Bridging The Gender Gap In Chinese Boardrooms – Understanding Its Significance And Implementation Needs

Like other cultures across the globe, Chinese business scenario has traditionally been male dominated.  This means that the average number of women working in top leadership roles, within Chinese business organizations is almost zero. However, while the situation is rapidly changing in most developed and even rapidly developing countries, the trend has not been picked up by the business community within the country in large numbers. While a select few organizations have included a few women in their management boards, this number is still ridiculously quite low. According to the top leadership development firms in China this affecting the employer branding of Chinese organizations in a significant manner.

Need To Reduce Gender Gaps

There is a growing demand to reduce gender disparity within top management positions on a global scale. This trend has been popularised by the fact that the few women, who have handled such roles and responsibilities are known to have provided almost similar if not better results as their male counterparts. In fact, an increasing number of females are gaining the proper qualifications and skills to fulfil the demands of these challenging roles. Moreover, the career objectives and ambitions of women have undergone a drastic change over past several decades. They are no longer satisfied with the prospect of the career growth coming to a stop upon reaching the position a senior manager. Rather they are seeking a place as an elite member of the top management and are willing to undergo further skill enhancement and training to become worthy of such positions.

What This Means From Chinese Perspective

Chinese society and culture generally does not favour women taking up leadership roles either in society or business. This is because women have mostly been treated as second class citizens within this ancient oriental culture. They are believed to possess neither the skills and knowledge nor the competence required for making tough business decisions. Moreover, the concept of male superiority that has been ingrained into the minds of Chinese people, irrespective of their gender, makes it difficult for them to accept a female at a top leadership position within an organization. In fact the experts from the leading recruitment firms in China consider this to be one of the major hindrances faced by Chinese companies in terms of including more women in their boards.

Ways To Reduce Gender Disparity

With the significant influx of foreign businesses in China, the business community has become more flexible and many traditional methods have been gradually done away with. While nothing much has been achieved in terms of bringing more women into the Chinese boardrooms, the position of women within business organizations has improved significantly. This has given much hope to females looking to enjoy a successful career as a top management professional. This is evident from the fact that the number of young females opting for management education and training is increasing steadily. The Chinese business organizations are also adapting a more open approach towards employing competent females in senior management positions. However, there is still a long way to go before Chinese businesses can boast of providing having a reasonable representation of females in their boardrooms.