a programme of positive discrimination in its selection policy for mathematics places. From 2012, in the final phase, the university will split candidates into a general track and a women-only track. 5 out of the 9 places on offer will be filled by candidates from the women-only track. The remaining four places will be filled by candidates of either sex. The general track examination will focus only on mathematics skills while the women-only track will also test English skills
Source (Japanese)