Professor Ogawa co-edited a book “Globally Successful Japanese Women”

Professor Keiichi Ogawa (Kobe University) and Dr. Suguru Mizunoya (UNESCO IIEP) co-edited a Japanese book titled “Globally Successful Japanese Women: Career of Education Development in International Organization” (世界で花開く日本の女性たち━国際機関で教育開発に携わるキャリア形成). The book features the life stories of 11 female Japanese professionals working at the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), OECD, UNESCO, UNICEF, and the World Bank in the field of education development.

One of the most distinctive features of this book is that it not only describes the roles and responsibilities at each organization but also delves deeply into the authors’ personal life stories. This collection portrays their foundational experiences, time in school, challenges, and failures they encountered throughout their lives. Moreover, the authors represent a range of career stages, from junior staff to senior positions, catering to the diverse needs of the readers. This aspect makes the book a useful guide for the career development at international organizations. Graduates of the Ogawa-seminar, including Dr. Mari Shojo (World Bank), Ms. Marie Kunimatsu (UNICEF), and Ms. Saki Okamoto (UNICEF), have also contributed to the book, sharing their time in the Ogawa-seminar helped shape their careers.

Another notable feature of this book is that all authors are women. The book addresses the work-life balance at international organizations, focusing on female-specific struggles, such as the temporary career interruptions due to pregnancy, childbirth and childcare. The authors’ experiences and messages to the young generation will be valuable for anyone aiming to work at international organizations.

Dr. Mizunoya, the co-editor, is currently serves as the Head of the Technical Cooperation team at UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP) in Paris. He holds a Ph.D. and M.Phil. degrees in Economics and Education from Teachers College, Columbia University. Prior to his current position, he worked at UNICEF as a data analyst for a long time. He is also a visiting professor at GSICS. In 2022, he offered a course “Education Data Analysis for Achieving SDGs.”

In writing this book, doctoral students from the Ogawa-seminar—Ayumu Yagi (author of this article), Mr. Ryuto Minami, Ms. Mai Hirose, Mr. Kohei Uno, Mr. Yudai Ishii, and Ms. Natsumi Shibata—along with master’s student Ms. Noa Yokogawa, had the opportunity to interview with the authors and assist in brainstorming. By asking questions from the students’ perspective, they ensured the content met the needs of the target audience. At the same time, the students were able to interact and develop their professional networks. We would like to express our gratitude to Professor Ogawa for this valuable opportunity.