Last year, BBC reported that at least nine Japanese medical schools came under fire after it was discovered that they had been rigging entrance scores in order to have less women doctors.
The reason behind this was the alleged concern that women would not make good medical doctors.
The issue caused both national and international outrage and saw Japanese ministers publicly apologising for the deliberate attempt to hinder the progress of women, who have for decades, been at the receiving end of inequality, discrimination, abuse and an endless list of other societal ills.
"I want the universities to make immediate and courteous responses regarding the situation of the applicants," Masahiko Shibayama, Japan's education minister said after hearing about the medical school scandal.
BBC also reported that in an attempt to rectify their wrongs, more than 40 applicants from the 2017 and 2018 entry rounds were accepted for entry after the university made contact with 101 candidates.
It is unclear how those numbers have since changed, but it is clear that had these medical schools not deliberately tried to ambush the progress of their women students for all these years, there may have been more successful women doctors than men.
This just became increasingly clear after it was found that women applicants actually fared a lot better in their medical school entrance exams than men did.
The Guardian reported that Juntendo University in Tokyo had said that of 1 679 women who took its medical school entrance exam earlier this year, 139 (8.28%) had passed. The pass rate among 2 202 male candidates was 7.72%.
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They also said that this was the first time in seven years that the results had produced a higher percentage for women.
While it is definitely a cause for celebration that women were once again able to raise the flag high and produce satisfying results regardless of the tight ropes of oppression bound around them, one cannot help but think about all the other areas in life women could actually be excelling in had they not been so oppressed.
CEOs, mechanics, information technology specialists and even presidents of countries - how much more progress could we have seen in these fields have been had women been granted equal opportunities as men to pursue careers in them?
It's easy to say that something is being done to ensure that women are given equal chances, yet when medical schools such as those mentioned here limit access to women students, it reveals that not everyone is on the same page.
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Learning about such concerning incidents does indeed dampen one's mood, but in the same breath, it is important to note that we are incredibly proud of these Japanese students.
They are proving not only to themselves, but to the world, that women are just as capable as men... if not more so.
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