Japan medical school admits to altering scores to keep out female applicants

The school wanted fewer female doctors because it anticipated they would become mothers and would shorten or halt their careers.

A Tokyo medical school has confirmed after an internal investigation that it systematically altered entrance exam scores for years to keep out female applicants and ensure more men became doctors.

Tetsuo Yukioka (L), Managing Director of Tokyo Medical University and Keisuke Miyazawa, vice-president of Tokyo Medical University, bow as they attend a news conference in Tokyo, Japan August 7. (REUTERS)

Tokyo Medical University manipulated all entrance tests results since 2000 or even earlier. The findings released Tuesday by lawyers involved in the internal investigation confirm recent reports in Japanese media.

The manipulation surfaced during an investigation of an alleged wrongful admission of a bureaucrat’s son.

The internal investigation found the school first reduced all applicants’ first-stage scores to 80 percent then added up to 20 points only to male applicants with three or fewer application tries.

The school wanted fewer female doctors because it anticipated they would become mothers and would shorten or halt their careers.