Tokyo Medical University has found itself in hot water after it was discovered to be altering exam scores for female applicants to boost the number of male doctors, prompting widespread outrage.

The fudged exam results were discovered in an internal investigation following allegations of corruption over the entrance procedures for the Tokyo medical school, Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun reported. The internal probe will also investigate allegations that the university was entangled in bribery to admit the son of a senior official of the education ministry.

Not only that Tokyo Medical University had stolen the score from women who got the entrance exam, but also they had chosen a man when a man and a woman got the same score. Japan is hell to women. — HnakoDorothy (@HnakoDorothy) August 2, 2018

The logic of systemic discrimination against women applicants for the entrance exam of Tokyo Medical University: higher women doctors -> higher risk of leaving jobs by pregnancy or giving birth -> lower acceptance of women. So disgusting. https://t.co/3EnoLlmQ3u — Kenji Rikitake (@jj1bdx) August 2, 2018

Latest Tokyo Medical University scandal makes me think...You probably saw hundred of times how japanese apologising for tiny train delays, but how many times you saw japanese apologising for how they treat their women? — MABERU-METAL (@Voice_of_Marvel) August 2, 2018

Crazy, disturbing story out of #Japan. Tokyo Medical University deliberately altered scores of female applicants to reduce number of women becoming doctors. Japan still stuck in 1950s. #TokyoMedicalUniversityhttps://t.co/6DBN7MvlWx — Ghidorah (@Ghidorah64) August 2, 2018

The revelations have sparked outrage on social media, with one person on Thursday branding the “logic of systemic discrimination against women applicants” as “disgusting.” Another called it “crazy, disturbing… stuck in the 1950s,” while another pointed out that if the Japanese will apologize for “tiny train delays,” how many times will they say sorry for “how they treat their women.”

This is outrageous. Tokyo Medical Univ. allegedly conducting “Anti-affirmative action” by systematically deducting the entrance exam scores of female applicants over several years, with an assumption that female physicians more likely to abandon practice due to childbearing. https://t.co/OnagKWnRMI — Satoshi Matsuoka (@ProfMatsuoka) August 1, 2018

Apparently Tokyo Medical University has been subtracting points on tests taken by women... simply for being women.Japan has serious equality problems. https://t.co/Md4fAODW7d — 🎩Tuxedo Unmasked (@t_unmasked) August 1, 2018

Tokyo Medical University penalizes entrance exam scores of all women applicants “as a necessary evil”, because they are less likely to remain doctors and work in affiliated hospitals. Implemented when women’s admissions rate surpassed men’s. https://t.co/znud7QuaVW — Kenneth McElwain (@mcelwain444) August 1, 2018

According to media reports, the investigation discovered that the altering of exam scores began in 2011 after the number of female applicants jumped significantly in the year prior. As a result, the university began reducing the exam scores of women and adding points for men in order to keep down the number of female undergraduate medical students at about 30 percent of the total cohort.

OMG! That undermines all the work these women have put in. If I was one of those achievers I would feel so angry. — Proudbrit🇬🇧 (@jv_uk2011) August 2, 2018

“Tokyo Medical University penalizes entrance exam scores of all women applicants “as a necessary evil”, because they are less likely to remain doctors and work in hospitals, saying “they gonna marry, they gonna bear children.” #metoo#ツイッターでウィメンズマーチ — iKU 💎40 (@1996MayBee) August 2, 2018

It turns out that the Tokyo Medical College has been systematically subtracting points from the scores on entrance tests of all women since 2011, in an attempt to reduce the number of female medical students.This is a terrible discrimination of women! #一律減点https://t.co/Ekld1PZR9g — ☔️ دختری مالیخولیایی 🏳️ (@parysatis_) August 2, 2018

The Yomiuri Shimbun quoted university sources as saying the reduction of female applicants stemmed from a “strong sense” that many women quit medicine to get married and have children. The university source also said that female surgeons “tend to be avoided.”



Tokyo Medical University spokesman Fumio Azuma confirmed to Reuters that the investigation had already begun and the results of both investigations could come as early as this month. The revelations into potential malfeasance by the medical university fly in the face of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s goal to create a society “where women can shine.”

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