Men and women are working side by side and are moving China towards the future. From the outside this all looks very equal and harmonious. But do men and women really make no difference between male or female colleagues, employees or superiors? What are the reasons for women to go to work and how do they think about their role in society? We did some research and traveled to different industrial cities in China to talk to ladies in top management of their companies to find out.
One of the many things that keep amazing me about China is the number of women in working positions. Coming from Central Europe I thought I was used to women seeking their own income and independence. But if I compare that to China, the portion of working women seems to be a lot bigger then where I am from. Women seem to be everywhere where there’s work to be done. Shop ladies, waitresses, nurses, doctors, office ladies, marketing managers, accountants, production supervisors, company managers, factory owners, government officials and even in uncommon jobs such as a street cleaner, construction worker, taxi driver, construction engineer or as an owner of a company who sells large excavating machinery.
When I ride my bike through the milling traffic of metropolitan Shanghai, left and right of me I see women on bicycles and scooters, going to work, going shopping or hauling goods on their vehicles. Behind the steering wheel of many cars – some times even trucks – I can spot women. When I call my suppliers, very often a woman picks up the phone, passes me to another women in the sales department which is very often supervised by a women. I visit factories and see production lines staffed with rows of women, diligently manufacturing products. Often I then meet the company owner, who again is a women or the wife of the founder.
“I don’t see much difference between men and women in society or at work” Sits at the table of a bright meeting room of Superb Tent in Foshan with Ms. Antina Huang. Antina is the company’s sales manager and minority owner, producing and selling large event tents to markets in China and abroad. “We only started a year ago, since seven months we’re operational. So we’re still kind of in the start-up phase, but business is starting to move.” Antina has a soft, but energetic way to talk and you can tell she is ambitious. “I used to work in a factory similar as this one, in Zhu-Hai. I liked my job and the products, but my boss preferred guys instead of girls. I never experienced that before and I didn’t agree with that. Then I suddenly got the opportunity to join and help build up this company. So I took the chance. It’s a lot of work and the pressure is different if you’re working for your own company. But it’s a great feeling.” Antina’s home and family are over 2 hours away, so she can only go home on the weekend. “I miss my husband and kid and I wish I could go home every day. But I decided to do this and now I just have to adjust.” Asked if there is any difference between men and women at work or if she would prefer men over women for sales positions, she said, “I don’t see much difference between men and women in society or at work. I don’t particularly prefer any gender in a job interview. But there are always more girls with better English than boys interested in the foreign trading business. That’s why you see lots of women as sales in this industry.”
Anita Huang and Marco pose for a photo after the interview
Today the majority of women in China are working. There are local cultural differences though. “Many women here in Foshan are satisfied with an easy family life. They don’t go to work and don’t seem to have too many ambitions. That’s ok, but it’s not an option for me. When this job opportunity came up, my husband and I discussed it together. It was clear for both of us, that I should take this great chance.” Today’s most common family model consists of both parents working, while the grandparents are taking care of the mostly only child and the household. There are hardly any part-time jobs available and in many cases, parents leave their homes in rural areas to seek work in a far away city, only returning home a few times per year to see their kids and other family members. Women who work have become a part of modern Chinese society and culture. Very often families have no other choice than to generate as much income as possible in order to support daily life, elderly family members and a high mortgage for an acquired apartment. Despite or maybe just because of such circumstances, the traditional Chinese family bonds are very strong and life is arranged around the extended family and work. “Family is very important to Chinese. And for women family is especially important. We couldn’t do all this without the help of our own parents,” says Antina.
This traditional family model is undoubtedly a key factor for the large number of women participating in China’s working life. Grandparents are taking over roles that – at least in many Western countries – are largely on the shoulders of the women and can only in part be substituted by an occasional day with the grandparents or a day-care center. Ironically, the Chinese women’s liberation seems to be based on a very old and traditional family model. But how about the ideological side? Is there something like a general discussion or even a conflict in society about women’s rights and their equal position with men? In the West, this discussion has been going on for centuries and the balance between men and women seems to be a constant topic. To my surprise, many of our interview partners didn’t even understand the nature of the question clearly. “There is no real conflict or ongoing fight for position between men and women. At least not as far as I can see,” says Ms. Ma, the founder of Truemax, a company in the business of giant building machinery. “Chances are more or less equal. Of course men and women are not the same, but somehow everyone accepts these differences.” Instead of elaborating on the social differences, discussions usually turned towards the differences between men and women’s characteristics.
Unsurprisingly, these turned out little different than those traits Westerns apply to men or women. Many managers we talked to would point out, that they mix their staff to create a balance or to flexibly apply certain skills. “I have men and women in my sales team. I guess men tend to be more aggressive, straight forward and just want to get the job done, while women tend to be a little more careful, subtle and focused on details,” says Susan Li, founder of the electric goods producer Power Solutions. “So depending on the customer or the situation, I can let a guy or a girl handle the case.” Another factor is the availability of certain skills. The export department of Kate Liang’s stainless appliances company almost entirely consists of young girls. “It’s not that I favor women over men. I don’t care much about gender, but far more about attitude and ability. There are just way more girls graduating from university with majors in English. A must for an export job in a company where the clients are mainly from abroad.”
While all this sounds very liberal and highly equal, there are still some boundaries which seem hard for women to cross. Although a much larger part of women in China are working compared with most European countries, there are some similar facts. A topic increasingly discussed in media and society is that of successful women having a hard time to find a husband. According to traditional Chinese belief, a woman should get married and have kids before the age of thirty. Adding to that, many Chinese men still prefer women who are less independent and often several years younger then themselves. This contrasts with the lives and plans of an increasing number of young women, who are well educated and ambitious on their job. Even though China is suffering an overload of boys/men, many women above thirty are facing difficulties in finding partners when they are ready to settle and have a family. This seems to be a field where traditional preferences and believes of family, ambition and achievement tend to collide not only with itself, but also with the modern reality of increasingly successful and independent Chinese women. It seems that at least in this respect, Western and Chinese challenges have certain similarities.
