course material

1. Gender discrimination in employment: China
Gender discrimination in employment: ChinaExecutive summaryGender discrimination in
employment in Chinese labour market is a widespread issue particularly when it comes to
women. Women are the ones who receive high level of gender discrimination at the work
places. In survey carried out by Yongping (2004), it established that 25% of all job
applications from women are declined sorely because of their gender. Though, China has
enacted labour laws that prohibit gender discrimination and create equal employment
opportunities, no particular laws have been enacted to control selection and hiring
process.The present dissertation sought to investigate gender discrimination in
employment in China. from the research carried out, this paper has established that there
are several reasons why employers discriminate against women, they include perceived
lack of energy of women, employers belief that women are less commitment to work and
are less qualified. The research has concluded that women suffer gender discrimination
more than men in China. This has been contributed by deep-seated social biases against
women’ s participation in paid work, together with weak institutions that have failed to
effectively implement China’ s labour laws. Accordingly the following recommendations
have been suggested establishing and strengthening labour laws and policies, improve the
supervision and control of labour industry, consideration of gender discrimination when
formulating policies, and form special organizations to appraise and oversee gender
equality laws and policies.Since the time the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) came to power
in 1949, it treated gender equality as a critical issue in modernizing China (Berik et al
2007). Accordingly, the party introduced laws to create equal opportunities based on the
premise that women and men are both equal in terms of getting paid work. CCP as well
outlined that women’ s should be freed from feudalism and patriarchy. Berik et al (2007)
cites the 1994 labour law, that underlines that “ women and men shall enjoy equal rights in
relation to employment; women may not be refused employment because of their sex”
(Nolan 2008, p.2). The law adds that equal pay should be offered for equal work.
Nonetheless, the government has failed to fully enforce the gender equality law, raising
doubts about the political will of leaders.From 1978 when economic reforms were carried
out in China, women have faced increased discrimination on the labour market (Berik et al.,
2007). Rapid changes in the social and economic front, for example rearrangement of
agricultural practices, increased rural-urban migration and removal of work-based welfare
system has all considerable changed the lives of women. Usually, women are first ones to
loss their work and majority are forced to take employment in risk places, unregulated

2. industries or sit back home.The Chinese government in 1980s and 1990s passed a several
laws in its effort to establish and safeguard the rights of its people (Berik et al., 2007). In
regard to addressing gender discrimination in employment, the constitution passed by PRC
(People’ s Republic of China) in 1993 contained a number of laws such as the Women
Workers and Employment Labour Protection Regulations, the labour law and the law for
the protection of women’ s rights and interests (LPWRI), “ all were contained in the
constitution to provides the basis for challenging discriminatory practices of employers”
(Bulger 2000, p 5).Though, the constitution as well as national law guarantees equal rights
for men and women, the government and regulatory bodies have failed to effectively
implement these labour policies. Accordingly, it has proved difficult to secure equal
employment treatment particularly among women. Clarke (2007) points out that Chinese
law put a lot of emphasis on protective laws underpinned on biological differences existing
among men and women. Laws offer advantages required. Consequently, whereas positive
laws underline that men and women are equal, the actual social practices illustrates the
continued practices of gender inequality practices in Chinese society (Bulger, 2000).Clarke
(2007) explains that it is difficult to successfully challenge discriminatory practices because
of varying reasons. For example, the range of some of these laws is very limited, and there is
no enforcement of these national laws at the local level. In addition, work unit state owned
enterprises (SOEs) and local government laws usually conflict, rising debate on which law
ought to be applied. The present system of the government as well poses difficulties, since
court rulings may not be enforced because courts are on the same level as local
governments.This short dissertation examines this issue of gender discrimination in
employment. After giving background information, the next section will outline the aims
and objectives of the research, research question and the methodology adopted. The next
section will be literature review, which will critically review the issue. Lastly, a conclusion
and recommendation will be offered based on the findings of the literature review.1.2 Aim
& objectives of the researchThe main aim and objective of this short research is to examine
gender discrimination in employment in China. Other objectives included:i. Establishing the
main barriers that contributes to gender discrimination in Chinaii. Establish the main cause
of gender discrimination in employment in China1.3 Research questions• What are the
main barriers that hinder women from advancing in their employment and create gender
discrimination in employment?• What are the causes of gender discrimination in
employment in Chinese labour sector?2.0 Chapter 2: MethodologyThe following chapter
will describe the selected methodology to be applied in the current research. In the first
chapter, we gave the background of the issue and investigation and the research questions
of our present issue “ gender discrimination in employment in China” . After identifying the
research topic and literature review, planning a methodology for the study topic is
necessary. As pointed out by Cassell and Symon, (2004) there are two main research
methods, primary research and secondary research. The selection of any of these two
methods depends on several factors, such as variables under study, the nature of the study,
time, and even costs involved.2.1 Secondary research methodology: literature
reviewSelecting appropriate research methodology a critical aspect in the research
processes. Accordingly this present research will use secondary research methodology,

3. specifically literature review. According to Cassell and Symon, (2004) literature review is an
organised search of past works to establish what has been already found out about the topic
under examination. When using literature review, information is mined from books,
periodicals, internet sources; corporate catalogues and so forth (Weiss & Bucuvala, 1980).
Published books are critical because they substantiate what study has been conducted. To
enhance prospects of accessing the most significant prose, visiting various libraries is
ideal.There are several advantages of using literature review as a research method. As
noted by Weiss & Bucuvala (1980) literature review helps the scholar to fix the study
problem and better comprehend and substantiates the study anomaly. Additionally, data
can be collected without necessarily depending on other people as such the information
could be accurate. Lastly, secondary research is less costly and present wide breadth and
vast information of the research topic.a literature review is used to serve a number of
objectives, including determining the need to carry out the research, widening the scope of
the researcher and stopping the researcher from carrying out a research that as been
already done (Weiss & Bucuvala, 1980). These observations are supported by Cassell and
Symon, (2004) who points out that literature review enables the researcher to establish
what has been already established regarding the problem being examined, this helps in
preventing duplication of the research. Bless (2000) outlines that literature review polish
and expand the theoretical background of the research. He adds that, literature review
allows the research to be familiar with the current happenings in the subject of research
(Cassell and Symon, (2004).2.2 SamplingAs stated before, the present research will base on
literature review because it is easy to gather information from previous studies. The
majority of materials used in this research were obtained from online or from online
databases. The researcher as well used scholarly articles, peer reviewed journals, books and
websites. The overriding aspect in all these materials was that they discussed on the topic
under present investigation.2.3 Data analysisThis research study is literature review-based.
Accordingly, previous studies on the topic have will be critically examined through the
study. Data analysis will entail reviewing the findings of the previous studies and presenting
them in a narrative way that answers the main research question under investigation,
“ Gender discrimination in employment-China” .3.0 Chapter 3: Literature Review3.1
Definition of discriminationAccording to Webster (2010) employment discrimination is a
complex aspect that entail conscious decisions as well as unconscious opinions about an
individual based on his/her abilities and qualities because of his race, ethnicity, sex, sexual
orientation or any other immutable attributes. Employment discrimination can be direct or
indirect, direct discrimination is where an employer shows favouritism towards other
employees against others based on one or several aspects (noted before). However, indirect
discrimination is more complex and hard to notices since it entails policies that seem to be
neutral yet have negative effects on minority groups (Webster, 2010).3.2 Gender
discriminationThe following section will examine the main barriers that hinder women
from advancing in their employment. As noted by Cooke (2005) gender discrimination is
indirectly and directly practiced in government policies as well as employer practices in
regard to Job advertisements, recruitment practices, career promotion and advancement
and retirement regulations.3.2.1 Job advertisementsCritical evaluation of job advertisement

4. offers crucial understanding into discriminatory practices of employers. a study by Gao
(2008) on online recruitment and that done by Zhou Wei on print advertisement reveal that
gender, age and physical attributes remain important aspects for employers Wei (2008).
Additional aspects such as height and household registration also come under consideration
by employers particularly in more specialised positions. Most job adverts have several
forms of discriminatory aspects, for example seeking women aged below 30 years, or men
with a height of over 5’ 6, therefore this attributes reflects discrimination.Gao (2008)
carried out a survey of 955 white-collar jobs adverts placed on ChinaHR.com, one of the top
employment website (Gao, 2008). In her survey, she established that the widespread
discriminatory attribute was age, appearing in 24% of the adverts, gender came second at
12%, and physical appearance came as third at 10%. On further analysis, she established
that gender requirement affected both men and women, (men at 5.5% and women at 6.7%)
(Gao, 2008). The high percentage among men was attributed to managerial positions,
whereas for women was in sales and clerical positions. This kind of adverts underlines the
traditional power system where women are viewed as subordinate to men. In addition,
many advertisements for women had some more restrictions, where age was general less
than 30 years, and physically, women had to be “ attractive and well-tempered” . Gao
(2008) asserts that this multiple restrictions indicate a more “ degrading direction of
gender discrimination” , implying that Chinese women are being seen as sex objects, with
the purpose of pleasing the eyes of male managers and customers.3.2.2 Recruitment
practicesIn the 1980s and early 1990s, Chinese labour laws required that SOEs recruit a
certain quotas of female graduates. However, some like Granik (1991) argue that these laws
were not followed even by government bodies. When these laws were removed in mid
1990s, gender discrimination in recruitment increased. A survey carried out in 2004 by
Shanghai Women’ s Federation reported that 55.6% of female graduates faced
discrimination when they sought employment (Nolan, 2008). The interesting aspect was
how employers locked out women indirectly, for example, one job advert required
applicants to have soccer skills (China Daily, 2004). In a related survey carried out by All-
China Women’ s Federation (ACWF) (2006) in Jiansu, revealed that 80% of female
respondents indicated that they been discriminated through recruitment process. Some
participants in the survey stated that some job adverts directly stated their preference.
Indeed, even some government agencies and foreign multinational showed a preference for
men.In cases where these women were employed, some employers provided illegal
employment contracts, for example, with a clause of “ no giving birth for four years” (Chao,
2003). according to Ebrahimi et al (2002), some reasons why employers discriminate
against women during recruitment is perceived losses due to maternity leave and reduced
motivation when women get children.However, in some industries like manufacturing,
those discriminated against are men and not women. Men born in 1980s are viewed as
spoilt and unproductive, thus some employers shun them (Nolan, 2008).3.2.3 PromotionIt
is hard to correctly establish the number of women in managerial positions in various
sectors in Chinese labour market (Nolan, 2008). Some authors such as Korabik (1994) have
argued that the reason why fewer women are promoted to managerial positions is due to
gender bias and negative feelings towards women. Accordingly, Korabik (1994); Chow

5. (1995) explains that these kinds of perceptions negatively impacts women’ s self-esteem
and reduces their drive to take u management positions. In addition, Chow (1995) points
out that organisations seem to prefer “ masculine” attributes in managers for example,
ambitious, forcefulness and aggressiveness, attributes that not attractive to traditional
Chinese women.However, a study carried out by Ebrahimi et al (2001) on Chinese
managers found only slight gender difference in participants’ drive to hold managerial
positions or personality attributes such as forcefulness and competitiveness. Consequently,
Ebrahimi et al (2001) assert that the under-proportional number of women holding
managerial positions is not caused by personality attributes of women, other factors
contribute to this aspect and there is need to examine organisational and government
practices.3.2.4 RetirementIn China, the retirement age for women and men differs, while
professional women working in urban centres are supposed to retire at 55 and those
working in other position to retire at 50, men are supposed to retire at 60 and 55
respectively (Nolan, 2008). Though the ministry of labour has tried to address this issue by
releasing policy paper to adjust the retirement age of women to 60, the final decision is left
to the employer (Lou, 2000).A clear outcome of this difference in retirement age is fewer
women get to managerial positions, simply because the duration of their careers is shorter
compared to that of men. Cooke (2005) explains that, due to this “ short career path” of
women, employers are less ken on training and promoting women to management position
since they offer “ less returns” than men (in relation to labour period they work).
Therefore, the early retirement age of women reduces their career advancement
opportunities (Cooke, 2005).Based on the fact that pension payments depends on the final
salaries and duration of service an employee offers, this law as well reduce the pension
women earn. In addition, it has been observed that employers usually layoff women than
men because women are paid less money in terms of redundancy allowances (Cooke, 2005).
Lou (2000) observes that the retirement law contradicts the rights of women enshrined in
the constitution of equal access to employment and pay. In deed, Nolan (2008) narrates
that, Ms Zhou Xianghua who was employed by China construction Bank in 2005 was the
first women to seek court redress over the legality of retirement age. Though Ms Zhou lost
this case, it elicited a heated debated in Chinese labour industry. In line of this legal case, the
Beijing University Women’ s Legal Research and Services Centre official petitioned the
national parliament to review the retirement law (Nolan, 2008). Still, as underscored by Liu
(2007) the difference in gender retirement age, is a big disadvantage to women regarding
their career advancement and pension compensation.3.3 Causes of gender discrimination in
employmentThe causes of gender discrimination, particularly for women in Chinese labour
market are possibly same as those faced by other women in different parts of the world.
They include financial costs related with maternity leave, lack of access in education and
social networking and mentoring. In addition, China’ s law enforcement system is
comparatively weak (Nolan, 2008). This section will examine the above mentioned causes
and how they relate to gender discrimination in employment3.3.1 Financial costs related
with maternity leaveRazavi (2007) points out that, when state owned enterprises (SOEs)
were reformed, it resulted in their usual role of providers of social welfare to be changed
and given to employee, the government and insurance companies. Though this reduces to

6. the burden of organisations, SOEs are still needed to contribute towards the welfare of the
employee. Nolan (2008) note that, the young women employed by organisation will require
maternity support at one point. Accordingly, some sectors are discouraged by this aspect;
therefore they discourage employment of women (McLaren, 2004). Nonetheless, to address
this issue employment contract was introduced in 1980s, where employers could hire
women and give them short contract terms so that they avoid paying maternity costs. But as
asserted by Cooke (2005), this means women employed on such terms will not have a
continuous working career, which in turn contributes to lack of professional work
experience by women.3.3.2 Lack of access in educationThe difference in access of
educational opportunities among most Chinese women as well negatively affects the human
capital experience of women (Granrose, 2005). There is a common social belief among the
Chinese that education is more essential for men compared to women, a belief that remains
deeply practised in rural regions. For instance, data from China Statistics Yearbook revealed
that in 2006, the percentage of illiterate among women was 13.7%, while that of men was
4% (China Statistics Yearbook, 2006). These figures are more skewed in rural regions
where the percentage men in colleges and higher learning institutions are double that of
women. Though, this trend is slowly changing due to one child policy adopted by China.In
addition, differences also occur in subjects that men and women study in the university.
According to Cooke (2005), a high proportion of men study science subjects. This has a long
term effect on careers of graduates since those who study sciences are more likely to get
high paying jobs than those who study arts subjects. Liu et al (2006) found interesting that
whereas that percentage women and men studying science subjects has always differed, the
gap widen in the course of China’ s reform period when the numbers of women studying
sciences sharply reduced. for instance, in 1970s, the ratio of female students taking physics
subjects in China’ s top universities was 1 to 3, but in 2001, this ratio had dropped to 1 to
10 (Science, 2002).Some of the reasons noted for comparatively high numbers of female
students taking sciences subjects in 1970s are, the old educational system where bright
students were mandated to take physics course even in cases where they did not apply form
them, stronger aggressiveness in women in 1970s, and government provision of childcare
allowing many women to pursue science courses (Science, 2002). the high decrease in
female taking science courses has been occasioned by less support given by the government
to women undertaking science courses and the media which portray female scientists as
cold and unattractive (Science, 2002). This discourages many young women to venture in
science courses.3.3.3 Social networking and mentoringA lot of literature has revealed that
women in many developed countries lack enough informal mentoring provided through
social networks (Cooke, 2005). A major fact contributing to this is that many women are do
not participate in “ after-work” activities because of the ways these activities are
structured, which on many occasions happen in groups with large proportion of men
(Cooke, 2005). Similar problems face Chinese women, especially in starting and maintaining
a guanxi (relationship).To get promotional or career advancement, individuals usually go to
their groups (guanxi) to get assistance and information (Fox and Schuhmann, 2001). In
China, it is harder for women to relate with men (who they are not related to) in a guanxi
since this can be viewed as seeking sexual relationship, which will be disastrous to both the

7. woman and the man. This discourages men to mentor men or vice versa.A study carried out
by Wylie (2004) on women in management positions in Beijing and Shanghai established
that majority of women claimed that they had to allow some flattery to establish a network
with their male counterparts. This made these women to feel uneasy and insincere.
Accordingly, Wylie (2004) recommends the use of new technologies to offer new ways of
social networking that women can use. Wylie (2004) believes that this will help in social
networking by creating better mutual and respectively relationships that can foster
mentoring.3.3.4 Weak law enforcement and unfairness in existing lawsThough the new
“ Employment Law” that was enacted on 1st January, 2008, is strict on using temporary
employment contracts, there is debate on how effectively the law will be enforced. In the
previous SOEs, it was easy to enforce these regulations since many organisations were state
owned and easily followed these regulations. However, times have changed and the
government has privatised many companies becoming profit making oriented. This has
created a gap between laws and practices (Clarke, 2007). Things are worsened by the fact
that China has inadequate legal professional, a partial judiciary system and a court system
that needs support (Clarke, 2007). This explains why law enforcement has remained
weak.More so, the kind punishment given to employers who flout these laws does not help
to change their behaviours since they are merely warned or fined a small penalty. Granrose,
(2005) notes that few employees and employers are aware of these labour laws, this means
that employers lack skills to deals with legal disagreements and employees are not aware of
their rights (Cooke, 2005). Cooke (2005) concludes on this by stating that China’ s
legislation is a joke in addressing gender equality in employment.4.0 Findings from the
literature reviewFrom the literature review carried out, the following findings can be
reached; gender discrimination in employment is a complex issue, there is direct and
indirect gender discrimination (Webster, 2010). It is easy to notice direct discrimination
because it entails an employer favouring certain employee/s. but, it is more difficult to
notice indirect discrimination because it entails use of policies that may appear not to
promote discrimination yet they do exactly that particularly concerning minority groups
and the marginalised.The literature review has also confirmed that indeed, there is gender
discrimination in employment in China. Looking on how gender discrimination is carried
out, the paper through literature review has established several ways in which gender
discrimination occurs. The main ways gender discrimination is perpetuated is through;
recruitment practices, career promotion and advancement and retirement regulations.• Job
advertisements: Most job adverts have several forms of discriminatory aspects, for example
seeking women aged below 30 years, or men with a height of over 5’ 6. This is a clear way
of locking out potential employees on based on gender, age and height.• Recruitment
practices: In the 1980s and early 1990s, Chinese labour laws are to promote women
employment are not followed even by government bodies, and the removal of these laws in
mid 1990s, increase cases of gender discrimination in recruitment.• Promotion: the reason
why fewer women are promoted to managerial positions is due to gender bias and negative
feelings towards women. some employers feel that women can not perform to the required
level in their management position simply because of their gender.• Retirement: In China,
women retirement age are lower than that of men. For example professional women

8. working in urban centres are supposed to retire at 55 and those working in other position
to retire at 50, men are supposed to retire at 60 and 55 respectively (Cooke, 2005). Since
women retire earlier than men, few reach managerial positions, simply because the
duration of their careers is shorter compared to that of men.Similarly causes of gender
discrimination, particularly among the Chinese women as established from the literature
review include, financial costs related with maternity leave, lack of access in education and
social networking and mentoring and China’ s weak law enforcement system.Many Chinese
companies discriminate against women when recruiting because they do not want to incur
costs in terms of lost hours or financial compensation when related to maternity leave. This
sort of discrimination is not just limited to the private sectors, but it also exists in
government organisations. Though, employment contract was introduced in 1080s to
resolve this issue, many companies have continued to flout this by including discriminatory
clauses in their contracts.Lack of education, there is a common social belief among the
Chinese that education is more essential for men compared to women, a belief that remains
deeply practised in rural regions and which denies many women opportunity to advance
their education, thus limiting their employment chances. More so, as indicated by Science,
2002), the number of women who study science subjects, which are high paying when
employed, has steadily reduced. The increasing gap has been attributed to changes that has
occurred both on political and educational front. The media also has played a role in
creating this gap by portraying women in science field as being unattractive, an attribute
that discourages some young women to study sciences in university.Literature review has
also revealed that women in China lack enough informal mentoring provided through social
networks. In China, relationships (guanxi) are very important both in career advancement
and social front. As noted by Fox and Schuhmann (2001) to easily get promotion at your
place work, the guanxi (group) has to assist a person through information of kind remarks.
however, it more difficult for Chinese woman to create relationships with men, since the
woman may be mistaken as seeking sexual relationships, which will damage the career not
only the woman, but also the man. Accordingly, both women and men fear seeking mentors,
since their intentions may be misjudged. This has disadvantaged women more than
men.Lastly, China has insufficient legal professionals, a partial judiciary system and a weak
court system (Clarke, 2007). Whereas China has passed “ employment law” that forbid use
of temporary employment, which promotes gender discrimination, among other laws that
seeks to create equality, enforcing these laws has been a major problem. As noted by Clarke
(2007) the problem of enforcement has been compounded by the fact that many state
organisations have been privatised and private organisations are hard to monitor. More so,
private company places profits first before issues of gender discrimination. The number of
legal officers employed by the government to deal with issues of gender discrimination is
small and the china’ s judiciary system is weak, these two aspects have not helped the
matter. Where offenders are brought to court, there are given a less punishment that does
not discourage them from stopping gender discrimination at their organisations. In general,
China has a weak law enforcement that has failed to punish employers who discriminate
employees on gender basis.5.0 Conclusion and recommendations4.1 ConclusionWhat is the
conclusion that can be drawn the above review that has been presented? On the positive

9. side, employment opportunities for women are increasing in some sectors of manufacturing
industry, and a number of these jobs come with comparatively high salaries. On a more
negative side, for a large proportion of women, condition at their workplaces remain bad
and the laws enacted are not effectively enforced.Certainly, there has been an effort to
create gender equality, particularly when the CCP came to power in 1949. However,
patriarchal values and Confucius teachings that are deeply rooted in the Chinese society,
and perpetuated even by state media have promoted inequality (Razavi, 2007). As pointed
out in this research, China’ s labour regarding gender discrimination remain rhetorical, and
real change sought by these labour laws, is hindered by poorly function justice system, lack
of enough legal experts, and doubtable political will.A number of these patterns currently
being witnessed may be attributed to the fact that China is an emerging economy, and cases
of gender discrimination in employment increases during reform period, specifically
concerning older women, and those less educated. In addition, an observation that can be
made is that service industry jobs mainly require youth and attractiveness.However, as
established from the literature review gender discrimination exists in employment in China.
The research has established ways in which this gender discrimination is practised, these
recruitment practices, career promotion and advancement and retirement regulations. The
main causes of gender discrimination from the review are, financial costs related with
maternity leave, lack of access in education and social networking and mentoring and
China’ s weak law enforcement system. To sum this up, it can be stated that women suffer
gender discrimination more than men in China. This has been contributed by deep-seated
social biases against women’ s participation in paid work, together with weak institutions
that have failed to effectively implement China’ s labour laws.5.2 RecommendationsGender
discrimination in employment is a widespread aspect in Chinese workplaces and majority
of people who suffer are women (Granrose, 2005). Granrose (2005) adds that the
eradication of workplace gender discrimination ought to be a mutual duty of both the
society and the government. Since gender discrimination complex and occurs in different
forms, stopping it requires system engineering and cooperation from all stakeholders.
Below are some of recommendations to address this issue.5.2.1 Establishing and
strengthening labour laws and policiesOne reason why gender discrimination has
continued to persist in China is because some labour laws such as retirement law
perpetuate gender discrimination. In addition, there has been laxity of law enforcement.
Therefore, the government should repeal such labour laws that encourage gender
discrimination in employment and formulate new laws that advance equality in workplaces.
More so, the enforcement of these laws should be strengthened. According to Liu et al
(2006) there is need to sociali