Gender Discrimination in the Workplace and Work-family Conflicts in China

Research Article
Open access

Gender Discrimination in the Workplace and Work-family Conflicts in China

Jixin Wu 1*
  • 1 Department of Religion, Hong Kong Baptist University, 224 Waterloo Road, Kowloon Tong, 999077, Hong Kong, China    
  • *corresponding author 18216587@life.hkbu.edu.hk
LNEP Vol.6
ISSN (Print): 2753-7056
ISSN (Online): 2753-7048
ISBN (Print): 978-1-915371-37-9
ISBN (Online): 978-1-915371-38-6

Abstract

Despite the rapid development of China in the last decade, it is noticed that Chinese women are currently put in a problematic position under uneven work distribution barriers with the rapid growth and continuous shifts of society. With the widening gender gap, women are not only still expected to carry more duties in taking care of the family, but also with an expectation of contributing economic support for the family as well. On the other hand, the governmental policy indirectly reinforces the gender discrimination problem in the workplace, such as a mandatory extension of maternal leaves. This paper aims to examine the current status of gender discrimination in the Chinese hiring market and workplace through literature reviews and in-depth interviews, to better understand the potential factors contributing to the situation, then to develop potential solutions for the intense situations under an updated analysis. It is found that women are playing double roles in Chinese society, who are expected to take more duties in the family and parenting, which is considered a huge distraction from their commitment to their careers. Hence, the female labor force is often less preferred compared to the male labor force by employers.

Keywords:

Gender discrimination, Workplace discrimination, Maternal employment

Wu,J. (2023). Gender Discrimination in the Workplace and Work-family Conflicts in China. Lecture Notes in Education Psychology and Public Media,6,807-815.
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References

[1]. Tang, Y., & Scott, R. (1970, January 1). "glass ceiling" or "Sticky floor": The evidence from Chinese labor market: Semantic scholar. pub. Retrieved September 21, 2022, from https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/%22Glass-Ceiling%22-or-%22Sticky-Floor%22%3A-The-Evidence-Tang-Scott/d35c66560c0b312a0d0bf6fc2c4be8ba418ce577

[2]. Brussevich, M., Dabla-Norris, E., & Li, B. (G. (2022, February 4). China's rebalancing and gender inequality. SSRN. Retrieved September 18, 2022, from https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4026314

[3]. Zhou, Y. (2020, November 3). “Good mothers work”: How maternal employment shapes women's expectation of. Work and Family in Contemporary Urban China. Retrieved October 1, 2022, from https://spssi.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/josi.12389

[4]. Global gender gap report 2022. World Economic Forum. (n.d.). Retrieved September 24, 2022, from. https://www.weforum.org/reports/global-gender-gap-report-2022/in-full/economy-profiles-5b89d90ea5

[5]. World Bank Group. (2022, June). Employment to population ratio, 15+, female (%) (modeled ILO estimate) - China. World Bank Data. Retrieved September 20, 2022, from https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.EMP.TOTL.SP.FE.ZS?end=2021&locations=CN&start=1991&view=chart

[6]. Lyu, D. (n.d.). The gender wage gap in China: Learning from recent longitudinal data. Retrieved October 4, 2022, from https://www.econ.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/Thesis_final_draft_Donghe_Lyu.pdf.

[7]. Ji, Y., Wu, X., Sun, S., & He, G. (2017, December). Unequal care, unequal work: Toward a more comprehensive. understanding ... ResearchGate. Retrieved October 19, 2022, from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/315110369_Unequal_Care_Unequal_Work_Toward_a_More_Comprehensive_Understanding_of_Gender_Inequality_in_Post-Reform_Urban_China

[8]. Lupton, B., & Xian, H. (2009, October 23). The persistence of gender discrimination in China – evidence from. recruitment advertisements. Taylor & Francis. Retrieved October 20, 2022, from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09585190903175647

[9]. "Only men need to apply". Human Rights Watch. (2022, February 23). Retrieved September 23, 2022, from. https://www.hrw.org/report/2018/04/23/only-men-need-apply/gender-discrimination-job-advertisements-china

[10]. Cheng, S. (2019, March 8). Women seek equality in China's job market. chinadailyhk. Retrieved October 4, 2022, from https://www.chinadailyhk.com/articles/80/233/161/1552009889377.html

Cite this article

Wu,J. (2023). Gender Discrimination in the Workplace and Work-family Conflicts in China. Lecture Notes in Education Psychology and Public Media,6,807-815.

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About volume

Volume title: Proceedings of the International Conference on Interdisciplinary Humanities and Communication Studies (ICIHCS 2022), Part 5

ISBN：978-1-915371-37-9(Print) / 978-1-915371-38-6(Online)
Editor：Muhammad Idrees, Matilde Lafuente-Lechuga
Conference website: https://www.icihcs.org/
Conference date: 18 December 2022
Series: Lecture Notes in Education Psychology and Public Media
Volume number: Vol.6
ISSN：2753-7048(Print) / 2753-7056(Online)

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References

[1]. Tang, Y., & Scott, R. (1970, January 1). "glass ceiling" or "Sticky floor": The evidence from Chinese labor market: Semantic scholar. pub. Retrieved September 21, 2022, from https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/%22Glass-Ceiling%22-or-%22Sticky-Floor%22%3A-The-Evidence-Tang-Scott/d35c66560c0b312a0d0bf6fc2c4be8ba418ce577

[2]. Brussevich, M., Dabla-Norris, E., & Li, B. (G. (2022, February 4). China's rebalancing and gender inequality. SSRN. Retrieved September 18, 2022, from https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4026314

[3]. Zhou, Y. (2020, November 3). “Good mothers work”: How maternal employment shapes women's expectation of. Work and Family in Contemporary Urban China. Retrieved October 1, 2022, from https://spssi.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/josi.12389

[4]. Global gender gap report 2022. World Economic Forum. (n.d.). Retrieved September 24, 2022, from. https://www.weforum.org/reports/global-gender-gap-report-2022/in-full/economy-profiles-5b89d90ea5

[5]. World Bank Group. (2022, June). Employment to population ratio, 15+, female (%) (modeled ILO estimate) - China. World Bank Data. Retrieved September 20, 2022, from https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.EMP.TOTL.SP.FE.ZS?end=2021&locations=CN&start=1991&view=chart

[6]. Lyu, D. (n.d.). The gender wage gap in China: Learning from recent longitudinal data. Retrieved October 4, 2022, from https://www.econ.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/Thesis_final_draft_Donghe_Lyu.pdf.

[7]. Ji, Y., Wu, X., Sun, S., & He, G. (2017, December). Unequal care, unequal work: Toward a more comprehensive. understanding ... ResearchGate. Retrieved October 19, 2022, from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/315110369_Unequal_Care_Unequal_Work_Toward_a_More_Comprehensive_Understanding_of_Gender_Inequality_in_Post-Reform_Urban_China

[8]. Lupton, B., & Xian, H. (2009, October 23). The persistence of gender discrimination in China – evidence from. recruitment advertisements. Taylor & Francis. Retrieved October 20, 2022, from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09585190903175647

[9]. "Only men need to apply". Human Rights Watch. (2022, February 23). Retrieved September 23, 2022, from. https://www.hrw.org/report/2018/04/23/only-men-need-apply/gender-discrimination-job-advertisements-china

[10]. Cheng, S. (2019, March 8). Women seek equality in China's job market. chinadailyhk. Retrieved October 4, 2022, from https://www.chinadailyhk.com/articles/80/233/161/1552009889377.html

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