A recent study by China-based job portal Zhaopin has revealed that 22% of women in the workplace are still facing discrimination based on their gender.
Zhaopin conducted its annual survey on women in the workplace to understand the situation and environment for women in their employment opportunities, promotions, career paths and goals. More than 128,500 people participated in the survey this year.
About 22% of women experienced severe or very severe discrimination when seeking employment, compared with 14% of men.
Better educated women were more likely to be discriminated against when they applied for jobs. About 43% of women with graduate degrees felt severe or very severe discrimination, compared with only 18% of men with the same level of education.
In career development, 25% of women experienced severe or very severe discrimination in promotions, compared with 18% of men.
It took longer time for women to get promoted. About 59% of men were promoted for the first time within two years of employment, compared with 49% of women. Meanwhile, 44% of women never got promoted, compared with 31% of men.
As to barriers to promotions, women were more likely to attribute the lack of promotion to personal reasons. About 40% of women believed that they lacked the competence or experience required for being promoted, compared with 32% of men.
Leadership positions were still dominated by men in China. About 72% of participants had men as their direct supervisors, while only 28% had women as supervisors.
Gender discrimination against women has been an issue for a long time. Even though the government and other organizations have been making efforts to drive equality in the workplace, women still experience severe gender discrimination in both their employment opportunities and career development, Zhaopin survey found.
