TOKYO, July 8 — On the campus of the University of Tokyo, inside the Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology, Hiroshi Ono is asking a question that gets to the heart of modern family life: Does having a daughter change how a father thinks about gender? Ono, a professor of sociology, spent years tracking the data. He earned his PhD in sociology from the University of Chicago in 2001, and since then, his research has carved a distinct path through the fields of social stratification, gender inequality, and family dynamics.
The answer, according to the 2023 study Ono led on fathers of daughters and gender attitudes, is a definitive yes. The work, published in a field where he has over 50 peer-reviewed articles in journals including American Sociological Review and Social Forces, suggests that the most intimate of relationships—the bond between a father and his daughter—can reshape deeply held beliefs about a woman’s place in the workforce and at home.
Ono’s scholarship is rooted in the mechanics of inequality. His work examines who gets ahead, who falls behind, and how family structures reinforce those patterns. He has studied the impact of parental leave policies on women’s career advancement, a topic that resonates loudly in Japan.
The findings from the 2023 study on fathers and daughters add a personal, almost psychological layer to that structural analysis. It is not just about policy; it is about what happens inside a household when a man raises a girl.
The research implies that lived experience—the daily reality of nurturing a daughter—can erode the very stereotypes that hold women back. Ono is a member of both the Japanese Sociological Society and the American Sociological Association, straddling two academic worlds. His training at the University of Chicago grounds his work in the empirical traditions of American sociology, while his position at the University of Tokyo places him at the center of Japan’s own urgent debate about gender, work, and family.
The 2023 study is not an isolated data point. It is part of a broader body of work that includes over 50 peer-reviewed articles. Ono’s research consistently finds that when men are given the tools—or the mandate—to be more involved at home, attitudes shift.
His work on parental leave policies, for instance, shows that when fathers take time off, it normalizes caregiving for men and helps level the professional playing field for women. But the daughter effect is different.
It is not a policy; it is a relationship. The study suggests that the mere presence of a female child in a household can act as a slow, powerful solvent on patriarchal norms. Fathers of daughters, the data indicates, begin to see the world through their child’s eyes—and that changes how they see women in the workplace.
On the ground in Tokyo, the implications of Ono’s work are being watched closely. Japan’s government has spent years trying to nudge corporate culture toward greater equality, with mixed results.
Ono’s research offers a different lever: the family itself. For now, the data is clear. The professor at the University of Tokyo has laid out the evidence.
The next step—translating that personal transformation into structural change—remains the open question.
