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Being a woman anywhere is difficult in many ways, including when you're applying to jobs. Women in China, specifically, know this all too well. Despite its efforts to boost gender equality, China still has a major problem of gender discrimination in the workplace. Last year, the government and several private companies came under fire for posting overtly sexist job advertisements, preferring men over women and only interested in women with weird but vague physical traits that had nothing to do with the job, like "female beauty that exceeds nature itself."As the hiring season is just around the corner in one city in eastern China, local authorities have one solution for women looking for jobs: a national hotline.Authorities in Dezhou, Shandong province, have circulated a reminder to female job seekers to pick up the phone and report to the Women’s Right Protection hotline if they experience any discrimination during a recruitment process, or if they come across any inappropriate material in job advertisements. In other words, instead of enforcing laws or policies to push companies for employment equality, they’re expecting women to take the initiative. It's not ideal, but I guess that's something. But the statement also mentions that companies should not discriminate—unless the job’s not suitable for women. Excuse me, what?
Watch: China's Elite Female Bodyguards
“When recruiting, employers should not refuse to hire women or raise the job standards or requirements for women … except for jobs specified as not suitable for women according to national law,” the statement read.A survey by Human Rights Watch (HRW) of more than 36,000 job advertisements posted on Chinese recruitment and company websites and on social media platforms between 2013 and 2018 confirmed the prevalence of “men only” ads in both the public and private sectors. In contrast, only one ad specified a preference for women.When it comes to women and their role in society, China has always been sending mixed messages. Women are encouraged to take a larger role in China’s booming economy, however, statistics have shown otherwise.Despite women having large participation in the Chinese labor force, there are only a few women in leadership roles. According to data from Catalyst, in 2018 only 9.4 percent of board directors in publicly traded companies were women. The numbers just make little sense—according to the World Bank, while more women in China are enrolled in higher education (nearly half) compared to men (less than 40 percent), fewer women work (63 percent) compared to men (70 percent).While there are no statistics available on how many people called the hotline to report sexist job ads—the hotline also takes reports and questions on domestic violence, family affairs, and legal aid to name a few—it's safe to say, looking at the discrimination that women continue to face that China needs more than just a hotline.
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Watch: China's Elite Female Bodyguards
“When recruiting, employers should not refuse to hire women or raise the job standards or requirements for women … except for jobs specified as not suitable for women according to national law,” the statement read.A survey by Human Rights Watch (HRW) of more than 36,000 job advertisements posted on Chinese recruitment and company websites and on social media platforms between 2013 and 2018 confirmed the prevalence of “men only” ads in both the public and private sectors. In contrast, only one ad specified a preference for women.When it comes to women and their role in society, China has always been sending mixed messages. Women are encouraged to take a larger role in China’s booming economy, however, statistics have shown otherwise.Despite women having large participation in the Chinese labor force, there are only a few women in leadership roles. According to data from Catalyst, in 2018 only 9.4 percent of board directors in publicly traded companies were women. The numbers just make little sense—according to the World Bank, while more women in China are enrolled in higher education (nearly half) compared to men (less than 40 percent), fewer women work (63 percent) compared to men (70 percent).While there are no statistics available on how many people called the hotline to report sexist job ads—the hotline also takes reports and questions on domestic violence, family affairs, and legal aid to name a few—it's safe to say, looking at the discrimination that women continue to face that China needs more than just a hotline.