Comparison of the Discrimination of Women in the Workplace: China and Canada - Literature review Example

Introduction Discrimination against women is not a new phenomenon in the contemporary society. For a long time, women have continued to be treated as if they are second class citizens, especially in their places of work. This is due to the perception that the society have towards women, which is that their main responsibility is to give birth and rear children in addition to serving their husbands. Women are perceived as being weak in terms of body strength and intellectual capacity in addition to them lacking emotional intelligence, and therefore, employers have continued to utilize this as a method to deny them of their right to employment, especially in managerial positions (Chung, 2006). Women have also continued to attract low salaries for their services due to the fact that it is difficult for them to demand higher pay due to ambiguous legislations, which do not categorically define discrimination. This is more visible especially in countries such as China, where human rights and freedoms are highly disregarded by the government, which motivates the general society and the private sector to adopt the same approach while dealing with gender based issues (Bulger, n.d). This paper is a critical evaluation of discrimination of women in the Chinese and Canadian work places. Discrimination of Women in the Workplace: China and Canada Discrimination against women in the workplace is a practice that is deeply rooted in the Chinese society. Indeed, the practice can be traced back to the imperial era, i.e. before 1949, when women were forced to work as slaves especially due to the high prevalence of human trafficking in this era (Chung, 2006). Chinese culture of foot binding highly incapacitated women from undertaking challenging tasks and therefore, there was no way they could have competed healthily with their male counterparts in the job market. Foot binding was a culture, which was dedicated towards making the women’s feet more appealing to men, so that the women could attract more wealthy suitors (Chung, 2006). This means that the society had little regard for women as they were perceived as objects, whose main purpose was to serve men and bring up families. Sadly, this perception remains a major obstacle towards the empowerment of women in the country. Women were not allowed to get education and without knowledge and technical skills, it was difficult for them to get employment. According to Chinese history, most of which has been captured by western historians, women were groomed, from childhood, to respect their fathers, later their husbands and then their sons and this practice demanded them to be submissive to the males in the society (Chung, 2006). It is therefore not surprising to find that the women could not hold any leadership positions as doing so would have given them an opportunity to disagree with opinions brought forward by their male counterparts. It is not until after 1949, when Mao Zedong came to power, that some of these practices and atrocities against women begun attracting government’s attention consequently leading to their illegalization (Yuan, 2006). Mao Zedong embarked on a mission to empower women through education and it is notable that during his tenure, the number of educated women rose to approximately 92% from 20% (Yuan, 2006). However, most of the women filled in vacancies in factories, where they provided manual labor, which attracted low wages and salaries, compared to positions held by men. Even though Mao’s leadership and those of the consecutive governments promoted women’s working rights through legislations, employers have continued to act with impunity probably due to the government’s reluctance to implement the laws. Corruption in the legal system and government, in general, has left women with no means to sue their wealthy employers for discriminatory policies and practices (Ngai, 2005). The government has also made this worse by prohibiting unionism and compelling workers to join the only government controlled All-China Federation of Trade Unions as a platform for airing grievances. As a result, women have continued to suffer in the hands of their employers. For example, reports indicate that Chinese women are always at the receiving end whenever companies find it necessary to downsize their workforce. In addition, it has also been noted that employers have the tendency of reducing women’s wages with a higher percentage than that of their male counterparts whenever there is an economic crises (Bulger, n.d). This shows how Chinese companies belittle their female workforce. The hiring process as regards to women in china is also noted as being one of the major discriminatory experiences that job seekers go through. To begin with, married women are denied opportunities not due to their lack of skills but due to the notion that it is difficult for them to concentrate on their responsibilities at work (Yuan, 2005). This may be understood after noting that women are forced to work longer hours than men and therefore, employers find married women as a liability since they may not be in a position to concentrate on work and at the same time fulfill their family duties. In addition, women have been denied job opportunities while others have been dismissed unfairly as a result of getting pregnant or planning to get pregnant within a period not satisfactory to their potential employers. Indeed, statistics indicate that approximately 15% of women in the workforce are forced to sign contracts that bar them from getting married or getting pregnant for a dictated period of time. More than 20% of 3000 women interviewed in China indicated that they had experienced unwarranted pay cuts as a result of getting pregnant while more than 10% admitted losing their jobs as a result of giving birth irrespective of the fact that the laws provide women with paid maternity leave (Chung, 2006). In such an environment, women are constantly faced with the dilemma of deciding whether to choose employment or family. If they decide to work, then, they are compelled to forego family and therefore, they cannot afford to get married or pregnant and vice versa. Some of them choose to get married to rich men, who can fulfill their basic and luxurious wants but without economic independence, they cannot have control over their husbands, who may utilize this to engage in extra marital affairs without expecting to be questioned (Ngai, 2005). The level of discrimination on women in China is such that some employers deny them employment just because they do not have the desired looks. This has forced numerous women to adopt cosmetic surgery as a way of enhancing beauty so as to at least attract the attention of potential employers, especially in the service industries such as marketing and catering (Ngai, 2005). Chinese laws protect privacy and gender discrimination but it has also been noted that they are not specific on what gender discrimination is especially in the recruitment processes. Due to this, employers have the liberty to set their own standards irrespective of whether they are discriminatory or not and the victims of such oppression cannot go to court to acquire justice as they would not have any specific laws to cite. The Chinese government is highly to blame for promoting gender discrimination. Policies such as periodic employment for women and job creation for men are absurd and the government should never even consider proposing or adopting them (Bulger, n.d). Both women and men are created equal and there is no evidence showing that women are incapable of competing with men at intellectual level. These are selfish mechanisms adopted by the male dominated society to protect their own interests at the expense of the greater good, which is equality in all social and economic dimensions. The Canadian workforce is much friendlier to women than the Chinese labor market, despite the fact that more improvements needs to be done. Unlike China, where unionization is controlled by the government, Canada has a liberal unionization policy, which allows the formation of individual groups to fight for the rights of women and minority groups. However, prior to late 1970s, the plight of women in Canada was not more different than that of women in China especially due to the fact that no worker’s union wanted to recruit them (Sangster, 2010). The workforce during this period was dominated by men and the role of women was primarily to bear children and maintain homes. It is only in late 1970s that women embarked on militant campaigns to demand for equal opportunities, first by forming the teachers’ and the public service unions. However, it is observable that a significant percentage of women in the Canadian workforce still earn less salaries and wages as compared to their male counterparts. 2003 statistics indicate that women in Canada earn approximately 71% of what men earn, which is significantly better than the 63% wage gap in China, but way below what is expected in a society that understands the benefits of gender equality (Sangster, 2010). In Canada, it is observable that women with children are allowed to work without necessarily having to suffer pay cuts unlike in China’s situation. 2004 statistics indicate that approximately 65% of women with young children in the country were on paid employment. In addition, women in the country have access to quality education and this has enabled them to acquire managerial positions, which they have utilized to show that they are capable of delivering contrary to the common social belief that perceives otherwise. In 1987, only less than 30% of managerial positions were held by women but this has improved significantly over the years to approximately 37% in 2004 (Sangster, 2010). However, the country needs to protect women’s interests at a higher level especially by ensuring that they are facilitated with full time jobs at an equal level with that of their male counterparts. This is necessary based on the fact that majority of employed women, 30%, are on part time basis as opposed to men’s 11%. Women from minority groups are found to be discriminated against as majority of them remain unemployed not withstanding their high academic achievements. Those that are lucky to get employment are paid lower salaries than local women irrespective of whether they are more educated (Bakan, 2005). Conclusion Gender discrimination in the Canadian and Chinese workforce is a major problem, which requires urgent attention. However, the situation in China is worse than that of Canada based on the fact that the Chinese government is among the facilitators of this vice. Laws have been enacted to protect women but the Chinese government has continued to neglect its duty to implement them. It is for this reason that women are denied employment on the basis of their personal and reproductive lives as well as factors such as beauty. China needs to come up with a law or an act to govern recruitment processes so that women can seek redress in courts whenever they are mistreated by potential employers. The Canadian workforce is favorable to women but those from minority groups, such as immigrants, must also be protected as they are also human beings, who should be treated with dignity. References Bakan, A. (2005). Negotiating Citizenship: Migrant Women in Canada and the Global System. University of Toronto Press Bulger, C. (n.d). Fighting Gender Discrimination in the Chinese Workplace. Retrieved March 19, 2012, from http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/law/lwsch/journals/bctwj/20_2/03_TXT.htm Chung, L. (2006). Women, the Family, and Peasant Revolution in China. Lynne Rienner Publications Ngai, P. (2005). Made in China: Women Factory Workers in a Global Workplace. Duke University Press Books Sangster, J. (2010).Transforming Labor: Women and Work in Postwar Canada. University of Toronto Press Yuan, L. (2005). Reconceiving Womens Equality in China: A Critical Examination of Models of Sex Equality. Lexington Books Read More