Setsuko Tajima graduated from the University of Tokyo with a bachelor's degree in engineering in 1977. She then joined NEC Corporation and was assigned to the VLSI Technology Research Association. In 1979, she resigned from her position and became a research student at Karlsruhe University in Germany. Upon returning to Japan, she took up the role of Research Assistant at the University of Tokyo, eventually moving up to Assistant Professor and then Lecturer. In 1989, she moved to the International Superconductivity Technology Centre and served as the division director at the Superconductivity Research Laboratory. She went on to become a full professor of the Department of Physics at Osaka University in 2004, and later became the Dean of the Graduate School of Science. She was a member and associated member of the Science Council of Japan from 2005-2023, as well as the vice-president and president of the Physics Society of Japan from 2020-2023. She worked to promote science in Japan through her involvement with these organizations.