Recent research into the Chinese female workplace, carried out by Zhilian Employment and UN Women, shows an enhancing in the awareness of gender equality in China, while those born after 1995 are the main force in pushing forward realisations into employment gender equality.
According to the “Investigation Report on the Present Situation of Chinese Women’s Workplace in 2019”, the traditional concept of a dominant male position is collapsing. When talking about the issues, “Whether men and women should have equal rights and development opportunities, and can freely develop their personal abilities”, and, “Whether women should go out to work and have their own career”, 92.1 percent and 96.6 percent of Chinese females polled voiced their approval, respectively. Perhaps surprisingly, the men were not far behind; 92.0 percent and 80.1 percent, respectively, support the same statements.
Emphasised in the results is the fact that 90s young people now have deeper understanding of the significance of gender equality, showing more approval for the idea that independence is a standard for successful women. This is illustrated by approval percentages of 95.2 and 96.9 for the aforementioned statements.
Not only have women’s consciousnesses been gradually awakened and then acted upon, men have also begun to identify with equal opportunities for social and family contributions from both men and women. 93.8 percent of 90s men agreed that men and women should have the same opportunities for development.
In addition, compared with data from 2018, it is claimed that males are more likely to concentrate on their family. Men in Chengdu, capital of westerly Sichuan Province, in fact now spend more time on family than women.
However positive the results of the survey, the reality of today remains. Promotions for females in China are still far less likely than for the males. Among senior managers, 81.3 percent are male and only 18.7 percent are female. The burden of fertility on women is still the core reason why enterprises shut women out in terms of promotion, with some companies seeing it a waste of time and an unnecessary expense to rise a women through the ranks who is only going to give birth.
Yet, some females have abandoned their homes, in order to take over their careers. According to the survey, 76 percent of men think marriage is a necessity, while only 49 percent of women believe thus. Based on this, 71 percent of women and 66 percent of men are today single.
In large part thanks to the younger generation, awareness of gender equality in today’s China is being pushed by not only women themselves, but also with the simultaneous support and understanding of men.
