Women working in organisations: a social survey of gender discrimination in the workplace

Abstract

This academical research main purpose is to collect data and critically analyse the differences between women and men working in the same labor market and organisation. Pointing out the gender gap and unequal opportunities for male and female workers in terms of career development and retribution system. I want to outline the working environment’s major characteristics and social mechanisms influencing the career of female employees in Chinese corporations. China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) conducted a survey on a very large sample of women coming from different places across China from 1989 to 2015. The collected datas show how the employment rate of women greatly varies based on factors such as age, educational level, marital status and number of children. For instance, just by taking age and number of children as benchmarks, it is estimated that for women aged between 25 and 29 with only one child, the employment rate is 79%. Whereas, for women aged between 45 and 54 with only one child, the employment rate drastically drops to 49% (Ma, 2021). Furthermore, social mechanisms, common views and culture all have an impact on women earnings and professional life. Employees working in a company’s HR not only may have greater or lesser influence within the organisation's hierarchy, but also may have different opportunities for growth within the company itself. There are several factors making it possible. They are both common to men and women such as gender, age, education and origin. However, gender is the most relevant element that determines the career and possibility of promotion up to the highest ranks of the vertical hierarchy. For a man the road to success is quite meritocratic and directly linked to his contribution to the company, but the same cannot be said for a woman. The power and status hold by women within the companies’ human resources are just a mirror of the broader Chinese society, its culture, its history and unspoken rules. As a matter of facts, the company mirrors internally the same patterns, interactions and rules of the outer social context. As I mentioned afore, this thesis particularly focuses on the treatment reserved to women inside the company’s HR. The way women are treated changes based on their marital status and the gendered social expectations. The relationship between employees of the opposite sex displayed within Chinese companies is characterised by a very strong vertical dimension, the heritage of Confucian values, male chauvinism and Chinese concept of harmony.