Women's Rights And Gender Inequality In The Workplace

The fundamental beliefs of many modern cultures present women and men as equal with the same abilities and functions; however, gender discrimination still seems to persist in some areas of the world. Their country’s recent demographic, educational, and occupational modernization has forced China to rethink their previous attitudes towards female equality. China has begun to recognize the potential economic benefits to their nation when involving women in the workplace and education. Presently, China is still facing threats to the well-being of their country, which, in some ways, originated from gender discrimination. While these reforms have reduced gender inequality issues in many ways, the problem is still very prevalent. China’s inequitable gender opportunities in their education and employment are reflected in discrimination toward the Chinese female population. Gender inequality is established into China’s culture and seems to be present for women in every aspect of their lives.

When it comes to gender and inequality, it starts even before the child is employed. Gender inequality influences female education. When it comes to education, the underlying reason why a girl’s education is sacrificed lies in the notion that boys are more capable than girls. This would lead the Chinese parents to believe that boys are more likely to continue their education into a well-paying job, while the decision to invest in a girl’s education is riskier and may not be worth the investment. Most mothers expressed egalitarian views about girls’ and boys’ rights and abilities. In an interview, one out of five mothers agreed with the saying, “Sending girls to school is useless since they will get married and leave home.” Compared to boys, girls do not get the equal amount of education. Parents sometimes viewed boys as having greater aptitude, but tended to view girls as having more dedication—an attribute parents perceived as being critical for educational success. Ultimately, the parent’s education level and job are factors that affect whether or not a girl will have proper access to an education, which eventually influences future occupational opportunities for her as well.

Inequality in the workplace has been an ongoing issue, widespread problem that both employed and unemployed women have endured for a long time. It also extends to the rest of the world, not just China. When it comes to job advertisement, it is discriminating against women. According to Sophie Richardson, China director at Human Rights Watch, “Nearly one in five job ads for China’s 2018 national civil service called for ‘men only’ or ‘men preferred,’’. When it comes to chinese job recruitment, the ads are specified only for men, discriminating women. 

But on the other hand, some job recruitment do require women but only for their height,weight and facial and body appearance - that are irrelevant to the job. In China, men were considered strong and able to work through the intensity of the job. Men were seen to have “stronger ability to work under pressure” compared to women. When women were hired, the job advertisement would use women's physical attributes to attract more male to apply for the job. In other quote stated by Sophie Richardson, “These companies pride themselves on being forces of modernity and progress, yet they fall back on such recruitment strategies, which shows how deeply entrenched discrimination against women remains in China”. In China, women were seen as their families primary source of child care and stay home while men went to work. In the workplace, women were seen as less physically, intellectually, and psychologically than men and, “...unable to be fully committed to their jobs or will eventually leave full-time paid employment to have a family; and that accommodating maternity leave is unacceptably inconvenient or costly for the company or agency” (Schimitz). 

Getting a job in China was really difficult for women. Job companies pride themselves on being forces of modernity and progress, but yet they fall back on such recruitment strategies, which shows how deeply established discrimination against women remains in China. China’s Labor Law prohibit gender discrimination in employment, and the Advertising Law in China bans gender discrimination in advertising. However, the laws lack a clear definition of what constitutes gender discrimination. In the recent years, several women who felt discriminated have brought successful court challenges to gender discrimination in job ads. The Chinese government’s deep hostility toward rights activism and restrictions on freedom of expression have seriously hindered efforts by women’s rights activists against gender discrimination in employment. With gender inequality in the workplace in China, we also need to look at the gender wage gap.